The BJP on Wednesday announced the revival of the feared “village defence committees”, militias fighting militants and operating mainly in Jammu’s Muslim-majority districts.

The announcement came a day after BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi. Rechristened “village defence groups”, all members will be given monthly honorarium by the government and designated as special police officers (SPOs), the BJP said. The government has not made an official announcement.

The groups, armed with guns and often accused of committing atrocities against Muslims in the name of fighting militants, had been lying moribund for two years. There have been allegations of killing people against VDCs.

“For the past one year, the BJP had been running a campaign. The VDC (committee) members (too) have been agitating since March 16 (last year). We held a series of meetings with the home minister. BJP chief (for Jammu and Kashmir) Ravinder Raina has been travelling extensively in the vulnerable areas and assuring the VDCs that their issues will be resolved,” Jammu and Kashmir BJP secretary Sunil Sharma told reporters in Jammu.

“I was directed to be in touch with the home ministry (over the past year). There were a lot of meetings. Top officers from this place were called (to Delhi) and a proposal was submitted. Yesterday, we got assurances (about the revival of the VDCs),” he added.

People’s Democratic Party leader Firdous Tak said this was the “first step to create an armed RSS militia in the name of village defence guards, mostly in areas with no militancy,” Tak said, alleging a larger design. “Do Google the atrocities such groups have committed.”

The VDCs were created in the mid-1990s to fight militants and prevent the migration of minorities from the two Muslim-majority regions of Pir Panchal and Chenab Valley in Jammu.

Jammu had no less than 25,000 VDC members until a couple of years ago when many starting resigning in protest against the failure of the government to pay honorariums to all.

The VDCs were divided into committees of eight members each, including three SPOs. The SPOs alone were entitled to an honorarium of Rs 12,000 per month but they were required to equally distribute the amount among all group members.

BJP leader Sharma said Jammu and Kashmir High Court two years ago allowed the SPOs to keep the honorarium for themselves, triggering a resignation spree that turned most VDCs dysfunctional.

Sharma said the members of the village defence groups would be called guards. He said all the members would receive honorarium that would be credited to their bank accounts.

“Many VDCs are non-functional or stand disbanded. Many VDC members had submitted their resignations and deposited their weapons so that they could avail themselves of the benefits for the BPL (below poverty line) category,” he said.

“The (revival) will go a long way in meeting the genuine demands of their members who will be entitled to one rank and equal salary,” the BJP leader said.

The party demanded that the village defence groups be equipped with modern weapons so that they can “give a befitting reply to militants”.

Sharma credited Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani with launching the Doda Bachao Andolan in the 1990s to stop migration and weed out militancy. “Their struggle culminated in setting up of the VDCs in all the 10 districts of Jammu province with arms to counter terrorism,” Sharma, a former minister, said.

A rights activist in Srinagar, who requested anonymity for fear of being hounded, said many VDC members had allegedly committed atrocities.

“There are dozens of cases filed by police against them. What is the need for such a militia in Jammu when there is very little militancy?” he asked.