In Canada, it is time to ban the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh network

Last month, the Canadian government made its decision an unprecedented move the expulsion of six diplomats linked to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their links to criminal activities on Canadian soil, including extortion, coercion and even murder. India quickly denied any such links and responded by ordering six Canadian diplomats to return home, including the acting high commissioner.

The decision to expel six diplomats from Canada came a year after news of the murder of a prominent leader of the Sikh community in British Columbia, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which led to Prime Minister Trudeau’s death, made headlines across the country. accusing BJP on unlawful involvement.

Many may not know that the BJP, which has dominated Indian politics for a decade, is the political arm of a much older, perhaps even more prominent, parent organization called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)a paramilitary group founded in 1925 that has consistently called for the persecution of religious minorities in India, including Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, Muslims and others. Early RSS ideologists quoted European fascists such as Adolf Hitler as a positive model. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is a long-time RSS member, as are many BJP officials.

as Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University notes that “the RSS is at the forefront of promoting Hindu nationalism in India” and is accused of inciting “violence against India’s Dalit-Bahujan community, including hate crimes against Muslims, lynching of Dalits and pogroms against religious minorities.”

Although today’s RSS has attempted to distance itself from its past activities, overwhelming evidence shows that this is not the case. Under Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act, an organization only needs to have committed terrorism somewhere in the world to become a prohibited entity. The RSS feed and its wide network have amassed an extensive CV in this area.

For example, in February 2020, an Islamophobic mob killed approximately 40 Muslims in the city of New Delhi. They peacefully protested against the BJP government’s new immigration laws. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) “top BJP leaders have dangerously ridiculed protesters, with some openly calling for violence against them.” Other RSS members as well confirmed with Indian journalists that they deliberately took part in the violence.

Another example is the infamous case of Monu Manesar, a member of the Bajrang Dal, the influential youth wing of the RSS-affiliated Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is famous for live broadcast attacking Indian Muslims. Was arrested last fall as the prime suspect in the murder of two Muslims and inciting violence against Muslims in Haryana last summer.

A prominent example of communal violence involving BJP officials is Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2017. He started his RSS activism in college joining its youth wing before rising through the ranks of the BJP. As documented by Amnesty International, Adityanath is infamous for (among other things) deploying bulldozers against Muslim activists who disagree with the often sectarian BJP government. This earned him the nickname “Bulldozer Baba”. Just this month, India’s Supreme Court finally banned the use of bulldozers as a punitive measure.

Other examples include BJP legislator Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, who in 2022 he rang openly setting fire to Indian Muslims, comparing them to “demons”. Or the BJP MP and former cabinet minister Anurag Thakur, who was censored during the election campaign of the Election Commission of India for incite the crowd by singing “What should be done with traitors to the country?” – to which the crowd replied: “Shoot them!” The chants were in reference to those who opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by the BJP. widely criticized for singling out Muslim refugees from India as the only group that has no faster path to citizenship.

Moreover, RSS and VHP were clearly mentioned in another damning HRW report for being groups “most directly responsible” during the infamous 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat. This violence is one of the most famous examples in modern Indian history and resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Muslims.

In 1992 also members of the VHP took part in the large, violent crowds that destroyed the 16th^vol the eternal Babri mosque in the city of Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The incident sparked mass anti-Muslim violence in northern India, leaving around 1,000 people dead. according to HRW. The event was widely reported by the international press, including the BBC, which describes RSS as ” “ideological source” for the groups involved in the Babri incident.

VHP, also known as World Hindu Council, with other RSS related groupsoperates in Canada with headquarters in Ontario registered (and therefore tax-exempt) charitable activity. It is open branch larger global RSS network. Unfortunately, VHP is not the only indication that this disturbing ideology and network has long been operating across Canada.

The main overseas RSS group, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, or HSS for short, has already done this chapters across Canadafrom British Columbia to Nova Scotia. They have also been there since 1991 registered charity in Canada.

In November 2022, the inaugural Hindu Heritage Month in Canada, a crowd led by MP Chandra Arya lifted up saffron RSS flag on Parliament Hill. In 2020, Peel District School Board REMOVED one of its presidents for publishing an Islamophobic tweet. It turns out that a person who was also fired by his civilian employer did just that related to HSS in Canada.

It is imperative that Islamophobia resulting from imported supremacist ideology cannot develop and spread further in Canada. Our elected officials must recognize this issue and consult with affected communities, whether Muslim, Sikh or Hindu. They must not contribute to the problem.

Indeed, it must be acknowledged that although the RSS network claims to represent all Hindus in India and abroad, it is an ideological and political group with specific views that cannot and should not be identified with Hinduism as a whole or Hindus who represent a vast tradition with a thousand-year history and diversity.

Ultimately, if allowed to fester and grow, Canada risks becoming the scene of further episodes of inter-societal discord against groups deemed unacceptable or dangerous by the RSS, the BJP and their various affiliates.

This cannot be allowed. It is time to designate the RSS network, which has deep roots here, as a terrorist organization under Canadian law and ban it in Canada.