Catch them young is the motto of an outfit named It is believed that by 2020, Islamic State will occupy western Uttar Pradesh and to fight against them, the outfit is raising and training as many as 15,000 soldiers, who they claim, are ready to lay their lives.
As per TOI reports, these camps are dotting western UP and from 8-year-old to 30-year-olds, young people from Dasna, Bamheta, Rori, Muzaffarnagar, etc are taking training in camps.
Some camps are secretive and some are out in the open, teaching boys and girls, to be ready "for when the enemy strikes".
One of the Hindu Swabhiman's leaders, Chetna Sharma, who is also a member of the VHP's Durga Vahini, told TOI, "Our motto is simple - catch them young. We have over 50 training centres all over western UP. Our students are from ages eight to 30. We don't give guns and swords to children straight away. For the first six months, we train them mentally. We teach them verses from the Gita. Hindus must not be afraid of death because we are reborn. The children here are fearless."
Children at these camps say their mothers and elder sisters are threatened and they feel it is their duty to protect them. Some of them are of the opinion that they have taken up arms as the governments failed.
Meanwhile, the police machinery and the administration claim they have no idea about it.
IG Meerut Zone, Alok Sharma, told TOI, “We do not have any report on such activity taking place. I will certainly look into the matter.”
Such is the hatred for Islamic State that Swami Narsinghanand Saraswati, the Hindu ascetic whose ideology fuels the outfit's work, told TOI, “I think an extremist outfit, like the
(Image: Indiatimes)