'RSS, Bajrang Dal not banned in Britain'

London, Nov 19: The British government said on Wednesday, Nov 19 that neither the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) nor the Bajrang Dal are terrorist organisations and their members are not banned from entering Britain. Lord Malloch-Brown, the British Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said, "The government do not consider the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the Bajrang Dal as terrorist organisations."

He said to a question by former Cabinet minister Lord Chris Patten that neither organisation is proscribed in the UK or in India, also that the Indian government did not classify 'RSS and Bajrang Dal' as terrorist organisations. Malloch Brown added that a decision to ban a group will be based on evidence that the particular group is involved in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000.

Sources said that the Pattan's questions at the House of Lords may have been prompted by the anti-Christian violence in Orissa, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) set up in 1966, the nearest equivalent of the RSS in Britain works in a very different way than the Hindu groups in India. The HSS is said to have around 70 'shakhas' or branches offices in Britain, with around 1,100 regular visitors.

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