Religious fanaticism has come to be identified with Islam, courtesy bin Laden.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the Hindu Right (HR) organizations in U.S. have
escaped the noose. They have, often masquerading as charities, exploited the
largesse of the large Indian diaspora (as also
ill-informed Americans) to fund their anti-minorities activities
in India. That they
operate from the shadows, and under the
garb of being
cultural organizations, have given them
undue legitimacy. The Yuvasangam (Youth Forum) planned in Indianapolis (from
October 4th to 6th) by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), an
offspring of the abominable Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), needs to be seen in this
context. What really are the RSS and its affiliates up to, and why is Hindu
fanaticism relevant in the U.S? I will try to answer this in what follows.
The recent anti-Muslim pogrom in the Western Indian state of Gujarat which
claimed more than 2000 lives is a chilling reminder of the Nazi holocaust.
Human Rights Watch (HRW
)
observed: "What happened in Gujarat was
not a spontaneous uprising, it was a carefully orchestrated attack against
Muslims. The attacks were planned in advance and organized with extensive
participation of the police and state government officials ... The groups most
directly involved in the violence against Muslims include the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (World Hindu Council, VHP), the Bajrang Dal, the RSS and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that heads the Gujarat state (as well as Indian national)
government. Collectively, they are known as the sangh parivar, or family of
Hindu nationalist organizations ... "
Soon after the pogrom, the RSS declared
: "Let the Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill
of the majority." Shocking? Not really, for this is only a paraphrase of what
M.S.Golwalkar, their second President, said: "To keep up the purity of the Race
and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the
Semitic Races - the Jews ... Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it
is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be
assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn
and profit by ... in one word, they (Muslims) must cease to be foreigners or
may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation claiming
nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even
citizen's rights." And the VHP international working President Ashok Singhal
proclaimed, "We were successful in our
experiment of raising Hindu consciousness, which will be repeated all over the
country now ... People say I praise Gujarat. Yes I do." Waxing eloquent about
how whole villages had been 'emptied of Islam', he went on to threaten
the Muslims that unless they behave, "they will have to stay in
[refugee] camps across the country", in a veiled reference to the more than
98,000 Muslims languishing in squalid camps. The ruling BJP hopes to exploit
this communal polarization to further its grip on power, as a senior BJP leader
revealed, "if [Gujarat Chief Minister] Modi stands today from
any constituency in India, Hindus will vote for him."
The RSS/VHP's claim to represent the Hindus ruffled quite a few feathers here.
Kanwal Rekhi, global chairman of The IndUS Entrepreneurs, an organization of
South Asian business-people, wrote in the Wall Street
Journal: "Many overseas Indian Hindus - including some in this country -
finance religious groups in India in the belief that the funds will be used to
build temples, and educate and feed the poor of their faith. Many would be
appalled to know that some recipients of their money are out to destroy
minorities (Christians as well as Muslims) and their places of worship." He
further suggested that the Indian Prime Minister could stem the rot by labeling
them terrorists. In June this year, while testifying to the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom, Robert M. Hathaway, director of
the Asia Programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
(Washington, DC) demanded an inquiry into the HR's fund-raising activities in
the US. The recent expose of the
HR sources of funding in the US reveals the flagrant misuse of funds collected
in the name of charity to promote religious bigotry. For instance, the India
Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), one of the most prominent charities, has
donated $2,50,000 in the last four years to Sewa Bharati Madhyakshetra, an RSS
affiliate, which claims to "protect the tribal people from subversion, and
integrate them into the mainstream." Noted anti-communal activist Teesta
Setalvad
reports that several of the Dalits and
tribals have been put on the HR's payroll for a monthly honorarium of Indian
Rupees 1500 ($30) or more. When seen in context with the large-scale
participation, for the first time, of the tribals and Dalits (the social
outcasts in the Hindu caste system) in the Gujarat pogrom, IDRF does seem to
have blood on its hands. As one moves from the U.S. to Britain,
VHPA becomes VHP (UK), but the modus operandi remains the same.
Gautam Appa from the London School of Economics reports
that the contribution of VHP (UK) and HSS to "the work of the Sangh
Parivar in India in terms of propaganda and fund raising is not insignificant.
According to the charity commissioner's records, the two main charities
associated with VHP (UK) and the HSS had collected nearly one million pounds in
the last financial year. It is common knowledge that a large chunk of the overt
and covert collection ends up in India in the hands of the Sangh Parivar."
In the aftermath of the WTC attacks, President Bush issued an
executive order on terrorist financing, "blocking property
and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or
support terrorism." He went on to impose financial sanctions on 27 terrorists
(individuals and organizations). If one goes by the FBI definition of terrorism
, as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or
property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any
segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives", the Hindu
fanatic organizations listed above obviously fit the bill. As for the legal
interpretation, Mr Hathaway says,
"If the money was used to foment violence, it could fall under US
anti-terrorism statutes."
The HR's brand of fanaticism is no less evil than that of bin Laden's. It would
be foolhardy to single out the Muslim fanatics while exonerating their equally,
if not more, egregious Hindu brethren. Letting a free run to the HR will not
only claim more Muslim lives in India, but selective targeting of Muslims and
the bitterness it entails will also strengthen the Muslim fanatics. The HR
hasn't declared war on America, but it is no pushover either. A few months
back, the American Museum of Natural History canceled the screening of an award
winning documentary by Anand Patwardhan, after it threatened violence. A
stunning capitulation to religious terrorism, even as a War on Terror is
on! It will be a tragedy if the US government doesn't wake up to the
machinations of the RSS/HSS/VHP. In the interim, we could spread the message in
our respective communities.
Notes:
Ra Ravishankar
September 24, 2002