By India Tomorrow News,
Maryland, 23 April 2014: An Indian-American human-rights group has condemned the statements by senior leaders of Hindu nationalist organizations for inciting people to violence against religious minorities.
The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) in a press release said that the leaders of Hindu organizations collectively known as the Sangh Parivar are openly calling for violence against religious minorities.
This came after several leaders of the BJP and other Hindu organizations such as the VHP and RSS, made inflammatory remarks against Muslims and others who are against the BJP-led NDA coalition.
Giriraj Singh, a senior leader of the BJP had stated that those opposing Narendra Modi go to Pakistan as they will have no place in India, at a recent rally in Jharkhand. Few days later Pravin Togadia, a senior VHP leader, was caught on camera calling for the forceful eviction of Muslims from Hindu areas. And more recently, Ramdas Kadam, a Shiv Sena MLC, while sharing the stage with BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Gujarat, threatened revenge against Muslims and said that Modi would “destroy Pakistan in six months of assuming power.”
Saying that this is just a reminder of the real agenda of the Sangh Parivar, Alex Kosy, a CAG spokeperson said,”Messrs. Shah, Giriraj, Togadia and Kadam have given all Indians a chilling reminder of the violent and repressive agenda of the Sangh Parivar organizations and of the Hindutva ideology in general.”
In its statement, the CAG called on the Election Commission to impose an immediate ban on any more speeches by these leaders, and also called on the government to start criminal proceedings against them for inciting violence.
“Even before the election is complete, Hindutva supremacists are letting the world know about their intentions,” added Koshy.
Previously, the CAG warned about organizations in the US which were attempting to make Modi and Hindutva acceptable to the American public. Organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) have been trying to defend Hindutva and serving as apologists for Hindutva violence across India.
“The support given by HAF to Mr. Modi and the Sangh is essentially an affirmation of HAF’s Hindutva links” says the CAG. In a report published by the group, titled ‘Affiliations of Faith (Parts I and II),’ the CAG tried to prove the true nature of HAF and its ties to the Sangh back in December 2013.
