The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Organization
- Thejashri Madhavsupriya | Genocide Watch
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
V. Organization
In part five of our Ten Stages of Genocide in India Series, we explain how the fifth stage of genocide, Organization, is occurring in India.
To organize genocidal violence, perpetrators are often mobilized by the state. States either directly support or informally back militias as a means of organizing genocide. For instance, the Einsatzgruppen were created by the Nazis as paramilitary death squads in German-occupied territories. In India, militias like the Bajrang Dal carry out violence against religious minorities while giving the Union and state governments plausible deniability and allowing state officials to avoid legal consequences.
Besides militias, the police and army are important in organizing genocide as they are already armed and possess the authority to arrest and kill targeted groups. Secret police like the Gestapo in Nazi Germany were created by the state to arrest, torture and kill members of targeted groups, especially Jews and those who were outspoken against the Nazi Party.
Bajrang Dal recruits take oath during the ‘Trishul Diksha’ ceremony, at the Siddheshwar temple in Gurugram on October 2, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
In India, organization is mainly visible through two major entities: the Indian police and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) militia called Bajrang Dal. The Bajrang Dal was created in 1984 and became infamous for storming the Babri Masjid Mosque at Ayodhya in 1992. It operates at the grassroots level throughout India. It is both a legitimizing state agency, and a vehicle for privatizing and inciting violence.
The Bajrang Dal militia is the official youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). Hindu boys join at a very young age and grow up being indoctrinated to adopt the VHP’s extremist Hindu nationalist ideology. The Bajrang Dal along with other RSS organizations, organizes training camps for young members, who are given rifles and trishuls (tridents) and taught how to use them.
In May 2022, one such camp was organized in a school in the state of Karnataka: 116 young boys from across the state were illegally given weapons in the name of teaching them self-defense. The Bajrang Dal even has its own constitution, uniform, and handbook. In 2024, the Indian American Muslim Council released a video showing the Bajrang Dal conducting weapons training in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
The Bajrang Dal was instrumental in the organization of the 2002 Gujarat Riots. They are also reported to have helped organize the 2020 Delhi Riots, arming perpetrators and inciting them to join mobs, attack Muslims, and destroy Muslim-owned shops and businesses. Members of the group play a critical role in cow-lynching cases, often organizing the patrols and carrying out the murders. Yet, the leaders of such groups are seldom held accountable, as they operate under the protection of the BJP government, receive public funds, work within state institutions, and collaborate with the police in some BJP-run states. This is visible in Haryana, where the police openly join Gau Rakshaks (cow protectors) on their nightly patrols.
The members of the Indian Police are critical in organizing genocidal violence in India. Only 3-4% of police officers identify as Muslims. Anti-Muslim bias is rampant within police forces. A 2019 study showed that 50% of the police surveyed believe that “Muslims are likely to be naturally prone towards committing crimes.”
The police play a key role in organizing mobs during riots. During the 2020 Delhi Riots, the police deliberately refused to stop extremist mobs from attacking Muslims, and even directed mobs to go to Muslim areas, assuring them that they would not intervene. During the riots, the police used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the National Security Act to arrest peaceful Muslim protesters. Amnesty International reports that those arrested and detained were tortured in police custody.
In the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the police act as a state militia, committing extrajudicial killings of Muslims, which are colloquially called “encounters.” The police often kill Muslims in alleged “terrorist shootouts.” Officers are not reported or punished for these crimes. They offer families hush money to stop them from going to the courts. In UP alone, there have been 207 deaths from “encounters” over a seven-year period (between 2017 and 2024). Police spokesmen claim that police “encounters” are necessary to apprehend escaping perpetrators. In fact, most of the people the police arrest are unarmed and not trying to escape.
Genocide Watch identifies militias like Bajrang Dal as indicators of the process of organization. Bajrang Dal receives direct support from the state. The Indian Police join with hate groups in harassing, beating, and even killing Muslims and others who protest police brutality. Organization is the stage where genocidal ideology is translated into acts of genocidal violence.
Genocide Watch recommends:
1. The United States Department of State should designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) because of the Indian government’s tacit and overt support for Hindutva militias that blatantly violate human rights and religious freedoms in India.
2. The Indian government must ratify the Convention Against Torture, to which India has been a signatory since 1998.
3. The Indian government must adopt effective laws to prevent, prosecute, and punish torture.
4. The 2015 DK Basu Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of India for the prevention of torture must be implemented, and officials who violate them must be prosecuted.
3. The Indian Police Service should recruit members from all Indian religious groups and proportionately represent the religious makeup of the Indian population.
4. Ties between the Indian Police and the Bajrang Dal must be outlawed and broken.
5. Police training programs should oppose religious biases and oppose religious intolerance.
6. Police training should develop skills like communication, counselling, and leadership, so that police are equipped with the tools to prevent ethnic threats from escalating into violent riots.
7. The United Nations Human Rights Council should investigate extrajudicial killings in India to create an accurate picture of the number of people who are killed or injured by Indian Police.