Patna SSP compares extremist outfit with RSS, triggers row

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manavjit Singh Dhillon courted controversy on Thursday when he compared extremist outfit Popular Front of India's martial art training at its camps with the routine followed at branches of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The SSP made the comments a day after the arrest of two PFI members from Phulwari Sharif area of Patna for alleged involvement in terror activities.

“The organisation (PFI) works… to mobilise youths and radicalise them. The modus operandi is similar to that of RSS ‘shakhas' (branches). They train the youth under the guise of physical education and spread propaganda.


“We have got documents stating that in the PFI camps, martial arts and other training is imparted to members to use sticks and swords,” he told reporters.

The SSP's remarks stoked controversy, with several lawmakers seeking an apology from him for comparing activities of the PFI with those of the RSS.

“Patna SSP should immediately withdraw such statements and apologise for it. When people like our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and several others have been associated with the RSS, how can anyone compare it with an organisation that is involved in anti-India activities,” senior BJP leader and former Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted.

BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul also criticised the senior police officer for his remarks.

“This shows that the SSP has lost his mental balance… how can you compare a nationalist organisation like RSS with PFI?” he said.