Hindutva related

Date page was first created: 26th February 2022, last updated: 11th May 2022.

List of material:

1. Introduction (and observations)
2. Futility of Idol worship (polytheism, such as worship of gods and goddesses
3. Articles
4. Books (for non-Muslims)
5. Recommended websites

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Introduction (and observations):

Note: observations were drawn based upon reading and reflecting upon freely available online information. Also, Hindutva has been taken to denote the following: lit. “Hindu-ness”, Hindu nationalism/right-wing ideology.

This dedicated page contains material highlighting Hindutva extremism and terrorism. Such information should help one understand the mindset of such radicalized people in order to counter and rebut their evil ideology, and how best to react to or converse with such misguided people, should the situation arise.

Hindutva fanatics and ardent followers of its ideology, especially leaders, manufacture or exploit certain events or incidents that occur in order to manipulate the emotions of people, gather and unite them together and to rally around their cause.

We call on Muslims to prioritize learning about the correct Islamic aqeedah and gaining knowledge of the methodology of the Salafus-Saalih (Pious Predecessors), rather than spending excessive amounts of time towards that which is of lesser importance and/or of little to no benefit at all. This page was created for reference purposes only and various information and knowledge regarding Tawheed, Sunnah and Eemaan and their opposites; Shirk, Bid’ah and Kufr (in order to stay away from them) can be found elsewhere on this website which one should refer to (or those listed in our Islamic Websites page).

Indeed, the threat of the Hindutva extremist ideology is very real and apparently increasing, with maniacs openly calling for genocide against Muslims alarmingly on the rise. To be fair, it is not only Muslims who are targeted, attacked and abused in India but other minorities too like Christians and Sikhs. It also comes as no surprise that Hindutva has similarities with the far-right ideology and their radicalized followers use similar tactics they do (such as spreading fear and misinformation, as well as waging a dehumanization campaign). For example, before Katie Hopkins was banned from twitter (for breaking abuse and hate rules), she was retweeting Hindutva extremist propaganda and anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan hate, whilst also being retweeted by Hindutva propagandists and apologists. Incidentally, one of her daughters is called India!

With technological advancements and increased social media channels, the path to getting radicalized online has become all the more easier. Hindutva trolls and apologists are active in various social media channels like Facebook, Youtube, Whatsapp, Twitter, Reddit, Quora, etc, posting anti-Islam and anti-Muslim propaganda like conflating ISIS with Islam and other pathetic stratagems and tactics.

Let’s not forget about the Tamil Tigers who were overwhelmingly Hindus and who were one of the pioneers of suicide bombings and had women carrying out many terrorist acts. Here’s some incidents of terrorism committed by Hindu extremists:

Murder of Mahatma Gandhi.
Murder of Rajiv Gandhi (who was Prime Minister at the time, 14 others killed by the female suicide bomber). “She approached Gandhi in public and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated a belt laden with 700 g (1.5 lb) of RDX explosives tucked under her dress.” [Ramesh Vinayak (1 February 1999). “The Nation: Terrorism: The RDX Files”. India-today.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010]. Note: This happened in May 1991, years before ISIS were founded.
Samjhauta Express bombings.
Malegaon blasts.

To learn more about the brutal history of the violent terrorist entity, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, aka Tamil Tigers), who committed terror attacks from 1980s to 2000s, a period of 25 years ending when LTTE conceded defeat, visit the following:

Learning From The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam:

https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2017/4/13/learning-from-the-liberation-tigers-of-tamil-eelam

The Sri Lankan Civil War and Its History, revisited in 2020:

https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/

An excerpt from the article above:

“Sri Lanka is 74.9 percent Sinhalese and 11.2 percent Sri Lankan Tamil. Within these two groups, Sinhalese tend to be Buddhist and Tamils tend to be Hindu, displaying significant linguistic and religious divisions. However, the strife between the grounds purportedly began much further back in Sri Lanka’s ancient settlement history. Though the Sinhalese people’s arrival in Sri Lanka is somewhat ambiguous, historians believe that the Tamils arrived on the island both as invaders and traders from India’s Chola Kingdom. These origin stories suggest that the Sinhalese and Tamil communities have experienced tension from the very beginning—not out of cultural incompatibility, but rather out of power disputes.

Note: Indira Gandhi (then Prime Minister was killed in her garden in New Delhi in a fusillade of bullets fired by two of her own Sikh bodyguards “in revenge for the attack in Amritsar”, which all aptly proves the fact that terrorism has no religion.

There’s also the Gujurat riots. According to official figures, the riots ended with 1,044 dead, 223 missing, and 2,500 injured. Of the dead, 790 were Muslim and 254 Hindu. The Concerned Citizens Tribunal Report, estimated that as many as 1,926 may have been killed. Other sources estimated death tolls in excess of 2,000. [Wikipedia]. Also, Modi was then Chief Minister of Gujurat and has been accused of condoning the violence, so no surprise the now Prime Minister has seemingly continued to stir up hatred and discord since that time, along with those aiding and abetting him like his supporters and goons, certain charity organisations, campaign and lobby groups, the rabble, unruly radicalized mobs and social media trolls.

However, despite all this, it must be said there are many decent people out there in various lands and regions who bravely call out and expose such hate, which is much appreciated.

For Muslims living in India, read and reflect upon this advice in relation to “the India hijāb row” and in particular, the situation Muslims face:
Advice to my Sisters, and the Muslims of India in General Concerning the Banning of the Hijāb in Schools and Colleges―and our Response to the Street Protests

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Futility of Idol worship (polytheism – worship of gods and goddesses

1. Futility of Idol worship (polytheism – worship of gods and goddesses:
https://islamtees.uk/2011/08/23/prophet-abraham-and-his-rebuke-concerning-the-worship-of-idols/

2. A parable from the Qur’aan on the futility of worshipping idols:
https://islamtees.uk/2011/08/01/a-parable-from-the-quraan-on-the-futility-of-worshipping-idols/

3. Refuting the Belief in Multiple Gods and Affirming Monotheism:
https://islamtees.uk/2021/01/31/refuting-the-belief-in-multiple-gods-and-affirming-monotheism/

4. Amazing Admonition to all of the Creation regarding Invoking and Worshipping others besides Allah (committing Shirk):
https://islamtees.uk/2021/01/12/amazing-admonition-to-all-of-the-creation-regarding-invoking-and-worshipping-others-besides-allah/

5. The core message of the Qur’an – to worship Allaah alone without associating any partners in His worship:
https://islamtees.uk/2017/06/24/the-core-message-of-the-quran-to-worship-allaah-alone-without-associating-any-partners-in-his-worship/

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Articles:

Jump to:
1. Hindutva extremism on the rise and moving online
2. The Rise of Hindu Radicalism
3. Hindutva Terrorism in India
4. Far-Right Terrorism is Global, but Coverage is Not: Hindu Nationalist Violence in India
5. Hindu groups attacking Christianity
6. As religious riots grow in India, critics accuse Facebook of fanning the flames
7. Anti-Muslim hate Hindutva
8. White paper on hate
9. Unmasking global islamophobia
10. Opinion: India’s politics of exclusion and hate
11. Koo: India’s Twitter alternative with global ambitions
12. Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion
13. The Two Faces of Hindutva’s Dalit Agenda
14. A Growing Alliance of Islamophobes looks to Lobby Governments
15. How India and Israel Collaborate as Oppressors-in-arms
16. CNN: In today’s India, clothing choices signal a deepening religious divide
17. The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain
18. Under the Radar – How the Hindutva Lobbying Campaign Has Extended to the US
19. India: Vigilante ‘Cow Protection’ Groups Attack Minorities
20. Police & Govt Ally With Hindu Groups Intimidating, Attacking Christians In MP, 0.29% Of State Population
21. Human Rights Watch Report: Violent Cow Protection in India – Vigilante Groups Attack Minorities
22. History: How Did Savarkar, a Staunch Supporter of British Colonialism, Come to Be Known as ‘Veer’?
23. Reading Savarkar: Was the Hindutva icon actually Hinduphobic?

The following list of articles are provided with a brief excerpt beforehand. Those who wish to read further can click on the relevant link to find out more. We appreciate the efforts of those research and investigative groups with their websites and informative articles that are warning against the extremist fascist Hindutva ideology, the causes that can lead to radicalization and the various tactics used by the Hindutva to further their cause. We hope those who wield greater power and influence in the media and communications world (news channels, columnists, editors, journalists, correspondents, etc) follow in their footsteps by behaving more responsibly.

1. Hindutva extremism on the rise and moving online

More evidence has emerged of a relentless campaign of persecution against Indian Christians after a video was released showing a Christian woman being forced to burn an image of Jesus by a mob of Hindu extremists.

In the video the men accuse the woman of being like a prostitute, claiming she was bribed to become a Christian. They tell her: “You should worship our gods and goddesses.” A second video from the same incident shows the Hindu nationalist mob, some wearing saffron headscarves, chanting “Hail Lord Ram” as a group of Christians are led away by police.

Read the full article here:
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/14486/hindutva-extremism-on-the-rise-and-moving-online

2. The Rise of Hindu Radicalism

The Evolution of Hindu Radicalism

While Hindu radicalism has deep historical roots, it continues to be shaped by regional and global events. Hinduism over the centuries has been shaped by its ability to absorb external influences and traditions. India is probably the only country where almost 1,000 years of Muslim rule did not result in a Muslim-majority population. Neither did almost four centuries of European colonialism — both direct and indirect — succeed in converting the majority of the people to Christianity. However, these did result in creating large minority communities of Muslims and Christians alongside the Hindu majority. (India has the third largest Muslim population in the world in absolute terms.)

Hindus and Muslims together fought against British imperialism in 1857. However, as Muslim power in India gave way to British rule, revivalist movements like the Deobandi and Jamaat-e-Islami began. These movements stressed on Muslim separateness, and were puritanical and exclusivist in nature. The Hindu reaction to both European colonization and Islamic revivalism was manifested through numerous Hindu revivalist movements that sprung up such as the Arya Samaj, the Brahmo Samaj, among others. Later, in the 20th century, more politically-nuanced movements intent on preserving cultural ‘Hinduness’ or ‘Hindutva’ emerged in the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) movement.

Read the full article here:
https://eeradicalization.com/the-rise-of-hindu-radicalism/

3. Hindutva Terrorism in India

In the name of protecting cows, members of extremist outfits affiliated to India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are attacking Muslims.

On June 29, a mob beat up and killed Asgar Ansari, a 45-year-old Muslim trader in the eastern state of Jharkhand, for allegedly carrying beef in his car. Three days earlier, a Muslim dairy owner, Usman Ansari, was beaten up and his house set on fire; a cow carcass was reportedly found near his house.

The two incidents are the latest in a string of attacks carried out by activists belonging to outfits like the Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal (BGRD) and its regional units as well as organizations like the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) that are part of the Sangh Parivar, a family of Hindu right-wing organizations of which the BJP is a part.

The attacks, which are illegal and being described as cow vigilantism, have surged in recent years.

Read the full article here:
https://thediplomat.com/2017/07/hindutva-terrorism-in-india/

4. Far-Right Terrorism is Global, but Coverage is Not: Hindu Nationalist Violence in India

Hindu nationalist terrorism

Earlier this month, there was a far-right terrorist shooting at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University in New Delhi, India. The perpetrator broadcast the attack live on Facebook, shouting Hindu nationalist slogans whilst opening fire. Significantly, the perpetrator targeted a crowd that had gathered to the mark the 72nd anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination. Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu nationalist who believed Gandhi to be too ‘secular’ and accommodating to India’s Muslims. Gandhi’s murderer was additionally a member of the paramilitary Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which advocates for an ethno-nationalist Hindu state.

Today, the governing party of India is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political arm of the RSS. Prior to the attack at JMI, BJP politicians have incited violence towards Muslims at public election rallies, with phrases such as ‘Shoot the traitors of India’. Some BJP politicians have taken even more extreme stances, for instance Yogi Adityanath, whom Amnesty International has described as espousing ‘hateful rhetoric that incites discrimination and hostility against minority groups, particularly Muslims’.

Read the full article here:
https://gnet-research.org/2020/02/24/far-right-terrorism-is-global-but-coverage-is-not-hindu-nationalist-violence-in-india/

5. Hindu groups attacking Christianity

Christians make up less than 0.3% of Madhya Pradesh’s population, unchanged over 70 years. Yet Hindu extremists, encouraged by the partisan role of police and administration, have amped up intimidation and attacks on schools, homes and churches. Most attacks come from Hindu fundamentalist organisations affiliated with India’s and the state’s ruling party, especially encouraged by a 2021 anti-conversion law, misinformation, and hostile social-media campaigns.

Read the full article here:
https://article-14.com/post/police-govt-ally-with-hindu-groups-intimidating-attacking-christians-in-mp-0-29-of-state-population–61fb458cf16f5

6. As religious riots grow in India, critics accuse Facebook of fanning the flames

Facebook removed from its platform a US sitting president whose words inspired people to violence in January 2021. But it hasn’t done the same with an Indian Hindu priest accused of posting hateful messages against Muslims. Several pages and profiles of Yati Narsinghanand continue to exist on the platform even as a judge rejected his bail plea by saying he is “repeatedly making comments to incite communal passions and spoiling religious harmony through social media and there is a strong possibility of serious crimes being committed in the area”.

Why the double standards? “Facebook, and western companies in general, follow two sets of rules: one for [their] home country and the other for the rest of the world,” said Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, a governmental body. In July 2020 the Commission released a report on how hate speech on social media, and specifically Facebook, fuelled the religious violence in North East Delhi during that year.

“[It is] racism of a sort for sure, as it is treating the lives and dignity of India’s minorities with little or no value,” said Teesta Setalvad, secretary of human rights organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace, which tracks hate speech and has sent several complaints to Facebook over the years.

Read the full article here:
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/religious-riots-grow-india-critics-accuse-facebook-fanning-flames

7. Anti-Muslim hate Hindutva

New Delhi: Digital platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit, and GitHub have hastened the proliferation of anti-Muslim hate that forms the architecture of Hindutva crimes in India, the Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) has said in its report.

At least 60% of the participants surveyed said they have come across content on digital platforms that incites violence against Muslims, the report titled Experiences of Muslims in India on Digital Platforms With Anti-Muslim Hate found.

The report – which involved in-depth interviews of Muslims and 213 hours of online participant observations on digital platforms – said that the digital infrastructure of Hindutva is organised around building disinformation and accelerating the circulation of hate. The data was gathered between November and December 2021.

Read full article here:
https://m.thewire.in/article/communalism/india-anti-muslim-hate-twitter-facebook-whatsapp-hindutva-modi-bjp

8. White paper on hate

In India, the largest global democracy, the propaganda infrastructures of Hindutva[iv], the political ideology that has shaped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are driven by hate, seeded, circulated, and reproduced through digital platforms[v]. Since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and subsequent electoral victory in 2019, the hate on digital platforms in India and in the Indian diaspora has proliferated exponentially. The content of digital hate driven by Hindutva has been directed at India’s religious minorities, Muslims and Christians, as well as oppressed caste communities (dalits)[vi]. Of particular significance are the extreme forms of hate that have been directed at Muslims, including calls for genocide issued by Hindutva ideologues.

Read the full article here:
https://carecca.nz/2022/01/27/care-white-paper-experiences-of-muslims-in-india-on-digital-platforms-with-anti-muslim-hate/

9. Unmasking global islamophobia

. Hate is known to impact the health of people targeted, with damaging effects on their mental health and increased incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, blood pressure abnormalities, cancer incidence, infant mortality and morbidity.

. It also leads to physical violence, as in lynchings and attacks in public places, and sexual violence, ‘a key instrument of perpetuating gendered power and control serving the purposes of racism’ and other ideologies.

. It erodes trust between people and communities. Hate also depletes the social capital of the targets, hurting their participation in community life and everyday forms of social engagement. Hand in hand with ‘ecosystems of disinformation’ it depletes democracies, by eroding the ability of citizens to participate.

. In the extreme, hate leads to forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and genocide. ‘Myanmar is an example of digital hate being a key ingredient in genocide: the deployment of tropes to kill, murder, erase entire communities,’ said Dutta.

Read the full article here:
https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/6/21408/Unmaking-Global-Islamophobia

10. Opinion: India’s politics of exclusion and hate

The campaign of hate carried out by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been driven by the narrative that illegal Muslim immigrants will be deported. This targeting of illegal Muslim immigrants part of the Hindutva agenda of the BJP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his preference for Hindu Bangladeshi migrants and the BJP considering the introduction of a bill that would offer legal rights to Hindu migrants. The stage for this politics of exclusion had been set much earlier with the Assam accord that gave legitimacy to the xenophobic response to the “other”.

Read the full article here:
https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=16959F38-137E-4781-A41E-6A1FDD07717D

11. Koo: India’s Twitter alternative with global ambitions

Koo was thrust into the spotlight last year as an alternative to Twitter amid a row between the Indian government and the US microblogging platform.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government asked the platform to block allegedly incendiary accounts – Twitter complied initially and then restored them, citing “insufficient justification”. The face-off continued as the government threatened legal action against the company’s employees in India.

…Since last year, Koo has attracted cricketers and Bollywood stars – and it expects the number of “eminent accounts”, which now number 5,000, to triple by the end of the year.

But it’s also accused of amplifying government propaganda and letting anti-Muslim hate speech go unchecked.

Read the full article here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-60194920

12. Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion

From the late 1970s to its defeat by the Government of Sri Lanka in 2009, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka. The ultimate aim of what was often considered to be one of the world’s most disciplined and efficient insurgency groups was to create an independent Tamil homeland (which they called Tamil Eelam) in the northern and eastern parts of the island. The LTTE based itself on a unique mix of Tamil nationalist, socialist, and feminist visions of a new future for the marginalized Tamil communities of Sri Lanka. The LTTE became feared for its extensive use of suicide missions, carried out by soldiers of both Hindu and Catholic backgrounds. Because of the marginalization of the Tamil-speaking Muslims from the Tamil nationalist project, none of the LTTE soldiers were Muslims.

Read the full article here:
https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-629

13. The Two Faces of Hindutva’s Dalit Agenda

Dalit identity has remained a bête noire to the Hindutva project and in the past, the right wing has avoided an open engagement with the caste question. The RSS-BJP combine assumes that the Dalits are an integral part of the communal Hindu identity, especially when it mobilises against the Muslims. By popularising the Brahmanical culture and religious artefacts as national symbols, the right wing attracts the Dalits into its fold.

However, against the efforts of the right wing, the Ambedkarite Dalits’ stiff ideological commitment, street militancy for social justice and the religious and cultural separateness have promoted them as an arch ideological counter to right wing politics. The recent nation-wide mobilisation of Dalits against the dilution of the The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act highlights their growing anger against the political establishment.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) understands the dynamic legacy of the Dalit movement in disturbing the Hindutva’s ideological rigour. Hence, to neutralise the impact of Dalit assertion on the political and social fronts, the right wing forces have improvised their tactics at both levels. On the political front, the BJP is showcasing its inclusive character; however, in the social sphere, the right wing is using anti-Dalit sentiments to consolidate its political base.

Read the full article here:
https://thewire.in/caste/the-two-faces-of-hindutvas-dalit-agenda

14. A Growing Alliance of Islamophobes looks to Lobby Governments

What really struck Hindu nationalist sensibilities hard, however, was Erdogan’s scathing indictment of the Indian government for its role in inciting the 2020 Delhi Riots, which left more than 50 Muslims dead.

“India right now has become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By who? Hindus,” said the Turkish president during a speech in Ankara last year.

Essentially, this Hindutva-Armenian-Zionist triumvirate aims to fulfill several objectives, including: pressuring the US and European Union into sanctioning Turkey and Pakistan; normalising India’s revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status; weaponising “Hinduphobia” against anti-Indian government opponents the same way pro-Israel groups have used bogus charges of anti-Semitism against their critics; providing diplomatic cover for Israel’s human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Read the full article here:
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/a-growing-alliance-of-islamophobes-looks-to-lobby-governments-52066

15. How India and Israel Collaborate as Oppressors-in-arms

Termed hasbara (“explanation”), this technique embodies a public-private partnership which links information warfare with the objectives of the Israeli state. Multifaceted and tailored to the digital age, it is deeply aware that perception shapes reality and promotes selective listening by limiting informational receptivity. As a result, Israel has been able to frame itself as a victim; one that is morally justified whenever Palestinian resistance flares up.

The Indian state – under the corrosive sway of the BJP’s Hindu nationalism – has taken a page out of the hasbara playbook. To manufacture consent and legitimise an occupation, the discourse around Kashmir has frequently been couched in terms of ‘security’ and ‘counterterrorism.’

The ‘War on Terror’ logic has provided both the Israeli and Indian state with a shared linguistic, legal and policy framework for their projects of dispossession. Palestinian and Kashmiri emancipatory cries are routinely conflated with extremism, which ultimately serves to obscure the reality of state-sponsored violence and evaporate agency from those resisting their oppression.

Read the full article here:
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/how-india-and-israel-collaborate-as-oppressors-in-arms-24847

16. CNN: In today’s India, clothing choices signal a deepening religious divide

The politicization of color

The color saffron has roots in Hinduism — one of the world’s oldest religions — and represents peace. About 80% of India’s 1.3 billion people are Hindu, and the color is seen draped on idols in the temples, tied around the neck of cows and used as street decorations during festivals.

But ever since the BJP swept to power with a Hindu nationalist agenda in 2014, the color has become increasingly politicized. Modi and his compatriots are often seen donning saffron-hued clothing and accessories at election rallies, while supporters wave the party’s flag (which is primarily saffron) or other similarly colored ones.

“The appropriation of saffron is a way of signaling that the party is not just political, but deeply rooted in religion,” said Gilles Verniers, an assistant professor of political science at India’s Ashoka University, in a phone interview.

“The color serves the purpose of a ‘uniform’ and gives BJP supporters a sense of unity and commonality.”

The BJP’s Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, is one high-profile figure who is almost always seen dressed head-to-toe in the color. Arguably one of the most polarizing figures in Indian politics, Adityanath — a former Hindu priest — is known for his provocative rhetoric against Muslims.

And while not every Hindu that wears the color espouses Hindu nationalism, when politicians dressed in saffron make statements against the country’s minorities, it emboldens far-right groups to do the same, according to historian Aditya Mukherjee.

“The religious symbolism used by the Hindu right today is a complete inversion of what Indian culture is. They have given the color a different meaning,” said Mukherjee.
“This is not what the Hindu religion stands for. And it’s certainly not an organic feeling coming from many Hindu Indians.

Read the full article here:
https://hindutvawatch.org/in-todays-india-clothing-choices-signal-a-deepening-religious-divide/

17. The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain

The Hindu right has systematically set up, or taken over, a host of organisations in the UK. They include: the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which is the overseas wing of the RSS – the fascistic ideological parent of the BJP; the Hindu Council UK; the National Hindu Students Federation; the National Council of Hindu Temples; and the charity Sewa International, which was exposed in 2002 for channelling funds to organisations which carried violent communal attacks in Gujarat.

It is also active as suave British Indian businesspeople and financial analysts, who are the other, hyper-neoliberal, face of the Modi regime – less well-known Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak-type figures. Against a background of Modi’s deepening relationship with Israel, these members of the Hindu right have been urging the Indian Government to copy Israel’s strategies – and not only militarily in Kashmir.

Read the full article here:
https://bylinetimes.com/2021/12/09/the-new-strategies-of-hindu-supremacists-in-britain/

18. Under the Radar – How the Hindutva Lobbying Campaign Has Extended to the US

A glimpse into a growing problem within the global Indian diaspora was revealed earlier this month, when the Washington Post ran an article entitled: “Under Fire from Hindu Nationalist groups, US-based Scholars of South Asia Worry About Academic Freedom”.

The authors described how American journalists, human rights activists and academics, who participated in the first ever major online conference on Hindutva (a form of Hindu nationalism) in the US – “Dismantling Global Hindutva” – were targeted with rape and death threats, while universities, including Harvard and Stanford, were subjected to nearly one million emails and thousands of spam messages.

A key player in the email campaign was the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), an innocuous sounding organisation implying official representation of Hindus among the Indian American population. But, even by HAF’s own admission, “Hindutva is not the same thing as Hinduism”.

HAF is also leading the efforts to cajole and coerce US lawmakers into supporting policies favourable for India’s ruling party – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – and the radical Hindutva movement.

Read the full article here:
https://bylinetimes.com/2021/10/21/under-the-radar-how-the-hindutva-lobbying-campaign-has-extended-to-the-us/

19. India: Vigilante ‘Cow Protection’ Groups Attack Minorities

Many Hindus consider cows sacred and most Indian states ban slaughtering cows. But in recent years, several BJP-ruled states have adopted stricter laws and policies that disproportionately harm minority communities. In February 2019, the government announced a national commission for cow protection.

These policies and the vigilante attacks have disrupted India’s cattle trade and the rural agricultural economy, as well as leather and meat export industries that are linked to farming and dairy sectors, Human Rights Watch said. The attacks, often by groups claiming links to militant outfits linked to the BJP, largely target Muslim, Dalit (formerly known as “untouchables”), or Adivasi (indigenous) communities. The inadequate response from the authorities to these attacks is hurting communities, including Hindus, whose livelihoods are linked to livestock, including farmers, herders, cattle transporters, meat traders, and leather workers, Human Rights Watch said.

In almost all of the cases documented, the police initially stalled investigations, ignored procedures, or were even complicit in the killings and cover-ups. “Police face political pressure to sympathize with cow protectors and do a weak investigation and let them go free,” said a retired senior police officer in Rajasthan. “These vigilantes get political shelter and help.”

Read the full article here:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/19/india-vigilante-cow-protection-groups-attack-minorities

20. Police & Govt Ally With Hindu Groups Intimidating, Attacking Christians In MP, 0.29% Of State Population

Bhopal: Around 6 am on 6 December 2021 in the central Madhya Pradesh (MP) town of Vidisha, Brother Anthony, principal of the St Joseph Parish School, received a WhatsApp message from a teacher, warning him that Hindu extremist groups intended to hold a rally at the school.

Brother Anthony, who was settling down in his office and preparing for the class-12 mathematics examination scheduled later in the day, notified the police and the administration of the rally planned by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), both Hindu fundamentalist organisations allied with the state’s and India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

At 12.30 pm, a mob of more than 400 forced its way into the school. “Jai Shri Ram!” they shouted, echoing a salutation that has now become a slogan used by Hindu extremists to menace minorities.

Other slogans were raised: “Dharm ki raksha kaun karega, hum karenge, hum karenge! (who will protect the religion? We will, we will!)” and “Dharmantaran nahi hone denge (we will not allow conversion).”

Then, the violence began.

Read the full article here:
https://www.article-14.com/post/police-govt-ally-with-hindu-groups-intimidating-attacking-christians-in-mp-0-29-of-state-population–61fb458cf16f5

21. Human Rights Watch Report: Violent Cow Protection in India – Vigilante Groups Attack Minorities

This report details 11 vigilante attacks that killed 14 people and the government response. It examines the link between cow protection and the Hindu nationalist political movement, and the failure of local authorities to enforce constitutional and international human rights obligations to protect vulnerable minorities. In most of the cases documented here, families of victims, with the support of lawyers and activists, were able to make some progress toward justice, but many families fear retribution and do not pursue their complaints. The report also examines the impact of the attacks and the government response on those whose livelihoods are linked to livestock, including farmers, herders, cattle transporters, meat traders, and leather workers.

In almost all of the cases, the police initially stalled investigations, ignored procedures, or even played a complicit role in the killings and cover-up of crimes. Instead of promptly investigating and arresting suspects, the police filed complaints against victims, their families, and witnesses under laws that ban cow slaughter. In several cases, political leaders of Hindu nationalist groups, including elected BJP officials, defended the assaults. In a particularly egregious case of political opportunism, after two people including a police officer were killed in mob violence in December 2018 in Uttar Pradesh state, the chief minister described the incident as an “accident,” and then went on to warn, “Illegal slaughtering, and not just cow slaughter, is banned in the entire state.”

Read the full article here:
https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities

22. History: How Did Savarkar, a Staunch Supporter of British Colonialism, Come to Be Known as ‘Veer’?

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966) – mythologised in popular imagination as ‘Veer Savarkar’ – not only refrained from participating in the freedom struggle after the British released him from prison on account of his relentless pleas for mercy, but also actively collaborated with the English rulers to whom he had declared his loyalty.

At the time when Subhas Chandra Bose was raising his Indian National Army to confront the British in India, Savarkar helped the colonial government recruit lakhs of Indians into its armed forces. He further destabilised the freedom movement by pushing his Hindutva ideology, which deepened the communal divide at a time when a united front against colonial rule was needed. Post independence, Savarkar was also implicated in Mahatma Gandhi’s murder.

Read the full article here:
https://thewire.in/history/veer-savarkar-the-staunchest-advocate-of-loyalty-to-the-english-government

23. Reading Savarkar: Was the Hindutva icon actually Hinduphobic?

Accusations of Hinduphobia in those who do not see eye-to-eye with Hindutva have reached new heights in recent years. An obscure 19th-century concept is now the default mantra for Hindutva-vadis against all critiques of their ideas.

The recent furore against the upcoming conference called “Dismantling Global Hindutva” (September 10-September 12) has made me wonder whether, ironically, these same individuals might also – if they had the patience and capacity to read his large corpus of writing – need to identify Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as Hinduphobic.

After all, a basic truth made clear in Savarkar’s writing is that Hindutva is not Hinduism. They are not equivalents. In fact, you do not have to read Savarkar all that carefully to see the clarity with which he argued that Hindus should consider “abandoning” the concept of Hinduism as part of their lexicon.

One does not need to search deep into his oeuvre to discover Savarkar’s distinction between Hindutva and Hinduism. In Essentials of Hindutva, published in 1923, he begins by clarifying that “Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva”. He declared Hinduism as one of the many “isms” that had plagued modernity, by calling it a “spiritual or religious dogma or system”.

He not only argued that Hinduism was inferior in comparison to Hindutva, he also stated that it was “more limited, less satisfactory and essentially a sectarian term”.

At the time when Subhas Chandra Bose was raising his Indian National Army to confront the British in India, Savarkar helped the colonial government recruit lakhs of Indians into its armed forces. He further destabilised the freedom movement by pushing his Hindutva ideology, which deepened the communal divide at a time when a united front against colonial rule was needed. Post independence, Savarkar was also implicated in Mahatma Gandhi’s murder.

Read the full article here:
https://scroll.in/article/1004641/reading-savarkar-was-the-hindutva-icon-actually-hinduphobic

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