NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 12, 2017 (Indian Express): Over fifty school-going adolescent girls, armed with lathis, swords and knives, with a saffron ribbon tied around their wrists, brandished their weapon-wielding skills in the open courtyard of GLT Saraswati Bal Mandir school in New Delhi on Sunday. This was the culmination of a 15-day training camp, which began on May 27, organized by the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, the right-wing RSS women’s wing, which trained the girls to fight while also instilling moral values in them. During the performance, the girls exhibited yoga asanas and later huddled to form pyramids, where they cried in unison, “Bharat maata ki jai!” (Long live India!)
“This is the goal of the sanstha,” said Rashtriya Sevika Samiti’s Uttar Shetra Karyavahika, Chandrakantha, who was the chief guest at the event. “We teach the girls to be fully empowered and equipped – that is, physically, mentally and spiritually strong, so that a girl is capable of protecting herself and is able to guard her country, its traditions, its sanskriti and its languages. The Samiti instills pride for the nation in her.” While training the young girls to combat, the Samiti also teaches them the importance of upholding the family values. Chandrakantha said that at the end of the day, a woman was responsible for keeping the family together as a tight unit.