Hindu Students Council (HSC), an organization for Hindu Students in North America, was established on May 27th, 1990. This organization was implemented as a project of "Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)." According to HSC, it now has grown to be an independent organization. However, a recently released report provides evidence against this claim, and instead states that HSC continues to be closely linked to Sangh Parivar. Presented here is the first of a two part series by Kashif-ul-Huda of IndianMuslims.info, investigating both the claim and the counter claim.

The far-right Hindu nationalist organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, was established in 1925. RSS's goal is to make India a Hindu nation. In the pursuit of this goal, it has started a number of organizations which are collectively called Sangh Parivar. Along with the migration of Indians to the US, the ideology of RSS migrated along with them. We now find numerous organizations working together to carry out the propaganda of RSS, not only here but internationally as well. Collectively, these organizations can be easily identified by their propagation of the Hindutva ideology which is extreme nationalistic political Hinduism.

Sangh Parivar in the United States consists of VHPA, Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Hindu Unity, India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), and many other organizations. To be able to groom the next generation of leaders, a need was probably felt for a student or youth organization so as to target younger people in an effort to carry on the ways and ideologies of Sangh Parivar.

The Hindu Student Council (HSC), was established in the US on May 27th, 1990 in the state of New Jersey. On September 20th of the same year, Ajay Shah, a student at University of Arizona at the time, sent out an email to a public mailing list which stated that "HSC is a project of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of American Inc."

The importance Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) attached to this project (HSC) can be gauged by the fact that it sent out three of its top officials to the first camp organized by HSC. The First Annual National Camp of HSC in New Jersey in 1991 was inaugurated by Anjlee Pandya who was the General Secretary of VHPA at the time. 50 students were joined by at least 17 guests representing like-minded organizations. These guests included office bearers at VHPA, Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), and Hindu Sevika Samiti.

The close relations between Sangh Parivar and HSC are detailed in the report "Lying religiously: The Hindu Students Council and the deception of youth" released by the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate (CSFH). CSFH is a loose coalition of Indians living in India, the US, and Europe who have been keeping a close eye on the activities of Sangh Parivar.Their previous work has included a report on how development funds raised in US went to further the ideological work of Sangh Parivar, rather than for Indian development as many were led to believe.

Ideological stand

According to Raja Swamy of CSFH, the support given by VHPA to HSC was material as well as ideological. In turn, HSC provided leadership training opportunities for future Sangh leaders in the United States, and extended its manpower and technical expertise in the service of Sangh Parivar. In the guise of promoting Hindu culture, HSC allied with mostly Parivar organizations like VHPA, HSS, OFBJP, etc.

HSC, on the other hand, asserts that it reaches out to a variety of organizations that can help promote its mission. It lists VHPA and HSS among those organizations that share its "interest in promoting a stronger, more educated Hindu Community." It refuses to take responsibility for the actions made by these organizations that share its vision or it has working relations with. HSC maintains that it is an independent organization which is not run or controlled by any other organization.

It is true that on the surface HSC appears to be an independent organization, and in fact they came out with a statement against the 2002 riots in Gujarat. A close examination of the statement is required to understand where HSC stands ideologically. Without criticizing the Gujarat government and administration in its failure to stop the rioting; it places the blame of riots on what the statement called "pre-mediated act of terrorism," referring to the incident in Godhra. While noting that it does not justify the "backlash against hundreds of Muslims in Ahmedabad", it conveniently ignores the fact that the rioting was not limited to Ahmedabad but several parts of Gujarat were also affected.

The statement urged the Prime Minister of India to apprehend "those responsible for the premeditated, brutal massacre of the Godhra train victims." But with regards to the riots, HSC's solution was "[to uphold] Gandhian principles of love, peace and humanity." There is no mention of urging the administration to stop it by force or punish the guilty.

The CSFH report terms this statement "weak" at best which shows that even with the claim of independence, HSC is far from an independent organization. Either it is not free or unwilling to criticize other organizations of the Parivar. Either way is incriminating against HSC. In the early days of the formation of HSC, one of its founders, Ajay Shah, wass documented as supporting VHP's movement to build Ram Temple in the place of Babri Masjid. He states that "a vast (very vast) majority of our members/workers agree with the construction of Ramjanmabhoomi Temple, and that therefore is our stand."

There is nothing wrong with building a temple except that building this temple meant destroying Babri Masjid, not only a revered place of worship, but a historical site as well. This act of destruction also meant going against the Supreme Court of India's ruling. Even after the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6 th, 1992, we find Ajay Shah of HSC defending VHP and its actions, calling it a "Hindu revolution."

Change in strategy

By the mid-1990s there was a change in strategy and the program announcements that used to carry a message that HSC is a part of VHPA was replaced by the innocent looking sentence "[HSC is] an international forum promoting understanding of Hindu culture and heritage."

In the aftermath of the Babri Masjid destruction, HSC came under criticism for its association with Sangh Parivar. Therefore, to work and grow in the American universities it was important to keep this organization from unnecessary controversy. HSC's association with organizations that have been documented for their hateful words and actions against minorities would not have been acceptable in a campus environment.

From 1995 and onwards, HSC has presented itself as an independent organization. Trying to omit the fact of its association with the larger Sangh Parivar organizations is a deliberate attempt to distance itself from their speech and activities. However, press releases by RSS, OFBJP, and Hindu Unity claims on different occasions, and as late as the year 2001, that HSC is one of its allied organizations, placing it firmly under the umbrella of Sangh Parivar.

The following table, presented in the CSFH report summarizes the changing relationship of HSC and the Sangh:

HSC and Sangh: Brief history of a Relationship
YearsACTUAL LINKS between HSC and SanghPUBLIC FACE of HSC vis-à-vis Sangh
1990-1995Sharing of personnel between HSC and Sangh; HSC as progeny of Sangh
Open acknowledgment; swearing of allegiance; offensive support of HSC for violent VHP activities in India
1995-2000Sharing of personnel continues; public recognition of HSC by Sangh continues; HSC increases in importance for the Sangh's activities in USADisavowal of links with VHP and RSS; claims of autonomy of HSC from Sangh; increase in claims of "liberal" nature of HSC via multicultural space on university campuses.
2000-presentSangh comes to depend more on HSC to host websites, create web-presence, and fundraising eventsWeak disavowals by HSC vis-à-vis Sangh's pogroms in Gujarat, India

When contacted by IndianMuslims.info, Rishi Bhutada, vice president of Hindu Students Council, said in a written statement: HSC is an independently run and funded organization. He denied having any legal relationship with VHPA or any other organization. He acknowledged working with "like-minded" organizations such as VHPA, HSS, Chinmaya Mission, etc.

This incidentally is not different from the legal standing of any other Sangh inspired organization. All the organizations listed on RSS's website are legally independent of each other. These organizations may or may not share personnel, but depending on what plan needs to be executed the appropriate organization is called upon to carry out the deed. Claims of HSC being a legally separate entity, while continuing to work closely with many of Sangh Parivar's organizations in North America, raises much doubt against them and their intentions.

Next: The networked Parivar