At a mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa, religious preacher Dhirendra Shastri (Bageshwar Dham Sarkar) asserted that the formation of Sunder Kand mandals nationwide was intended to organise Hindus as “soldiers” to defend Sanatan Dharma, Hindutva, and establish a Hindu Rashtra. He claimed this would enable mobilisation against “dharm virodhi” (anti-religious) forces and invoked Hindu mythological figures to suggest women would rise with “one hand holding a mala and the other a spear” to carry out mass killing. He further alleged that it would prevent religious conversions and “love jihad,” and declared that, if necessary, they would go to the nation’s borders to forcibly remove those he described as “desh virodhi” (traitors) from India.