It’s been about 40 days into this year and there have been at least 7 reported events of ‘Trishul diksha’ or trident distribution in various parts of the country. The significance of the Trishul for right wing fringe groups is that it has religious significance, it allows them to arm people to incite violence and it is sort of a loophole that they have circumvented. The trishuls that they distribute are not the long handle ones that we often see wielded by deities but are actually, one centimetre smaller than the prohibited weapons; which saves them from being booked for any offence under the Arms Act.
This trishul diksha is accompanied with hate speech from the speakers at the events and many a times the speakers are either known hate offenders or prominent figures of the ruling party such as MPs or MLAs or State heads of the party. Many times, an oath to establish ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is also administered to those present.
Here is a run down of some of the trishul distribution events that have been organized this year, till date
On February 5 in Vidyadhar, Jaipur Bajrang Dal distributed trishuls among 1,110 young Hindu men and released a drone shot video of the men wielding those trishuls.
This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in . Read the full story here