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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).
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