Jaganmohan Reddy Commission on the Ahmedabad riots (1969), Madan Commission on the Bhiwandi riots (1970), Justice Vithayathil’s report on the Tellicherry riots (1971), Justice Jitendra Narain’s Report on the Jamshedpur riots (1979) and Justice P Venugopal’s report on the riots in kanyakumari (1982) are good examples of the Sangh’s consistent involvement in riots.
In a report to the IDRF, SVRDS states that it conducted competitions for Krishna Jayanthi (a Hindu Festival) in which the school children participated enthusiastically. It should be kept in mind that these tribals do not consider themselves Hindu, nor do they usually observe Krishna Jayanthi.
Agnihotri’s connections with the RSS are detailed in the newspaper article, Agnihotri's posting criticized, The Hindu, Aug 30th, 2001 http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/08/30/stories/02300007.htm. Bhishma Agnihotri was appointed as the leader of HSS in the USA as reported in the HSS newsletter (National Adhikaris of the HSS (USA), Sangh Sandesh, January 2000, page 11 http://www.hskonline.co.uk/hss/assets/JAN00.PDF . Agnihotri’s connection to the IDRF is revealed in a program announcement for the Festival of India seminar held on August 16, 1997, where he is introduced as ‘a founding member of the India Development and Relief Fund.’ http://www.ipnatlanta.net/aug15/seminar-pro.doc.
Jatinder Kumar and Ram Gehani are two of the four officers of IDRF listed on its exemption application, which it filed in 1989. Jatinder Kumar is listed as a vice-president of FISI in a newspaper article on the people who met with the then General Secretary of the BJP, Narendra Modi on his visit to the US (BJP leader meets with community groups, India Abroad, July 9, 1999). Ram Gehani is listed on FISI’s web page as the contact for Maryland http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_pages/us_chapters.htm , and was part of ‘a delegation of the Overseas Friends of the BJP which called on Robert Seiple, ambassador-at-large, who runs the International Religious Freedom office within the State Department to express their concern about sections of the controversial annual report on International Religious Freedom for 1999 in India that implicitly criticised the Indian government for the increase in attacks on the Christian community in India.’ (Seiple defends religious report, says it does not target BJP, by Ramesh Chandra, The Times of India, Sept 18th, 1999)
A Sewa Dham in Madhya Pradesh, Sangh Sandesh, January 2001, page 10.
See the Appendix H, consolideated spread-sheet of the IDRF grants from 1994 to 2001. Source: Annual Reports from the IDRF web-site.
These numbers are our approximations based on inexact information about all the grantees. See Appendix H, consolidated spread-sheet of the IDRF grants from 1994-2001. Source: Annual Reports of IDRF
For example, Bharat Kalyan Pratisthan, which received over $86,000 in the IDRF funding for ‘tribal welfare’ has been specially designated by the VHP to receive money for Shuddhi ceremonies for Dalits and Tribals, “to neutralise the Conversion Crisis that is presently threatening to swallow up the Hindu Society” and also “to re-establish the spiritual & moral glory of Hinduism,” according to the Hindutva ideologue SP Attri http://www.hinduweb.org/home/general_sites/essays/proshuddhi.html
Sewa Bharati and Ekal Vidyalays organized the Hindu Sangam in the tribal belt in Madhya Pradesh earlier this year. A report from Sewa Bharati is available at http://www.hvk.org/articles/0102/98.html. The aggressively anti-Christian flavor of the meet, and the concomitant tensions it created are described in RSS temples for tribals spell trouble for Digvijay, Yogesh Vajpeyi, Indian Express, January 7th 2002 . For Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram’s role, see Appendix F.
In a report to the IDRF, SVRDS states that it conducted competitions for Krishna Jayanthi (a Hindu Festival) in which the school children participated enthusiastically. http://www.idrf.org/reports/svrds/svrds.html It should be kept in mind that these tribals do not consider themselves Hindu, nor do they usually observe Krishna Jayanthi.
It is listed as a Sangh organization in Amrut-Kumbha of Service Streams, Ekta Prakashan, Pune according to an article, Winds of Change, by Anosh Malekar, The Week, Feb 20, 2000
The funding by the IDRF of the various organizations can be learnt from its various Annual Reports at its website. EVFI’s website, http://www.ekal.org/foundation.shtml lists the trustees of Ekal Vidyalay Foundation, including BK Modi.
Religious Regeneration: The Only Solution to Various National Problems, by Mohan Joshi, Joint Secretary of the VHP http://www.vhp.org/englishsite/d.Dimensions_of_VHP/cDharamPrasaar/religiousregeneration.htm
A website soliciting funds for the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram through the Sewa International gives its address as Sewa International, India, Keshav Kunj, Jhandewalla D.B.Gupta Marg, New Delhi – 110055 INDIA, Phone: +91 11 7779914 , http://www.hinduweb.org/home/seva/vanvasi/ The RSS has its international headquarters at Keshav Kunj, Jhandewallan in New Delhi, and many of its subsidiary organizations such as Sewa Bharti also have their headquarters in the same complex at Jhandewallan. The listed telephone number is also the same as that for RSS’s headquarters in New Delhi (http://www.rss.org/contact/ ) Sewa International has since moved away from that address and is now listed at 515 New Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi
The Sewa International seems to seek inspiration from the VHP statement on ‘Festivals for National Integration’ http://www.vhp.org/englishsite/d.Dimensions_of_VHP/hHindu%20Parv%20Samanvya/festivalfornationalintegration.htm which states, “Holi, Dipawali, Vijyadashami, Raksha Bandhan, Sankranti and the like have a great impact in keeping the society intact and in promoting unity and integrity of the nation,” although it recognizes that there may be social tensions in doing so, “The festivals and parvas are being celebrated with interruption although there is some adverse effect because of the political atmosphere or economic disparities.” The VHP further advises mass celebrations of these festivals, “So far most festivals are celebrated at the family level or at some limited sectarian or institutional level. The area has to be widened and they should be brought to mass and collective level…Certain universal practices on the festive and other occasions also would be helpful in promotion of national integration. Tilak Dharana on the forehead, cow worship, hoisting of 'om' and 'Bhagava (Saffrron) flags are some of them.” The Sewa International seems to be doing exactly this as evident from its description of a Holi Festival, “People of the Basti affectionately applied chandan and tilak to the visitors. All greeted one another; Holi songs were sung; sweets were shared… Sewa, Sangh and Hindutwa could thus enter the Basti.” http://www.sewainternational.org/social.html
The IDRF’s annual reports are available at http://www.idrf.org/frontpage/Accomp.html. The annual reports provide a listing of organizations that received the IDRF funding for the fiscal years 1994/1995 to 2000/2001, but it should be noted that the report for the year 1995/1996 is not present.