It is not only through organisational efforts of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangha (HSS) or Republican Hindu Coalition that Hindutva found its strong root in foreign lands, the ideals of global Islamophobia and nationalist supremacy also gave them common grounds.
Since Rishi Sunak took over as the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of the UK, there has been enormous enthusiasm among Indians both at home and host countries. Though Sunak’s direct connection to India is limited to his in-laws- the Murthy’s, people across the country found an Indian representation in him. However, this effort to locate Indian culture in Sunak is more inclined to uphold his Hindu credential than any of his stance that seems to favour India.
An ardent supporter of Brexit and subsequently of British Nationalism, Sunak has been a devout Hindu. His cow worshipping to the flexing of sacred thread gave a sort of legitimacy to the Indian Hindu diaspora who were looking for a leader with a combination of traits that represent both western modernity and traditional Hindu values.
In the last few years, India’s transition into a majoritarian Hindu nation has been in constant conflict with modern democratic values like liberalism and secularism. So, despite several efforts, campaigns and promotions, the ideals of ‘Vishwaguru’ couldn’t contain within it the ideals that modern societies and nations adhere to. Against this backdrop, the emergence of a Hindu leader in the UK comes as a boon.
For the Indian Hindu diaspora in first-world countries like the US and the UK, Sunak is the ‘poster boy’ – An Oxford-educated supporter of merit-based privileges with broad financial and cultural entitlements sprinkled with Hindu traditions and nationalist ideals. The nationalist ideals of the Tory party that led to Brexit bear a sense of lost glory that must be revived to make Britain great again. Such a revivalist approach could be found both in Donald Trump’s US and Modi’s India. This supremacist nationalist ideals, although for his own country - the UK, with an image of a devout Hindu is what makes Sunak the favourite of the Indian Hindu diaspora.
Sunak’s selection to the top post coming months after the Leicester riots that questioned the secular credential of the UK makes it more significant. For the Hindutva forces across the world, he is another ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ (the king of Hindu hearts) after Modi. However, seeing the fanfare that Sunak has among the Indian Hindu diaspora along with their support for BJP in the home, the question comes- how did the ideals of Hindutva make such a strong root among the Indian Hindu diaspora? Is it coincidental with the emergence of Modi in India or has it been a concerted long-drawn effort of the RSS that is now bearing fruits? Several kinds of research have been conducted to find the roots of the spread. A throwback to the existing literature shows for how long it has been operative. Our focus will be mostly confined to the US and the UK as the most powerful Indian Hindu diaspora stays in these countries. Do they actually have political power or is it a Hindutva hoax?
It is wrong to say that the ideology of Hindutva, mostly promoted by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) and founded by V D Savarkar in 1920s, extended its branches across the world without any organisational effort. Researches show there have been efforts by the Hindutva groups like RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other organs for decades that resulted in spread of Hindutva ideals. One of the major organisations that actively worked behind it is Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS).
Known as a wing of RSS, this organisation was founded in January 1947. The story goes that one Jagadish Sharada Shastri on his way to Africa in a ship with other Indians once felt like reciting the RSS prayers – ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matri Bhume’. As he ended his prayers, he found several other people on board already joined him. This made him realise the importance of Sakha in the host countries. Subsequently, he formed Bharat Swayamsevak Sangha in Kenya. In a few years it was renamed as HSS.
In the UK, the HSS established its roots in 1966 whereas in the US it came into shape in 1989. According to the reports by journalist Ashutosh Bharadwaj in 2016, at least 1000 shakhas of the organisation are weekly held across the globe where people from different age groups participate and get trained.
In the backdrop of Hindu-Muslim riots in Leicester over an India-Pakistan cricket match, the significance of HSS in the UK further came to the fore. Active since 1966 in Britain, the HSS in its website says they work to ‘promote spiritual development’ and ‘love for humanity’ irrespective of religion, race and creed. However, an investigation by British Broadcaster Channel 4 in 2002 showed that it has been helping Sewa International, a Hindu charity organisation that illegally funded extremist groups to orchestrate violence in post-Godhra riots.
A report by Awaaz – South Asia Watch Limited in 2004 said that despite the claims of Sewa International to be non-sectarian and non-religious, it was actually working with HSS to “channel money to extremist Hindu right-wing fronts in India.” The report also claimed that though the British public thought they were donating for humanitarian causes like the Odisha cyclone of 1999 or Gujarat earthquake of 2001, in reality, they were feeding the extremist elements back in India.
Registered in 40 countries, HSS operates through shakhas and apparently humanitarian efforts. However, its camps have reportedly been found spreading toxic messages among the children. In 2014, Charity Commission criticised it for a video that was floated in social media where a speaker was found telling the children that Islam is “the world’s worst religion”.
The close connections of these groups with the conservative politicians in the UK have also been a matter of concern. Bob Blackman, British MP and the executive secretary of influential 1922 committee of Tory party that declared Sunak as the leader of conservatives held the Muslims of the country solely responsible for the incidents of Leicester. In 2017, he was severely criticised for hosting extremist Hindu leader Tapan Ghosh who earlier supported the Rohingya execution and blamed the population blast on Muslims.
The operative logic of HSS is promotion of Hinduphobia. This is the foreign cousin of home-bred ‘Hindu Khatre mein hai’ trope. Provoking the sentiments through social media and fake news, they use it as a weapon to attack and marginalise Muslims. They also use global Islamophobia to further their cause.
In the US, the HSS has 200 chapters across 166 cities that attract around 8.800 participants weekly, according to the reports by Vice news. This widespread prevalence of the HSS and its propaganda makes it clear where the support both for Sunak and Modi comes from. Before losing his Prime Ministership, Boris Johnson during his visit to India rode on a Bulldozer at a time when it was used regularly in Indian cities to bulldoze the houses of the marginalised people and the dissenters. This was recently echoed in a Hindu rally at New Jersey in the US where a bulldozer was blatantly displayed as a symbol of power and coercion.
This flexing of Hindu supremacy among the Indian Hindu diaspora further got strengthened through the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in the US where the Indian PM while addressing the Indian diaspora crossed all diplomatic precedence and called for ‘Ab ki baar Trump Sarkar’. This event also opened a new chapter in evoking Hindu nationalist fervour among the Indian Hindu diaspora.
In 2019, when the much celebrated ‘Howdy Modi’ happened, there was a buzz around the air that Trump was interested in addressing the Indian electorate who have become extremely influential. However, 2016 post-Election National Asian American Survey (NAAS) clearly showed that around 77% of Indian American voted for Hillary Clinton and only 16% for Trump. On top of that, constituting just 1% of the US population of which less than half can vote, Indian diaspora hardly have any power to swing the result in any of the states in the US.
So, what did the cheers of the Indian Hindu diaspora in favour of Trump mean for American politics? Firstly, it showed that both Trump and the Indian Hindu diaspora are on the same page pertaining to his hatred for Muslims and anti-migrant policies. Secondly, it was a vivid show off of Modi’s prowess and capacity to sway away the votes even in foreign lands.
There have been through several organisations working in the US to promote both Hindutva and its close cousin supremacism and conservatism, one of the major organs of which is the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC). Funded and founded by Indian-American businessman Shalabh Kumar, RHC claims ideological descendants on one hand from John F Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan; on the other, from Bhagat Singh and Modi.
In 2018, RHC organised a rally in support of Trump’s anti-migration policy and merit-based visa policy in Washington DC. The rally also called for the quicker processing of the green cards for those skilful, meritorious workers like them. Their idea of merit, a product of home-based training in caste society resembles the Trumpian calls for merit-based supremacy. They also showed their interest to raise $25 billions for the proposed US-Mexico border wall.
Moreover, the headquarters of the Viswa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) US wing in Houston since the 1970s worked in tandem with RHC to create a new identity known as Hindu American- a US citizen who is a supporter of the Hindutva project back in India. These are the people who worked hard to rehabilitate Modi in the US after his entry ban since 2005 following the Godhra riots.
So, the common ground for the supporters of Hindutva with Modi, Trump, Sunak and for that matter any right-wing supremacist force lies more in the belief system than in anything else. From merit-based privileging to embedded Islamophobia, the Indian Hindu diaspora finds its twin sister in the shape of any right-wing majoritarian force that feeds its ideological imagination. And in this context, if one of them is Hindu, nothing good like that. Celebration of Sunak among the Indian Hindu diaspora and Hindutva forces within the country must be read in this context. To place it within the ‘Indian-origin’ trope will encourage the majoritarian narrative that conflates ‘India’ with ‘Hindu’.
Let’s call a spade a spade.