Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
The RSS is a shadowy, discriminatory group that seeks to establish a Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu Nation. The group is considered the radical ideological parent group of India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party – the Indian Peoples Party (BJP). The RSS is a Hindu nationalist movement, a right wing group, that was founded in 1925. Their philosophy, called Hindutva, was termed fascist by Communists, and their main demand of the central government was that it stop appeasing Muslims. Hindutva has been translated to mean variously: Hindu pride, patriotism, fundamentalism, revivalism, chauvinishm, or fascism. The group self-justifies by “asserting the natural rights
THREAT GROUP PROFILE META DATA & ANALYSIS
Group Alias: Sangh (National Volunteer Corps), RSS
Intel Analysis: The group maintains no membership records, no bank accounts, and pays no income tax. As the RSS has no corporate organization, financial contributions are made to Sangh-affiliated groups as charities. The RSS was banned in 1948 following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by an ex-GSS member, Nathuram Godse. The ban was lifted the following year. Since then, the group has gained popularity, and begat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely considered the political arm of the GSS, that now heads the central government of India.
Group Activities: Violence has been a strategy for the Sangh movement. It is often couched as a method of self-defense against minority groups. Hindutva has been clear about the need for violence, particularly communal riots. The Sangh has incited rioting to cause further chasms between religions, and thus a further separation of religions, and to rally the Hindu community around the philosophy of Hindutva. On December 6, 1992, RSS members, among others, attacked and destroyed the Muslim Babri Mosque, believing that it was built on the site of a destroyed Hindi temple that commemorated the birthplace of Rama, a mythological figure that was the reincarnation of Vishnu, a Hindu god. Authorities contend that the destruction was a pre-meditated attack by Hindu nationalist parties. Religious rioting broke out after the destruction of the mosque between Hindus and Muslims throughout India. And, for this reason the BJP rose in to power. In 1998, violence against Christian minorities escalated with the BJP party coming to power. From January 1998 to February 1999, over 116 attacks against the Christian community in India were reported. The Gujarat Genocide of 2002, however, is the most planned hate crime the group has perpetrated as yet. Reports indicate that more than 2,000 Muslims were massacred and their homes and shops burnt in this attack. In the end, some 150,000 Muslims were left homeless. Human Rights Watch specifically named the RSS, among other nationalist parties and groups, as responsible for the attack. A dozen members attacked 2 American Christian missionaries in January 2003.
Individuals Involved: Dr. KB Hedgewar: Founder Golwalkar: Second Supreme Leader of RSS who celebrated Nazism for purging Germany of Jews as an “expression of ‘national pride at its highest’” BS Moonje: mentor of Hedgewar. Met with Mussolini to study Italian fascism in order to duplicate it in India.
Operating Region: India
Strength: The RSS is only open to male, primarily upper caste, membership. Members are called swayamsevaks (volunteers) who are trained from childhood in local shakhas (cells) on the group’s ideologies and politics.
Bibliography: Gang Attacks American Missionary in India Reuters, Jan 15, 2003, 3:18 AM ET
Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines Ouch, Something seems wrong!! Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Foreign Exchange of Hate: IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva
Status: Active
Date posted: April 26, 2014
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