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1. Factsheet: Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS) is a right-wing Hindu non-profit organization registered in New Jersey. On its website, the group states its mission is “to organize a diverse and vibrant Hindu American society that can collectively address its challenges and contribute to the welfare of the world.” As of November 2023, HSS claims it has 220 Shakhas (branches) nationwide. HSS’s website venerates the early ideologues of Hindu nationalism, including those who praised Nazi Germany. Additionally, HSS has hosted prominent figures from the RSS, an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization.
Topic:
Far Right, Hindu Nationalism, and Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS)
Political Geography:
India, North America, and United States of America

2. Factsheet: Narendra Modi

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Prime Minister of India. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat during the deadly 2002 anti-Muslim pogroms in the state, and throughout his political career, he has promoted Hindu nationalist views. Under his leadership, India has experienced a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes and hate speech, increasing polarization and violence in society, growing restrictions on the media, and the growth of Hindu nationalist groups. Critics and human rights experts have warned that under Modi’s leadership, democracy in India is under threat.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindutva, and Hindu Nationalism
Political Geography:
India and Gujarat

3. Factsheet: Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (Ekal-USA) is a Houston, Texas-based non-profit organization with over 70 chapters across multiple U.S. cities. It serves as the sister organization of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India (Ekal-India), a Hindu nationalist group that operates single-teacher schools in India. Ekal-India has been accused of promoting hatred towards religious minorities.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Non-profits, Hindu Nationalism, and Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (Ekal-USA)
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and United States of America

4. Factsheet: Yogi Adityanath

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Yogi Adityanath is a Hindu nationalist and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. Described as a “militant monk,” he has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric and inflaming communal tensions. Under his leadership, UP has instituted several discriminatory measures targeting Muslim history and Muslims themselves, including a deadly crackdown on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters. Under his direction, UP has passed a law criminalizing interfaith marriage and there has been an increase in violence against Muslims.
Topic:
Minorities, Discrimination, Islamophobia, Hindu Nationalism, and Yogi Adityanath
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

5. Factsheet: Love Jihad Conspiracy Theory

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Love Jihad is a widely debunked conspiracy theory promoted by Hindu nationalists in India to incite fear, animosity, and violence against the country’s 200 million Muslims. The theory claims that Muslim men are luring Hindu women into marriages in an effort to forcibly convert them to Islam. This conspiracy theory has been heavily promoted by Hindu far-right groups, right-wing media, and the leaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As a result of this conspiracy theory, Muslim men have been imprisoned, faced violent attacks, and killed.
Topic:
Far Right, Conspiracy Theory, Hindu Nationalism, and Love Jihad Conspiracy Theory
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

6. Factsheet: Sadhvi Rithambara

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Sadhvi Rithambara is a senior leader in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and is the founder of Param Shakti Peeth, a “charitable organization” in India, which also has two sister organizations in the US, Param Shakti Peeth Of America Foundation and Param Shakti Peeth Of America East Coast (PSPA). Rithambara is a leading figure in the Hindu nationalist movement and her anti-Muslim speeches played a central role in the demolition of the Babri Mosque in the 90s. Leaders of PSP in the US are also affiliated with far-right Hindu nationalist organizations.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Charity, Hindu Nationalism, and Sadhvi Rithambara
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and United States of America

7. Is a Genocide of Muslims Underway in India?

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Over the past decade, India has experienced a dangerous rise in Islamophobia. There are near daily episodes of harassment, public beatings and mob assaults, destruction of property, and lynchings that have created an atmosphere of fear for the country’s 200+ million Muslims. The rise in this bigotry has largely come into being with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu nationalist party. Videos of BJP politicians and right-wing Hindu religious leaders calling on Hindus to bear arms and to kill Muslims have become a normal feature in Modi’s India, where the Prime Minister has failed to condemn such rhetoric or speak out against the rising instability and divisions within society. The inaction and appeasement by the judiciary, law enforcement, and senior levels of government has signaled to the followers of Hindutva, a far-right political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy, that those in power support their efforts to carry out their mission of making India a Hindu-only nation. With this, the threat of mass atrocities is growing and becoming a dangerous reality. This report examines the situation in India utilizing Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of genocide, and finds that examples of the first 8 stages of genocide are present in India. Currently, the country is teetering at stage 8 (persecution) with the indicators of stage 9 (extermination) becoming more and more visible. Islamophobia has been central to the BJP and the Hindu nationalist movement, as their goals are reliant on the subordination and dehumanization of Indian Muslims.
Topic:
Genocide, Islamophobia, Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Muslims
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

8. Factsheet: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Founded in 1925 by K.B Hedgewar, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization. In 2020, RSS had almost 585,000 members and over 57,000 branches or sakhas, including a trade union wing (Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh), women’s wing (Rashtriya Sevika Samiti), student wing (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), and economic wing (Swadeshi Jagaran Manch). The Print, an Indian news outlet, estimates that 3 out of 4 ministers in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are members of the RSS, including the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Topic:
Far Right, Hindutva, Hindu Nationalism, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
Political Geography:
South Asia and India