Mahendra Kumar (died 25 April 2020) was an Indian political and social activist from Karnataka. He served as the convener of the Karnataka unit of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu youth organisation affiliated with the Sangh Parivar.
Kumar was reported to have been associated with the attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka on 14 September 2008. According to his own account, he was held in Mangalore for 42 days before being released on conditional bail by Karnataka High Court Justice Ashok B. Hinchigeri on 25 October 2008. He stated that he had been used as a scapegoat by the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government and the Sangh Parivar leadership to manage the fallout from the attacks. While denying that Catholic churches had been targeted by his group, he reportedly accepted responsibility for attacks on prayer halls belonging to the New Life Fellowship Trust, though at a later date he denied having accepted such responsibility. The Bajrang Dal stated that it was not opposed to Christianity in the region but was reacting to alleged forcible conversions.
Kumar resigned from the Bajrang Dal on 1 October 2008. He attributed his decision to an incident in which a Hindu woman who had attempted suicide with her three children was saved by Christian missionaries. Reflecting on the experience, he remarked that life was more important than dharma and expressed a wish to work towards a society that valued life over religion. He also said that during his time in jail he had read several literary works, and concluded that the activities he had been involved in were politically motivated.
In February 2011, following the publication of commission reports into the 2008 attacks, Kumar publicly apologised for the violence and criticised the BJP government on grounds of corruption. On 21 February 2011, he joined the Janata Dal (Secular), marking a shift in his political affiliation. He died on 25 April 2020.
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Mahendra Kumar.