Foreign Exchange of Hate IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva | |||
Full text of the report © 2002, Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India, and The South Asia Citizens Web, France | |||
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Hindutva, the Hindu supremacist ideology that has under girded much of the communal violence in India over the last several decades, has seen tremendous growth outside India over the last two decades. This report focuses on one US based organization--the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), which has systematically funded Hindutva operations in India. "The Foreign Exchange of Hate" establishes that the IDRF is not a secular and non-sectarian organization as it claims to be, but is, on the contrary, a major conduit of funds for Hindutva organizations in India This report is a product of a careful study and analysis of more than 150 pieces of documentary evidence, almost three-quarters of which are those published by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (henceforth, RSS or Sangh) and its affiliates, either in printed form or electronically. These documents are diverse in nature, including forms of incorporation and tax documents filed by IDRF with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US, articles in Sangh Sandesh, the newsletter of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, and occasional reports published by different Sangh organizations in India and the US. The remaining 25% of the documents are from secondary sources, largely drawn from: mainstream media reports, including published interviews with RSS, BJP and VHP leaders; reports of judicial enquiry commissions; reports from citizen's panels; and reports published by various Human Rights organizations. The methodological emphasis on primary sources internal to the Sangh Parivar, is to ensure that the evidentiary basis of the conclusions drawn is of the highest standards. This report is organized into three parts. A brief introductory segment outlines the broad contours of the Hindutva movement and defines some terms used in the report, including those on this page (such as Hindutva, RSS, VHP, BJP etc.). Those familiar with these terms can proceed directly to the second part of this report, where a detailed institutional analysis is presented; an analysis that clearly establishes that IDRF is a RSS affiliate both in terms of organizational connections and hierarchies, and in terms of personnel. The final section of this report focuses on the IDRF's funding operations and establishes the sectarian nature of the funding. To ensure readability, the basic arguments and evidence are presented in brief in the main body of the report. Supporting material is located either as referenced footnotes or as appendices.
The purpose of this report is to document the links between the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), a Maryland, US based charity, and certain violent and sectarian Hindu supremacist organizations in India. The IDRF operates in the US under the rules governing tax-exempt charitable organizations. These rules prohibit such organizations from participating in political activity of the kind that involves funnelling money overseas to violent sectarian groups. Further, the report provides evidence to argue that IDRF's claim of being a non sectarian organization that funds development and relief operations in India is disingenuous at best, and that this claim is strategically designed to insert IDRF into the cultural milieu and goodwill of the Indian diaspora as the 'charity of choice'. This report is in four parts. Section 1 briefly outlines the purpose, methodology and organization of the report. Section 2 is a brief introduction to the Hindutva movement, its ideology, organizations and operations in both India and the US. Section 3 is a detailed presentation of the documentation that links IDRF to the Hindutva movement. Finally, Section 4 specifically examines the financial links between the IDRF, Hindutva organizations and violence in India. For ease in comprehension this summary outlines the main points of Sections 2, 3 & 4 - though Section 2 is essentially a summary of established scholarship of the last fifty years. The main points of this study are:
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