Pieter Friedrich is an analyst of South Asian affairs specializing in the study of the past and present of the Indian subcontinent. Visit him online at www.PieterFriedrich.net.
The RSS hoped to become “the core around which society itself would become strengthened and cohes... more The RSS hoped to become “the core around which society itself would become strengthened and cohesive,” explains journalist Hartosh Singh Bal. It was intended to provide a foundation for the country by becoming a predominant group with a hand in every aspect of life in India. Under Bhagwat’s leadership, today the RSS operates as a state within a state. It is essentially, a shadow government. It is more than just that, argues novelist Arundhati Roy. “No longer a shadow state or a parallel state, it is the state,” she writes. “Day by day, we see examples of its control over the media, the police, the intelligence agencies. Worryingly, it appears to exercise considerable influence over the armed forces, too.”
It has taken decades of quiet, hard work for the RSS to achieve this level of social and political control. For a long time, the paramilitary was busy laboring at the state level. In 2002, for instance, Roy reported that “the police, the administration and the political cadres at every level” had been “systematically penetrated” in the state of Gujarat. This is where Modi first cut his teeth as a BJP politician. It is also where the RSS conducted its first pogrom of the 21st Century, which the former leader of the VHP called a “successful experiment which will be repeated all over the country.”
“The traditional muscle power of the BJP has always been the RSS,” said a former US ambassador to India. “The RSS can survive without the BJP but the BJP cannot exist without the RSS. This inextricably links the BJP to the RSS’s Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) agenda. If the BJP does not toot the Hindutva horn, the RSS will not mobilize the Hindu voters.”
Today, however, the RSS’s role is much broader than merely mobilizing voters. It doesn’t just provide boots on the ground to help win elections — it pulls the strings of the party’s elected officials. Indian attorney AG Noorani calls the BJP “a creature of the RSS,” adding: “Without it the BJP will collapse. Not only does the RSS provide the muscle, cadres who constitute the indispensable foot soldiers during elections, but also the top officials.”
The March 2020 massacre of Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan sent shockwaves t... more The March 2020 massacre of Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan sent shockwaves through the global Sikh community. When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed credit, they said their motive was revenge for Hindu nationalist actions in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime swiftly blamed the Kabul massacre on Pakistan. Yet is the official narrative to be trusted?
As Hindu nationalism dominates New Delhi, all of India's minorities - including Sikhs - are caught in the cross-hairs of the violent religious nationalist movement. The movement seeks to swallow up all the nations of South Asia and spit out a Hindu supremacist super-state called "Akhand Bharat" (Undivided India). Guided by this desire, the movement has long viewed Afghanistan as a "second front" for its regional proxy wars.
Powerful nations have often manufactured reasons for wars that lead to catastrophic unintended consequences and decades of destructive blowback. The world is left to deal with mass displacement, flows of refugees, and untold human tragedy. The circumstances behind the Kabul massacre offer the global community a chance to witness the potential launch of a similar script as laboratories of terror are replicated and set loose by rogue actors.
In 2019, India's ruling BJP apparently entered the temple-building business after the Supreme Cou... more In 2019, India's ruling BJP apparently entered the temple-building business after the Supreme Court of India issued a judgment in a land dispute — but what is the background of the Ayodhya dispute and why is it so foundational to the rise of the BJP?
The state-sponsored terror in Kashmir and the atrocities in the rest of the country in the name o... more The state-sponsored terror in Kashmir and the atrocities in the rest of the country in the name of Hindu supremacy apparently do not fall under the purview of Angela Merkel's agreement with Narendra Modi to jointly counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism.
As Modi tore up the contract between India and Kashmir, he marched tens of thousands of troops in... more As Modi tore up the contract between India and Kashmir, he marched tens of thousands of troops into that small northern region—a region approximately the same size as Austria. Now, Kashmir is behind an iron curtain.
Tracing the history of Hindu rulers of Muslim subjects, the RSS's agenda of ethnic cleansing, the... more Tracing the history of Hindu rulers of Muslim subjects, the RSS's agenda of ethnic cleansing, the Hindu nationalist agenda to not only absorb J&K but the entire subcontinent, and how Kashmiris have been denied a voice in Kashmir's political destiny for centuries.
Germany’s Ambassador to India, Sir Walter J Lindner, shocked countless Indians by meeting with Ra... more Germany’s Ambassador to India, Sir Walter J Lindner, shocked countless Indians by meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on 17 July 2019 at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Maharashtra — posing beneath a portrait of MS Golwalkar. Within days, it became an international scandal.
Sunita Singh Gaur of Ramkola, Uttar Pradesh, India secured for herself a place in history when sh... more Sunita Singh Gaur of Ramkola, Uttar Pradesh, India secured for herself a place in history when she soared to international infamy after an explicit social media summons for “Hindu brothers” to gangrape Muslim “mothers and sisters.”
The jaw-dropping demand might have attracted little attention if it were not for Gaur’s role as head of the Ramkola chapter of the Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even then, it likely would have been dismissed as an aberration – the freakish ramblings of some bigoted crackpot who managed to slip unvetted into a party leadership role – if it were not remarkably consistent with the actions of some of the most notorious members of her party and the Hindutva ideology upon which it was founded.
The emergence of India as a fascist nation ruled by the BJP with Modi as its figurehead is no sur... more The emergence of India as a fascist nation ruled by the BJP with Modi as its figurehead is no surprise considering the origins of the BJP. Nor is it a surprise considering the identity of those unmarried, fanatically devoted party workers and their army of youngsters who provide the BJP’s infrastructural base. Nor is it a surprise considering the history of Modi himself.
The suffering of the Kerala nun and the responses of religious and political figures exemplifies ... more The suffering of the Kerala nun and the responses of religious and political figures exemplifies the situation of Indian women in the 21st century. While the West has become all too familiar with issues of abuse in Europe and the Americas, far less attention is paid to the East. India, in particular, is the site of not only some of the most extreme examples of abuse of females but also of the most pervasive impunity for abusers.
What is the fruit produced by the Hindutva tree? From the seeds sown by Savarkar, what harvest ha... more What is the fruit produced by the Hindutva tree? From the seeds sown by Savarkar, what harvest has been reaped? After Golwalkar’s pivotal leadership of the RSS and founding of the VHP, did these outfits whither or flourish?
How Dalits are still, today, waging a centuries-old struggle against a system which denies them t... more How Dalits are still, today, waging a centuries-old struggle against a system which denies them the basic dignity of identification as human beings on an equal level with all other people. How Dalits are facing down a systematic attempt at dehumanization. How Dalits are standing up today to demand recognition of their human dignity.
The story of the world's longest hunger-striker, Irom Sharmila, who refused to eat for 16 years t... more The story of the world's longest hunger-striker, Irom Sharmila, who refused to eat for 16 years to protest India's Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
The RSS hoped to become “the core around which society itself would become strengthened and cohes... more The RSS hoped to become “the core around which society itself would become strengthened and cohesive,” explains journalist Hartosh Singh Bal. It was intended to provide a foundation for the country by becoming a predominant group with a hand in every aspect of life in India. Under Bhagwat’s leadership, today the RSS operates as a state within a state. It is essentially, a shadow government. It is more than just that, argues novelist Arundhati Roy. “No longer a shadow state or a parallel state, it is the state,” she writes. “Day by day, we see examples of its control over the media, the police, the intelligence agencies. Worryingly, it appears to exercise considerable influence over the armed forces, too.”
It has taken decades of quiet, hard work for the RSS to achieve this level of social and political control. For a long time, the paramilitary was busy laboring at the state level. In 2002, for instance, Roy reported that “the police, the administration and the political cadres at every level” had been “systematically penetrated” in the state of Gujarat. This is where Modi first cut his teeth as a BJP politician. It is also where the RSS conducted its first pogrom of the 21st Century, which the former leader of the VHP called a “successful experiment which will be repeated all over the country.”
“The traditional muscle power of the BJP has always been the RSS,” said a former US ambassador to India. “The RSS can survive without the BJP but the BJP cannot exist without the RSS. This inextricably links the BJP to the RSS’s Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) agenda. If the BJP does not toot the Hindutva horn, the RSS will not mobilize the Hindu voters.”
Today, however, the RSS’s role is much broader than merely mobilizing voters. It doesn’t just provide boots on the ground to help win elections — it pulls the strings of the party’s elected officials. Indian attorney AG Noorani calls the BJP “a creature of the RSS,” adding: “Without it the BJP will collapse. Not only does the RSS provide the muscle, cadres who constitute the indispensable foot soldiers during elections, but also the top officials.”
The March 2020 massacre of Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan sent shockwaves t... more The March 2020 massacre of Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan sent shockwaves through the global Sikh community. When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed credit, they said their motive was revenge for Hindu nationalist actions in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime swiftly blamed the Kabul massacre on Pakistan. Yet is the official narrative to be trusted?
As Hindu nationalism dominates New Delhi, all of India's minorities - including Sikhs - are caught in the cross-hairs of the violent religious nationalist movement. The movement seeks to swallow up all the nations of South Asia and spit out a Hindu supremacist super-state called "Akhand Bharat" (Undivided India). Guided by this desire, the movement has long viewed Afghanistan as a "second front" for its regional proxy wars.
Powerful nations have often manufactured reasons for wars that lead to catastrophic unintended consequences and decades of destructive blowback. The world is left to deal with mass displacement, flows of refugees, and untold human tragedy. The circumstances behind the Kabul massacre offer the global community a chance to witness the potential launch of a similar script as laboratories of terror are replicated and set loose by rogue actors.
In 2019, India's ruling BJP apparently entered the temple-building business after the Supreme Cou... more In 2019, India's ruling BJP apparently entered the temple-building business after the Supreme Court of India issued a judgment in a land dispute — but what is the background of the Ayodhya dispute and why is it so foundational to the rise of the BJP?
The state-sponsored terror in Kashmir and the atrocities in the rest of the country in the name o... more The state-sponsored terror in Kashmir and the atrocities in the rest of the country in the name of Hindu supremacy apparently do not fall under the purview of Angela Merkel's agreement with Narendra Modi to jointly counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism.
As Modi tore up the contract between India and Kashmir, he marched tens of thousands of troops in... more As Modi tore up the contract between India and Kashmir, he marched tens of thousands of troops into that small northern region—a region approximately the same size as Austria. Now, Kashmir is behind an iron curtain.
Tracing the history of Hindu rulers of Muslim subjects, the RSS's agenda of ethnic cleansing, the... more Tracing the history of Hindu rulers of Muslim subjects, the RSS's agenda of ethnic cleansing, the Hindu nationalist agenda to not only absorb J&K but the entire subcontinent, and how Kashmiris have been denied a voice in Kashmir's political destiny for centuries.
Germany’s Ambassador to India, Sir Walter J Lindner, shocked countless Indians by meeting with Ra... more Germany’s Ambassador to India, Sir Walter J Lindner, shocked countless Indians by meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on 17 July 2019 at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Maharashtra — posing beneath a portrait of MS Golwalkar. Within days, it became an international scandal.
Sunita Singh Gaur of Ramkola, Uttar Pradesh, India secured for herself a place in history when sh... more Sunita Singh Gaur of Ramkola, Uttar Pradesh, India secured for herself a place in history when she soared to international infamy after an explicit social media summons for “Hindu brothers” to gangrape Muslim “mothers and sisters.”
The jaw-dropping demand might have attracted little attention if it were not for Gaur’s role as head of the Ramkola chapter of the Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even then, it likely would have been dismissed as an aberration – the freakish ramblings of some bigoted crackpot who managed to slip unvetted into a party leadership role – if it were not remarkably consistent with the actions of some of the most notorious members of her party and the Hindutva ideology upon which it was founded.
The emergence of India as a fascist nation ruled by the BJP with Modi as its figurehead is no sur... more The emergence of India as a fascist nation ruled by the BJP with Modi as its figurehead is no surprise considering the origins of the BJP. Nor is it a surprise considering the identity of those unmarried, fanatically devoted party workers and their army of youngsters who provide the BJP’s infrastructural base. Nor is it a surprise considering the history of Modi himself.
The suffering of the Kerala nun and the responses of religious and political figures exemplifies ... more The suffering of the Kerala nun and the responses of religious and political figures exemplifies the situation of Indian women in the 21st century. While the West has become all too familiar with issues of abuse in Europe and the Americas, far less attention is paid to the East. India, in particular, is the site of not only some of the most extreme examples of abuse of females but also of the most pervasive impunity for abusers.
What is the fruit produced by the Hindutva tree? From the seeds sown by Savarkar, what harvest ha... more What is the fruit produced by the Hindutva tree? From the seeds sown by Savarkar, what harvest has been reaped? After Golwalkar’s pivotal leadership of the RSS and founding of the VHP, did these outfits whither or flourish?
How Dalits are still, today, waging a centuries-old struggle against a system which denies them t... more How Dalits are still, today, waging a centuries-old struggle against a system which denies them the basic dignity of identification as human beings on an equal level with all other people. How Dalits are facing down a systematic attempt at dehumanization. How Dalits are standing up today to demand recognition of their human dignity.
The story of the world's longest hunger-striker, Irom Sharmila, who refused to eat for 16 years t... more The story of the world's longest hunger-striker, Irom Sharmila, who refused to eat for 16 years to protest India's Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
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It has taken decades of quiet, hard work for the RSS to achieve this level of social and political control. For a long time, the paramilitary was busy laboring at the state level. In 2002, for instance, Roy reported that “the police, the administration and the political cadres at every level” had been “systematically penetrated” in the state of Gujarat. This is where Modi first cut his teeth as a BJP politician. It is also where the RSS conducted its first pogrom of the 21st Century, which the former leader of the VHP called a “successful experiment which will be repeated all over the country.”
“The traditional muscle power of the BJP has always been the RSS,” said a former US ambassador to India. “The RSS can survive without the BJP but the BJP cannot exist without the RSS. This inextricably links the BJP to the RSS’s Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) agenda. If the BJP does not toot the Hindutva horn, the RSS will not mobilize the Hindu voters.”
Today, however, the RSS’s role is much broader than merely mobilizing voters. It doesn’t just provide boots on the ground to help win elections — it pulls the strings of the party’s elected officials. Indian attorney AG Noorani calls the BJP “a creature of the RSS,” adding: “Without it the BJP will collapse. Not only does the RSS provide the muscle, cadres who constitute the indispensable foot soldiers during elections, but also the top officials.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime swiftly blamed the Kabul massacre on Pakistan. Yet is the official narrative to be trusted?
As Hindu nationalism dominates New Delhi, all of India's minorities - including Sikhs - are caught in the cross-hairs of the violent religious nationalist movement. The movement seeks to swallow up all the nations of South Asia and spit out a Hindu supremacist super-state called "Akhand Bharat" (Undivided India). Guided by this desire, the movement has long viewed Afghanistan as a "second front" for its regional proxy wars.
Powerful nations have often manufactured reasons for wars that lead to catastrophic unintended consequences and decades of destructive blowback. The world is left to deal with mass displacement, flows of refugees, and untold human tragedy. The circumstances behind the Kabul massacre offer the global community a chance to witness the potential launch of a similar script as laboratories of terror are replicated and set loose by rogue actors.
The jaw-dropping demand might have attracted little attention if it were not for Gaur’s role as head of the Ramkola chapter of the Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even then, it likely would have been dismissed as an aberration – the freakish ramblings of some bigoted crackpot who managed to slip unvetted into a party leadership role – if it were not remarkably consistent with the actions of some of the most notorious members of her party and the Hindutva ideology upon which it was founded.
It has taken decades of quiet, hard work for the RSS to achieve this level of social and political control. For a long time, the paramilitary was busy laboring at the state level. In 2002, for instance, Roy reported that “the police, the administration and the political cadres at every level” had been “systematically penetrated” in the state of Gujarat. This is where Modi first cut his teeth as a BJP politician. It is also where the RSS conducted its first pogrom of the 21st Century, which the former leader of the VHP called a “successful experiment which will be repeated all over the country.”
“The traditional muscle power of the BJP has always been the RSS,” said a former US ambassador to India. “The RSS can survive without the BJP but the BJP cannot exist without the RSS. This inextricably links the BJP to the RSS’s Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) agenda. If the BJP does not toot the Hindutva horn, the RSS will not mobilize the Hindu voters.”
Today, however, the RSS’s role is much broader than merely mobilizing voters. It doesn’t just provide boots on the ground to help win elections — it pulls the strings of the party’s elected officials. Indian attorney AG Noorani calls the BJP “a creature of the RSS,” adding: “Without it the BJP will collapse. Not only does the RSS provide the muscle, cadres who constitute the indispensable foot soldiers during elections, but also the top officials.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime swiftly blamed the Kabul massacre on Pakistan. Yet is the official narrative to be trusted?
As Hindu nationalism dominates New Delhi, all of India's minorities - including Sikhs - are caught in the cross-hairs of the violent religious nationalist movement. The movement seeks to swallow up all the nations of South Asia and spit out a Hindu supremacist super-state called "Akhand Bharat" (Undivided India). Guided by this desire, the movement has long viewed Afghanistan as a "second front" for its regional proxy wars.
Powerful nations have often manufactured reasons for wars that lead to catastrophic unintended consequences and decades of destructive blowback. The world is left to deal with mass displacement, flows of refugees, and untold human tragedy. The circumstances behind the Kabul massacre offer the global community a chance to witness the potential launch of a similar script as laboratories of terror are replicated and set loose by rogue actors.
The jaw-dropping demand might have attracted little attention if it were not for Gaur’s role as head of the Ramkola chapter of the Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even then, it likely would have been dismissed as an aberration – the freakish ramblings of some bigoted crackpot who managed to slip unvetted into a party leadership role – if it were not remarkably consistent with the actions of some of the most notorious members of her party and the Hindutva ideology upon which it was founded.