DOCSLIB.ORG

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – Sangh Parivar – Christians – Punjab

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – Sangh Parivar – Christians – Punjab Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: IND34592 Country: India Date: 2 April 2009 Keywords: India – Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – Sangh Parivar – Christians – Punjab This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. What is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Sangh Parivar? 2. What anti-Christian activities have they been involved in, in Punjab, over the past couple of years? RESPONSE 1. What is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Sangh Parivar? An RRT research response dated 13 February 2009 provides information on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Sangh Parivar (RRT Research & Information 2009, Research Response IND34298, 13 February (Question 1) – Attachment 1). The documents referred to in the research response include a research paper dated 2 May 2007 by the International Affairs and Defence Section of the UK Parliament House of Commons Library which indicates that: The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] is the political wing of the Sangh Parivar, a group of Hindu nationalist organisations which includes the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a national volunteer organisation, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an organisation of Hindu monks. The RSS is seen by many as the head of the Sangh Parivar and, although its support for the BJP is not unconditional, its over 4.5 million members provide the party with a grassroots cadre that most of the other newer political parties lack. Collectively, the organisations of the Sangh Parivar espouse a Hindu nationalist agenda based upon the concept of ‘Hindutva’, which views India as a Hindu nation that should be run according to Hindu precepts (Harrison, T., Jones, S., Lunn, J., Smith, B., Taylor, C., & Youngs, T. 2007, ‘A political introduction to India’, UK Parliament website, International Affairs and Defence Section – House of Commons Library, 2 May, p. 49 http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2007/rp07-041.pdf – Accessed 11 October 2007 – Attachment 2). The research response also refers to a Human Rights Watch report dated April 2002 in relation to violence in Gujarat in India, which indicates that “[t]he groups most directly responsible for violence against Muslims in Gujarat include the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, the ruling BJP, and the umbrella organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps, RSS), all of whom collectively form the sangh parivar (or “family” of Hindu nationalist groups). These organizations, although different in many respects, have all promoted the argument that because Hindus constitute the majority of Indians, India should be a Hindu state.” It is also stated in the report that: The Sangh Parivar The Hindu organizations considered most responsible for the violence in Gujarat are the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which along with the Bharatiya Janata Party collectively form the sangh parivar. Portions of the following descriptions of the nature and missions of these organizations are taken from the September 1999 Human Rights Watch report Politics By Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India.167 The RSS was founded in the city of Nagpur in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar with the mission of creating a Hindu state. Since its founding, it has propagated a militant form of Hindu nationalism which it promotes as the sole basis for national identity in India. According to the RSS, the leaders of India’s nationalist movement and those of post- independence India failed to create a nation based on Hindu culture.168 Western thought and civilization are perceived as enemies of Hindu culture. Religions such as Islam and Christianity are depicted as alien to India, as they are seen as the religions of foreign invaders? the Mughals and the British.169 The RSS wanted “the entire gamut of social life” to be designed “on the rock bed of Hindu nationalism,” a goal that inspired the creation of RSS political, social, and educational wings, a family of organizations that is now referred to collectively as the sangh parivar.170 The VHP was formed in 1964 to cover the social aspects of RSS activities. The VHP organizes and communicates the RSS message to Hindus living outside India and holds conferences for Hindu religious leaders from all over the country. The most publicized of the VHP’s activities was its campaign to build a temple to the Hindu god Ram at the site of the Babri Masjid, a mosque in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The VHP, along with the other sangh parivar organizations, claimed that the site of the mosque was actually the birthplace of Ram and that a temple at that site had been destroyed in order to build the mosque. On December 6, 1992, the mosque was demolished by members of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, and RSS-trained cadres. The police did not intervene. The incident sparked violence around the country in which thousands were killed.171 Since then, the VHP has also organized a program to reconvert those who had converted from Hinduism to other faiths. The Bajrang Dal is the militant youth wing of the VHP. It was formed in 1984 during the Babri Masjid conflict, in order to mobilize youth for the Ayodhya campaign.172 A young women’s association, the Durga Vahini, was also founded at this time. Unlike other organizations affiliated to the RSS, the Bajrang Dal is not directly controlled by the sangh parivar. With its loose organizational structure, it initially operated under different names in different states. Its activists are believed to be involved in many acts of violence carried out by Hindutva organizations, 173 including the spate of attacks against the Christian community in India that began in 1998. The Jana Sangh Party was formed in 1951 as the political wing of the RSS. It was later replaced by the BJP in 1980 (Human Rights Watch 2002, “We Have No Orders To Save You”: State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat, April, Vol. 14, No. 3(C), pp. 4, 39-40 – Attachment 3). A recent RRT research response dated 26 March 2009 includes information on the VHP and the Bajrang Dal (RRT Research & Information 2009, Research Response IND34591, 26 March (Questions 4 & 5) – Attachment 4). The research response refers to a report dated 31 January 2009 on the Human Rights Without Frontiers International website which provides information on the Sangh Parivar and the RSS (Human Rights Without Frontiers International 2009, ‘India – Hindu Extremist Movements’, Human Rights Without Frontiers International website, 31 January http://hrwf.net/uploads/hindu extremists.doc - Accessed 24 February 2009 – Attachment 5). 2. What anti-Christian activities have they been involved in, in Punjab, over the past couple of years? An RRT research response dated 10 March 2009 looks at whether Catholics had faced mistreatment in Gurdaspur in Punjab and in Punjab generally (RRT Research & Information 2009, Research Response IND34497, 10 March (Question 2) – Attachment 6). The research response refers to an article dated 17 October 2008 on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) website which sets out a statement issued by Dr John Dayal, Secretary General, and Dr Sam Paul, National Secretary, of the All India Christian Council. The statement indicates “that the peaceful existence of Christians in Punjab has been disturbed in recent months by an increasing frequency of Sangh Parivar harassment, including assaults, particularly on House Churches and Pastors.” According to the statement: The All India Christian Council held its North West India Chapter meeting in Amritsar on 15 and 16 October. The Council called upon Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to ensure the safety and security of the Christian community in the state, from major urban churches to the smallest house churches and village worship places. The Council noted that the peaceful existence of Christians in Punjab has been disturbed in recent months by an increasing frequency of Sangh Parivar harassment, including assaults, particularly on House Churches and Pastors. Representatives of the Council and other State Christian leaders had recently met Mr Badal in this context. Dr Dayal, who attended the recent meeting of the National Integration meeting in New Delhi, said Chief Minster Badal had in his address at the NIC had correctly cautioned the nation to focus on employment and development. Mr. Badal must take urgent steps for the economic development of the Christian community, which though small, was present in a sizable manner in districts such as Gurdaspur. The state government must take urgent steps to ensure adequate representation for educated Christian in the administrative and police apparatus of the State, especially in the gazetted ranks (‘Punjab CM Urged To Ensure Security Of Christians’ 2008, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India website, 17 October http://www.cbcisite.com/cbcinews2497.htm – Accessed 6 March 2009 – Attachment 7). An RRT research response dated 2 March 2009 includes information on the situation for Christians in the Punjab and the treatment of Christians (particularly in the Punjab) by the RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal (RRT Research & Information 2009, Research Response IND34470, 2 March (Questions 2 & 3) – Attachment 8). Another RRT research response dated 30 January 2009 looks at whether there is conflict between Hindus and Christians in Punjab (RRT Research & Information 2009, Research Response IND34243, 30 January (Question 1) – Attachment 9).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Media and ICT Systems, Globalisation, Militarism and Fundamentalisms by Anuradha M
    Media and ICT Systems, Globalisation, Militarism and Fundamentalisms By Anuradha M. Chenoy This paper was presented during the panel on globalised media and ICT systems and structures and their interrelationship with fundamentalism and militarism organised by Isis International-Manila during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India in January 2004. \ he ICT systems, seen as a global 'open Such systems are replicated in many countries. In India, one ofthe leaders in ICTs, most ofus get three types i space' for information, have been a driv- of spam e-mail. The first is entitled something hke "Are -j ing force for globalisation. Do these you a true Indian?" or "Traitors ofIndia," etc. The second technologies promote global integration or seg type is generally a sex/pom site-related message or ad regation? Can they be used to advocate peace vertisement for Viagra,etc. The third is a commercial. This or militarism? Two aspects of their origins is neither coincidental nor unrelated. It is in keeping with the dominant ideological onslaught of our times that re should be remembered. First, they were es flect the intersecting ideologies of globalisation, sentially funded by the U.S. government as militarisation,fundamentahsm and patriarchy. part of military technology; and second, they "Media and ICT" has special meaning for fundamen were meant to be the cutting-edge precursor talist groups—they want to go back to 'tradition' but want and reason for neo-liberal globalisation that to use the latest technology to do so. In India, Hindu na- dissolves national barriers for the free flow of tionahst groups that comprise the Sangh Parivar^—the finance, technology and information.
    [Show full text]
  • Secrets of RSS
    Secrets of RSS DEMYSTIFYING THE SANGH (The Largest Indian NGO in the World) by Ratan Sharda © Ratan Sharda E-book of second edition released May, 2015 Ratan Sharda, Mumbai, India Email:[email protected]; [email protected] License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-soldor given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and didnot purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to yourfavorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hardwork of this author. About the Book Narendra Modi, the present Prime Minister of India, is a true blue RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Volunteers Organization) swayamsevak or volunteer. More importantly, he is a product of prachaarak system, a unique institution of RSS. More than his election campaigns, his conduct after becoming the Prime Minister really tells us how a responsible RSS worker and prachaarak responds to any responsibility he is entrusted with. His rise is also illustrative example of submission by author in this book that RSS has been able to design a system that can create ‘extraordinary achievers out of ordinary people’. When the first edition of Secrets of RSS was released, air was thick with motivated propaganda about ‘Saffron terror’ and RSS was the favourite whipping boy as the face of ‘Hindu fascism’. Now as the second edition is ready for release, environment has transformed radically.
    [Show full text]
  • The Other Face of Fanaticism
    February 2, 2003 The Other Face of Fanaticism By PANKAJ MISHRA New York Times Magazine On the evening of Jan. 30, 1948, five months after the independence and partition of India, Mohandas Gandhi was walking to a prayer meeting on the grounds of his temporary home in New Delhi when he was shot three times in the chest and abdomen. Gandhi was then 78 and a forlorn figure. He had been unable to prevent the bloody creation of Pakistan as a separate homeland for Indian Muslims. The violent uprooting of millions of Hindus and Muslims across the hastily drawn borders of India and Pakistan had tainted the freedom from colonial rule that he had so arduously worked toward. The fasts he had undertaken in order to stop Hindus and Muslims from killing one another had weakened him, and when the bullets from an automatic pistol hit his frail body at point-blank range, he collapsed and died instantly. His assassin made no attempt to escape and, as he himself would later admit, even shouted for the police. Millions of shocked Indians waited for more news that night. They feared unspeakable violence if Gandhi's murderer turned out to be a Muslim. There was much relief, also some puzzlement, when the assassin was revealed as Nathuram Godse, a Hindu Brahmin from western India, a region relatively untouched by the brutal passions of the partition. Godse had been an activist in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers Association, or R.S.S.), which was founded in the central Indian city of Nagpur in 1925 and was devoted to the creation of a militant Hindu state.
    [Show full text]
  • Cornerstone Forum a Conversation on Religious Freedom and Its Social Implications No
    Cornerstone Forum A Conversation on Religious Freedom and Its Social Implications No. 87. June 30, 2016 Reflections from the Margins on Independence Day John Dayal Human rights and peace activist On this day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States for the first time since his visa ban was lifted. On this momentous occasion, Cornerstone revisits the implications of Modi's rise to power. ​ ​ --- It is not a jubilee year for independent India, but it is nonetheless a landmark anniversary. Not since Mrs. Indira Gandhi lost office and Mr. Morarji Desai assumed power at the head of the Janata Party has there been such a drastic change, even a reversal, of ideologies, policies, and a vision for the future. The factors that led to the defeat of Mrs. Gandhi in 1977 are now well known. She halted democracy in its tracks and gifted the country’s governance to her son Mr. Sanjay Gandhi, who emerged as the undisputed extra-constitutional center of power and authority. For all practical purposes, the Constitution was suspended, and an unofficial dictatorship came into being. I mention the Emergency [1975-1977] for two reasons. The first reason for the total recall is that the Emergency shattered the belief that the foundations of Indian democracy are so strong and rooted in the Freedom Struggle that they cannot be shaken even momentarily. The second is that a “popular” and “strong” leader with a mass following and little opposition—and perhaps assisted by extra-constitutional power centers—can if she or he wants to, do just about anything with the governance machinery.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    © Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher. Introduction The Invention of an Ethnic Nationalism he Hindu nationalist movement started to monopolize the front pages of Indian newspapers in the 1990s when the political T party that represented it in the political arena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP—which translates roughly as Indian People’s Party), rose to power. From 2 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, the BJP increased its tally to 88 in 1989, 120 in 1991, 161 in 1996—at which time it became the largest party in that assembly—and to 178 in 1998. At that point it was in a position to form a coalition government, an achievement it repeated after the 1999 mid-term elections. For the first time in Indian history, Hindu nationalism had managed to take over power. The BJP and its allies remained in office for five full years, until 2004. The general public discovered Hindu nationalism in operation over these years. But it had of course already been active in Indian politics and society for decades; in fact, this ism is one of the oldest ideological streams in India. It took concrete shape in the 1920s and even harks back to more nascent shapes in the nineteenth century. As a movement, too, Hindu nationalism is heir to a long tradition. Its main incarnation today, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS—or the National Volunteer Corps), was founded in 1925, soon after the first Indian communist party, and before the first Indian socialist party.
    [Show full text]
  • Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010) Elaisha Nandrajog Claremont Mckenna College
    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2010 Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010) Elaisha Nandrajog Claremont McKenna College Recommended Citation Nandrajog, Elaisha, "Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010)" (2010). CMC Senior Theses. Paper 219. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/219 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLAREMONT McKENNA COLLEGE HINDUTVA AND ANTI-MUSLIM COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN INDIA UNDER THE BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (1990-2010) SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR RODERIC CAMP AND PROFESSOR GASTÓN ESPINOSA AND DEAN GREGORY HESS BY ELAISHA NANDRAJOG FOR SENIOR THESIS (Spring 2010) APRIL 26, 2010 2 CONTENTS Preface 02 List of Abbreviations 03 Timeline 04 Introduction 07 Chapter 1 13 Origins of Hindutva Chapter 2 41 Setting the Stage: Precursors to the Bharatiya Janata Party Chapter 3 60 Bharat : The India of the Bharatiya Janata Party Chapter 4 97 Mosque or Temple? The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi Dispute Chapter 5 122 Modi and his Muslims: The Gujarat Carnage Chapter 6 151 Legalizing Communalism: Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (2002) Conclusion 166 Appendix 180 Glossary 185 Bibliography 188 3 PREFACE This thesis assesses the manner in which India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the political face of Hindutva, or Hindu ethno-cultural nationalism. The insights of scholars like Christophe Jaffrelot, Ashish Nandy, Thomas Blom Hansen, Ram Puniyani, Badri Narayan, and Chetan Bhatt have been instrumental in furthering my understanding of the manifold elements of Hindutva ideology.
    [Show full text]
  • Report on International Religious Freedom 2006: India
    India Page 1 of 22 India International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. However, the Government sometimes did not act swiftly enough to counter effectively societal attacks against religious minorities and attempts by some leaders of state and local governments to limit religious freedom. This resulted in part from legal constraints on national government action inherent in the country's federal structure and from shortcomings in its law enforcement and justice systems, although courts regularly upheld the constitutional provision of religious freedom. Despite Government efforts to foster communal harmony, some extremists continued to view ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities, particularly at the state and local level, as a signal that they could commit such violence with impunity, although numerous cases were in the courts at the end of the reporting period. While the National Government took positive steps in key areas to improve religious freedom, the status of religious freedom generally remained the same during the period covered by this report. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) continued to implement an inclusive and secular platform based on respect for the country's traditions of secular government and religious tolerance, and the rights of religious minorities. Terrorists attempted to provoke religious conflict by attacking Hindu Temples in Ayodhya and Varanasi. The Government reacted in a swift manner to rein in Hindu extremists, prevent revenge attacks and reprisal, and assure the Muslim community of its safety.
    [Show full text]
  • Rahul Sagar, Hindu Nationalists and the Cold
    Chapter Ten Hindu Nationalists and the Cold War Rahul Sagar It is generally accepted that during the Cold War divergences between “hope and reality” rendered India and America “estranged democracies.”1 Te pre- cise nature of the Indo- American relationship during these decades remains a subject of fruitful study. For instance, Rudra Chaudhuri has argued that the Cold War’s many crises actually prompted India and the United States to “forge” a more nuanced relationship than scholars have realized.2 Tis chapter does not join this discussion. It examines a diferent side of the story. Rather than study the workings of the Congress Party–afliated political and bureaucratic elite in power during the Cold War, it focuses on the principal Opposition—the ideas and policies of the Hindu Mahasabha, the Jan Sangh, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (bJP), which have championed the cause of Hindu nationalism. Te Cold War–era policies of these parties have not been studied carefully thus far. A common assumption is that these parties had little to say about international afairs or that, to the extent that they had something to say, their outlook was resolutely militant. Tis chapter corrects this misperception. It shows that these parties’ policies alternated between being attracted to and being repulsed by the West. Distaste for communism and commitment to democracy drove them to seek friendship with the West, while resentment at U.S. eforts to contain India as well as fears about ma- terialism and Westernization prompted them to demand that the West be kept at a safe distance. 229 false sTarTs Surprisingly little has been written about the diversity of Indian views on international relations in the Cold War era.
    [Show full text]
  • Why I Became a Hindu
    Why I became a Hindu Parama Karuna Devi published by Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center Copyright © 2018 Parama Karuna Devi All rights reserved Title ID: 8916295 ISBN-13: 978-1724611147 ISBN-10: 1724611143 published by: Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center Website: www.jagannathavallabha.com Anyone wishing to submit questions, observations, objections or further information, useful in improving the contents of this book, is welcome to contact the author: E-mail: [email protected] phone: +91 (India) 94373 00906 Please note: direct contact data such as email and phone numbers may change due to events of force majeure, so please keep an eye on the updated information on the website. Table of contents Preface 7 My work 9 My experience 12 Why Hinduism is better 18 Fundamental teachings of Hinduism 21 A definition of Hinduism 29 The problem of castes 31 The importance of Bhakti 34 The need for a Guru 39 Can someone become a Hindu? 43 Historical examples 45 Hinduism in the world 52 Conversions in modern times 56 Individuals who embraced Hindu beliefs 61 Hindu revival 68 Dayananda Saraswati and Arya Samaj 73 Shraddhananda Swami 75 Sarla Bedi 75 Pandurang Shastri Athavale 75 Chattampi Swamikal 76 Narayana Guru 77 Navajyothi Sree Karunakara Guru 78 Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha 79 Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 79 Sarada Devi 80 Golap Ma 81 Rama Tirtha Swami 81 Niranjanananda Swami 81 Vireshwarananda Swami 82 Rudrananda Swami 82 Swahananda Swami 82 Narayanananda Swami 83 Vivekananda Swami and Ramakrishna Math 83 Sister Nivedita
    [Show full text]
  • India's 2019 National Election and Implications for U.S. Interests
    India’s 2019 National Election and Implications for U.S. Interests June 28, 2019 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R45807 SUMMARY R45807 India’s 2019 National Election and Implications June 28, 2019 for U.S. Interests K. Alan Kronstadt India, a federal republic and the world’s most populous democracy, held elections to seat a new Specialist in South Asian lower house of parliament in April and May of 2019. Estimates suggest that more than two-thirds Affairs of the country’s nearly 900 million eligible voters participated. The 545-seat Lok Sabha (People’s House) is seated every five years, and the results saw a return to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was chief minister of the west Indian state of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. Modi’s party won decisively—it now holds 56% of Lok Sabha seats and Modi became the first Indian leader to win consecutive majorities since Indira Gandhi in 1971. The United States and India have been pursuing an expansive strategic partnership since 2005. The Trump Administration and many in the U.S. Congress welcomed Modi’s return to power for another five-year term. Successive U.S. Presidents have deemed India’s growing power and influence a boon to U.S. interests in Asia and globally, not least in the context of balancing against China’s increasing assertiveness. India is often called a preeminent actor in the Trump Administration’s strategy for a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” Yet there are potential stumbling blocks to continued development of the partnership.
    [Show full text]
  • Piyush Goyal (52) Is the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India
    Piyush Goyal (52) is the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India. He is currently a Member of Ra- jya Sabha and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He headed the BJP's Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the pub- licity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the In- dian General Elections 2014. He has had a brilliant academic record- all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He was a well-known investment banker and he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth. He earlier served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. He has participated in Leadership Programs at Yale University (2011), Oxford University (2012) and Princeton University (2013) and is currently pursuing the Owner/President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School. During his 30 year long political career, he has held several important positions at differ- ent levels in the BJP and is in the National Executive of the Party. He had the privilege of being mentored by stalwarts such as Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India. He was also nominated by the Government of India to the prestigious Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers in 2002. His father Late Vedprakash Goyal was Union Minister of Shipping and the National Trea- surer of the BJP for over two decades.
    [Show full text]
  • India: Treatment of Political Activists and Members of Opposition Parties
    Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Page 1 of 4 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Home > Research Program > Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests (RIR) respond to focused Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process. The database contains a seven- year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the UNHCR's Refworld website. Please note that some RIRs have attachments which are not electronically accessible. To obtain a PDF copy of an RIR attachment please email [email protected]. 11 May 2015 IND105131.E India: Treatment of political activists and members of opposition parties in Punjab (2012-April 2015) Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa 1. Political Overview of Punjab State In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor of political science at Guru Nanak Dev University in Punjab who has published extensively on politics in Punjab, stated that Punjab has been experiencing "almost free and fair elections of both parliament and state assembly since 1997" (Professor of political science 25 Apr. 2015). The same source further reports that elections are conducted under the supervision of the Chief Election Commission of India "which is an autonomous and Constitutional body" (ibid.). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an assistant professor of political science at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, who researches ethno-nationalist movements in Punjab, similarly reported that Punjab has a "vibrant democratic system, with relatively open and free democratic competition within the parameters provided by the Indian Constitution" (Assistant Professor 27 Apr.
    [Show full text]