New Jersey and "Hindutva": Hindu ultranationalist groups to assemble at India Day rally in New Jersey
New Jersey and "Hindutva": Hindu ultranationalist groups to assemble at India Day rally in New Jersey
Delhi 9.26pm / DC 11.56am / Lahore 8.56pm
At least two Hindu nationalist organisations will be participating in this week's India Day rally in the same New Jersey towns that saw anti-Muslim symbols paraded through the streets during a rally a year ago. 2 Months ago, Modi in DC to meet Biden.
In April 2023, the White House organized a belated celebration for Eid al-Fitar earlier this week and invited hundreds of prominent American Muslims. Then, it uninvited one of them: Mohamed Khairullah, the mayor of Prospect Park, N.J. He's the longest serving Muslim mayor in U.S., and he was given no explanation as to why.
Khairullah told NPR's Leila Fadel on Morning Edition that he contacted the Council on American Islamic Relations shortly after he was disinvited to the event. The council informed him that he was on a "secret list," which was leaked earlier this year.
"I was added to the list in 2019, which put things together in my mind because all my traveling difficulties started in 2019," Khairullah said. "So it's at this point, for some reason, I am on a secret list that the government is denying exists and it's caused me and my family trouble."
At a White House press briefing in April, when asked about Khairullah being uninvited from the event, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly deferred to the U.S. Secret Service.
For its part, the Secret Service put out a statement from spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi: "While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex this evening. Unfortunately we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House."
The White House is also noting its ongoing efforts to counter Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination. Biden administration officials held a listening session with Muslim community leaders, including the government affairs director of CAIR.
New York, not New Jersey. Winning the race for City Council in Brooklyn's District 39 is a big deal on its own: the last two people to hold that seat are the former mayor, Bill de Blasio, and the next comptroller, Brad Lander. But, the democratic candidate that was elected this time is breaking barriers.
Shahana Hanif is a Brooklyn woman making history in more ways than one.
Even in the melting pot of New York City, home to the largest Muslim population in the country, no Muslim woman had ever been elected to the City Council until 2021. In January 2021, the 32-year-old activist will also become the first South Asian councilmember and the first woman to represent her district in City Hall.
Since Modi came to power in 2014, his government has wielded the law to target every kind of critic on every platform, from students expressing opinions on social media to human rights activists investigating atrocities. Umar Khalid, the activist and Modi critic was arrested nearly three years ago and remains in jail without a trial date. By crushing students of any sort, the Modi government is stifling the political future of the country.
The secular activist rose to national prominence giving powerful speeches criticizing Modi and his Hindu supremacist political party for leading a campaign of repression previously unseen in independent India. Khalid has compared Modi to India’s British colonizers, whose centuries-long stranglehold was enabled by policies that pitted religious and ethnic groups against each other, fueling mutual suspicion and resentment.
According to scholars, the HSS is the overseas branch of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation that calls for India to be a Hindu state, while the VHPA is the American offshoot of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), considered the cultural wing of the RSS.
Until 2018, the VHP was considered a “militant religious organization” by the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook.
Ajay Shah, president of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), told MEE that his organisation was an "independent non-profit America[n] Hindu organization" and was "not part of any organization in the US or anywhere else in the world".
Meanwhile, several Indian Muslims living in central New Jersey, as well as activist groups like Hindus for Human Rights (HfHr) and the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), told MEE that they were disappointed with the decision to allow the groups to participate given what they called their affiliation with their parent groups in India as well as the events of August 2022 in which a bulldozer was included as a float in the India Day rally.
The bulldozer, decorated with posters of Indian PM Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, the state governor of Uttar Pradesh, rolled down the streets of the township in 2022.
Adityanath is known for spreading conspiracy theories about Muslims as well as for his moniker "Baba Bulldozer" due to his penchant to use bulldozers to destroy the homes of Muslims and other minorities as a means to intimidate and silence dissent.
Several local politicians as well as the national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were present at the rally in which attendees chanted "Jai Shri Ram", a chant that has now become a rallying cry for Hindu supremacists in India.
Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of HfHr, said the inclusion of the HSS and the VHPA was akin to bringing a bulldozer to the rally.
"The HSS and the VHPA are Hindu nationalist organisations with explicit roots in and links to Hindu nationalist organisations in India. It is their Hindu nationalist ideology that is fuelling India's democratic decline.
"So having HSS and VHPA in the rally is no different, for us, than including a bulldozer," Viswanath told MEE.
Likewise, Mohammad Jawad, president of IAMC, said his organisation felt slighted by the continued presence of the HSS and VHPA at the rally.
"We are extremely uncomfortable with the inclusion of HSS and VHPA in the parade. What happened last year on the streets of Edison was the result of hate and bigotry sowed by Hindu nationalism, the ideology that both these groups support and align with," Jawad told.
"Their inclusion also raises concerns within our community, as their presence perpetuates an environment that goes against the values of inclusivity and diversity that our society upholds," Jawad added.
Shah from the VHPA described the IAMC's accusations as "baseless".
"We are not sure what they are referring to when they say “concerned about what happened to the parade last year”.
"We can categorically state that our participation in the parades have been positive and well received by the community through the years. In fact, based on the anti-India and anti-Hindu agenda IAMC espouses, we are a bit surprised that they are even participating in the Indian Day parade," Shah said.
"In keeping with the core Hindu beliefs of inclusion and diversity, we welcome them and hope that their participation in the parade reflects their change of heart about taking pride in their Indian roots.
"We look forward to partnering with them to celebrate India for the betterment of the Indian diaspora," Shah said.
Several activists told MEE that they had approached both mayors of Edison and Woodbridge to discuss arrangements ahead of this weekend's rally, but only Mayor John McCormac from Woodbridge showed interest in listening to their concerns and a meeting between different stakeholders took place with him earlier this week.
According to one source with knowledge of the meeting in Woodbridge, the mayor said he understood the concerns of the Muslim community, but given that the VHPA and HSS were not banned organisations, it would amount to blocking their freedom of speech if he tried to stop them from participating.
The source added that not only is the HSS tied to the parent organisation, the RSS, they adamantly support BJP policies "despite knowing what the government is doing".
"This is why they should not be there," the source said.
The mayor and local police department assured activists that no symbols of hate would be tolerated at the event.
Harshad Patel, president of the IBA, said his organisation considered the bulldozer matter to be resolved and said his organisation was comitted to ensuring that nothing untoward would happen at the rally.
He told MEE that his organisation did not have any problem with the presence of the HSS and VHPA, and insisted that the IBA wouldn't tolerate any hate speech at the rally.
Raqib Hameed Naik, the author of the VHPA report published by the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University, said it was understandable that Muslims and Christian Americans of Indian origin would feel unsafe with the groups' presence.
“Some VHPA leaders have a history of making anti-Muslim remarks. Considering what happened last year, it's shocking to see the inclusion of such a belligerent and hateful group in this year’s parade," Naik told MEE.
"It will only make it a very unsafe, unwelcome, and hostile space for diasporic Muslims and Christians who had plans to participate," Naik added.
Viswanath from HfHR, said that her group was not satisfied by the arrangements, adding they would "be on high alert for what takes place at this year’s rally".
"It is utter hypocrisy for groups actively destroying our secular and pluralistic home country - groups whose ultimate goal is a Hindu nation where non-Hindus will be second-class citizens without equal rights, unsafe and unwelcome - to participate in this Aug 15th rally [in New Jersey]," Viswanath said.
Edison's mayor, Samip Joshi, and Mayor John McCormac's office did not reply to MEE's repeated requests for comment.
Tensions were high in Edison in the weeks and months following the bulldozer's appearance at the India Day Rally in August 2022.
The story turned Edison into a national spectacle and highlighted the town and district as a hotbed of Hindu nationalism in the United States.
According to several sources in New Jersey, the Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), designated by scholars as the overseas branches of their right-wing counterparts in India, will participate as part of a cohort of 21 organisations taking part in the annual India Day parade that marks Indian Independence Day on 15 August.
The parade, in its 19th year, organised by the Indian Business Association (IBA), is set to take place Sunday afternoon in Woodbridge and Edison. Both the HSS and VHPA would be participating in the parade.
Same weird about Pakistan, and actually still related with India. In the last 48 hours not a single American or Pakistani official has denied the veracity of the leaked document that The Intercepted reported (U.S push Pakistani official to jailing Imran Khan because afraid Imran connection with Kremlin). Also, by investigation of The Intercept, showed how complicated DC-Delhi connection, and maybe with (one of the results) ultranationalism Hindu in New Jersey.
India not only remained neutral on the war, but also rapidly surged import of Russian oil, subsidizing Moscow's war machine. Thanks gas and oil, Russia still continued Space Program. China’s exports to Russia jumped 52% in July 2023. The Russian government offers Africa only miniscule amounts of aid and very little trade. But autocratic African leaders favor Russia nonetheless because it sends them arms and mercenaries to help them stay in power regardless of public support.
The long arm of the Kremlin meddles in the geopolitics of energy in many ways — not often in the most obvious ones. With Russia having weaponized oil and gas, the West needs to act before it does the same with uranium. This quote from Don Lu in the cipher (part of investigation of The Intercept) is amusing: “I think we will actually see a change in India’s policy once all Indian students are out of Ukraine.” Reflect the rose-colored glasses with which the DC establishment views India.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has seen the document, only called the leak a “great crime.” Pakistani government is currently throttling access to the Intercept website and barring any press discussion of this story domestically. That they are going to such extraordinary lengths to stop anyone from reading it. If I understand the U.S. government’s position correctly the difference between Navalny and Imran Khan is that they like Navalny but not Khan, and they like Pakistan’s military junta but not Putin. None of the positionality seems to have anything to do with democracy.
The irony of this is these types of double standards are exactly why many Global South countries (not only Pakistan and India, also Indonesia too) tried to stay neutral in Ukraine War like Khan wanted: No one believes its about democracy since there seems to be a Western veto on democracy in their regions. Turns out its true.
Recasting himself as global peacemaker, Indonesian President Jokowi calls for leaders to reduce "egoism", early resolution to end the war. 1.5 year Ukraine - Russia war, only Jokowi (among President, Prime Minister, Chancellor) had already visited Moscow Kremlin (Putin), Zelensky in Kyiv Ukraine, even visited DC & Beijing (2 times, 2022 & 2023) since war started. Jokowi has very warm relations with Biden, Xi Jinping, and Putin.
Back to New Jersey and ultranationalist Hindu.
In January 2023, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office concluded that the incident was properly reported and classified as a biased incident but stopped short of initiating criminal charges against the organisers of the event.
Even though Edison's Mayor Joshi had condemned the incident, activists say he has not been very cooperative in considering their concerns.
"I wish he would be more cooperative with us on this matter. But he hasn't been," the activist said, noting his disappointment that Joshi did not reply to their letter to discuss the upcoming rally in his town.
In June, Joshi was part of a delegation that welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House. He also attended Modi's address to a joint sitting of Congress, which several US lawmakers boycotted on account of Modi's record on human rights in India.
Since Narendra Modi became India's prime minister in 2014, human rights groups have reported an increase in abuses against minorities, including Muslims and Christians. Since 2020, the US Commission of International Religious Freedoms (USCIRF) has called for India to be called a “country of particular concern” or CPC, over its "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom in the country".
The US state department has so far refused to change Delhi's status.
Modi enjoys support among Indian Americans, with his BJP specifically courting the estimated 4.2 million people of Indian origin living in the US for support.
"How long will these evils continue? Whom does it benefit? Friends look around and you will find that nobody has benefited from it. I appeal to all that whether it is the poison of casteism, communalism, regionalism, discrimination on social and economic issues — all these are obstacles to our way forward," Modi was said in an Aug. 15 speech marking India's Independence Day 2013—-10 years ago.
Modi's party is the political branch of a family of Hindu nationalist groups that includes the RSS. Formed in the 1920s to fight British rule, the RSS is regarded as the ideological fount of Hindu nationalism, and the BJP's ideological parent. Modi is a lifelong member. Author and journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay says the RSS swears by "cultural nationalism."
"That means it is steeped in Hindu-ness, which is distinct from Hindu the religion," Mukhopadhyay says.
The RSS says Hinduism is not a religion but a "way of life," encompassed in the term "Hindutva." A compendium of Hindu values, virtues, customs and history that the RSS says binds India in a shared heritage. This month RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat angered religious minorities when he insisted that every Indian was subordinate to Hindutva.
"The entire world knows that the people who live in India are Hindus. Just as the Germans have Germany, the English have England, and Americans have America. ... All the people of this country are Hindus," Bhagwat said.
Champat Rai is a leader of the VHP, another group that subscribes to the tenants of Hindutva. Rai says religious minorities in India all have deep Hindu roots.
"All Muslims and Christians living in India today — at some point their forefathers were Hindus. Muslims invaded India and used the sword to convert," Rai says, referring to the Mughal Dynasty that ruled India for 300 years. "So you can go to a church or a mosque, but respect Indian festivals, values and India as the motherland."
Muslims, however, do freely participate in the festivities of Hindus.
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, whose book is titled Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, says the RSS and Modi have nursed the idea of India as a wounded civilization in need of restoring: "Restoring lost dignity and the pride of Hindus, seeking revenge and taking back India to its days of glory."
He says they treat India as the metaphorical "golden bird at one point, but being looted and plundered by Muslim rulers and invaders who came to India."
In re-balancing the perceived historical imbalance, Modi himself has been accused of marginalizing Muslims. He was also accused of standing by during Hindu-Muslim riots that killed mostly Muslims in his state in 2002. The allegation was never proven but still stirs anxiety among some of India's 176 million Muslims.
Mukhopadhyay says Hindu nationalists aim to create a Hindu Rashtra, or state, and have used strong-arm tactics before.
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