The long arms of Hindutvadi supremacists are troubling
By Habib Siddiqui
How long are the arms of Hindutvadi fascists? Recently, messages urging British Hindus to vote against
the British Labour Party in the general election are being circulated on
WhatsApp, raising concerns about the chat app's role in spreading divisive
political content. Sky News has seen more than 20
separate messages shared on WhatsApp using the app's "forward"
function.
One begins by saying: "Pass this to every
TRUE Indian," before going on to claim that "there are now no excuses
left for any Indian to still be with the Labour Party". It is not
difficult to understand that by ‘true’ Indian what is meant is a Hindu who is
proud of Hindutvadi supremacist agenda that is promoted by the fascist Sangh
Parivar and its supremo – prime minister Narendra Modi of India.
Activists directly
linked to India’s ruling Hindutvadi supremacist party, the BJP, are behind those
messages. They have vowed
to campaign on behalf of the Conservative Party – raising concerns about
attempted foreign interference in next month’s UK general election.
The campaign
has alarmed some Labour Party MPs standing for reelection, who say the prospect
of foreign interference by “religious hardliners” could stir up inter-community
tensions.
In July (2019), Canadian officials warned of potential election interference from the BJP government in Canada’s upcoming elections. In a report, the civil servants accused India and China of trying to promote sympathetic candidates and spread misinformation.
Jaskaran Singh, former director at the World Sikh Organization of Canada said: "Top Canadian security experts confirmed what the Sikh community has always known – that India, currently under BJP rule, is using community pressure, media manipulation and other tactics to pressure and malign the Sikh community in the hopes of influencing the outcome of another country's election results."
It is extremely
unusual for a group explicitly tied to a foreign political party to openly
declare its intent to campaign for a specific British political party during an
election. But obviously, not so with the empowered pujaris (devotees) of
the Hindutvadi supremacist ideology that want to transform India into a Hindu
Rashtra (state), much in contrast to the state constitution.
OFBJPUK, founded in 1992, also wants to bring
politics to Hindu temples in the UK, thus violating rules set by the Charity
Commission. The Charity Commission has intervened in the issue of political
activity by Hindu temples before. Just before the 2015 and 2017 general
elections, the National Council of Hindu Temples (NCHT) sent out emails urging
Hindus to vote Conservative. The Charity Commission intervened on both
occasions and forced the NCHT to withdraw its advice.
Last month the NCHT
also sent a letter to Jeremy Corbyn accusing the Labour Party of “anti-Indian
racism”. It is a false accusation
against the Labor Party and its outspoken leader Corbyn. The Labor Party is
neither anti-Indian nor it is pro-Pakistan.
The reason that the Labour
Party MPs are targeted this time is simple:
it passed an emergency
motion in the parliament which was perceived as criticizing India's conduct
over the contested territory of Kashmir. OFBJPUK says it aims to “spread a positive message of the BJP
Government in India” led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who has attracted recent
controversy and international condemnationby stripping the disputed territory of Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status. The residents of Kashmir are now living under severe lockdown, with TV channels cut, curfews and hundreds of thousands of troops deployed to the region. The
state's former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reportedly remains under house
arrest at a nearby guesthouse while many politicians are behind the prison
walls.
Kashmir has obviously
become the litmus test by which Modi and his supporters overseas are now trying to distinguish who is pro-India and who
is not. In so doing, they have no qualms about twisting facts and trying to buy
influence from likeminded politicians that have similar history and/or agenda
for promoting division along racial and religious lines.
In the last week of
October 2019, a delegation of European Members of Parliament (MEPs) visited Indian-administered Kashmir in a carefully coordinated,
invitation-only, all expenses paid trip. It
was the first visit by any foreign delegation since the ruling BJP revoked the
region's special status in August.
Many outsiders who have been anxiously waiting for any news
about daily lives of millions of Kashmiris there would have welcomed such a
trip by the MEPs. As it turns out, however, most of the nearly 30 MEPs – known for their rabid and demented Islamophobia – were from far-right, anti-immigration and Eurosceptic
(i.e., ultra-nationalists) parties, including Marine Le Pen's French National
Rally, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Brexit Party. Poland's
ruling Law and Justice party, which is another organization known for its abysmal
racist views was also represented.
The MEPs did
neither meet with Abdullah nor with any of the lawmakers there but met with
local traders and students at a high-end hotel. They met with Modi who tweeted:
“Fruitful interactions with MPs from
the European Parliament. We exchanged views on boosting India-EU ties, the need
to come together to fight terrorism and other issues. I spoke about steps being
taken by the Government of India to boost ‘Ease of Living.’”
As expected
from such a charade, the trip ended with a press conference in which the MEPs
commended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against "the global
menace" of terrorism.
We are not surprised!
Indian opposition parties, other MEPs and Kashmiri activists were among
those who criticized the trip as a publicity stunt, accusing the BJP government
of adding insult to injury. British MEP Theresa Griffin cried out foul and
tweeted that the group of far-right MEPs that visited Kashmir were not in any
way an 'official' delegation. They do not speak for the European Parliament."
Her views contrasted Modi’s assertion.
"This was an unofficial visit fostered through non-state
interactions," said Eviane Leidig, an academic at the Center for Research
on Extremism in Oslo. "This is how Hindutva (the Hindu supremacist
ideology) operates in India - through a vast apparatus of different organizations,
think-tanks and advocacy groups. This decentralized structure allows the
government to distance itself from being actively involved in Hindutva mobilization
efforts and divert attention from its involvement."
Aadita Chaudhury, the Toronto-based academic who has studied the common
roots of Hindutva and white supremacism rather closely, said to Al
Jazeera, "Ideas are exchanged at these sorts of events. It wasn't just
about showing that things in Kashmir are 'normal'." "It was a visit
to show what their policies look like when they are implemented and how you can
get around democratic norms to impose, basically, fascism, and still call
yourself a democracy."
The "personal" trip of the MEPs was
organized by two think tanks - the Delhi-based International Institute for
Non-Aligned Studies and the Women's Economic and Social Think Tank ( WESTT),
based in Brussels. The visit was led by self-proclaimed "investment
business broker" Madi Sharma, who recently wrote a column titled: "Why demolishing Article 370 is both a victory
and a challenge for Kashmiri women."
As is becoming rather clear these days the
behind-the-scenes efforts by pro-BJP parties in the western
world reveal a small part of a much wider apparatus
employed by the Modi government as it pursues a Hindutvadi supremacist agenda.
Modi needs racists and bigots from the likes of Le Pen in France to the likes
of Trump in the USA to support his fascist agenda for India. The fascists in
Europe also need a successful leader – much like the twice elected Modi - to showcase and provide meanings to their
depraved case of justifying racism, bigotry and intolerance.
Supremacists are a
threat to our civilization. They have found common grounds to unite and kindle
the flames of intolerance. Published reports suggest that the US Christian
‘fundamentalists’, some linked to Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, have poured at least $50m of ‘dark money’ into
Europe over the past decade – boosting the far right. We are told by rights groups that that's
just the tip of the iceberg!
Leidig, in Oslo,
said to Al Jazeera: "European right-wing extremists share in common with
Modi's Hindutva an Islamophobic and anti-Muslim narrative. In Europe, it's
especially prominent with anti-Muslim immigrant rhetoric, whereas in India it's
directed against the Muslim-majority in Pakistan and Bangladesh… By supporting
the Modi government's actions in Kashmir, it reaffirms a commonality between
the European and Indian far right that views Islamic terrorism as a shared
global threat. It allows these MEPs to look like they're strong on defending
against Islamic terrorism, which often gets used to promote Islamophobia."
Anti-Muslim sentiment in India has seen hate crimes rise, with a spate of killings and reports of widespread harassment - abuse which has alarmed the UN.
Alexander Reid Ross, a US-based lecturer and author of Against the Fascist Creep, told Al Jazeera, "Under Modi, there have been lynching as well as increased institutional oppression.” "That excites and inspires the far right because they want the everyday privilege of being an oppressive power. Beyond just pushing them off the main stage, there's also something about shutting off people's internet access and silencing the opposition. The far right see this method of oppressing the Kashmiri population as particularly useful."
Anti-Muslim sentiment in India has seen hate crimes rise, with a spate of killings and reports of widespread harassment - abuse which has alarmed the UN.
Alexander Reid Ross, a US-based lecturer and author of Against the Fascist Creep, told Al Jazeera, "Under Modi, there have been lynching as well as increased institutional oppression.” "That excites and inspires the far right because they want the everyday privilege of being an oppressive power. Beyond just pushing them off the main stage, there's also something about shutting off people's internet access and silencing the opposition. The far right see this method of oppressing the Kashmiri population as particularly useful."
The invited MEPs
pledged to support the Indian government's fight against "terrorism",
and to take their findings back to the European Parliament. Not a single word
was uttered by those pathetic sycophants condemning gross violations of human
rights in Kashmir.
Since the dawn of
history, the tactics of every usurper has been to falsify narratives by
dehumanizing its victims. Modi is no different. The struggle of ordinary Kashmiris
for their legitimate rights is now conveniently dumped as ‘terrorism’ while Modi’s
own evil designs and savage measures that rob, rape, ravage and kill are falsely
publicized as necessary means towards boosting the ‘Ease of Living’ of Kashmiris. Who’s
fooled by such oxymoronic narratives?
The long arms of the Hindutvadi
supremacists have surely reached the shores of the Atlantic and are going to muddy
its water for a foreseeable future unless these are severed for the greater
good of humanity. As is often said but not so often put to practice, one only
needs to follow the trail of the saffron money to find the criminals that poison
our world with intolerance. Once the source of money is eliminated an evil and
bankrupt ideology is bound to crumble on its own.
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