Mirror Sites
Introduction

Petitions

Stop Corporate Sponsorship of IDRF
Faculty Petition

Project Saffron Dollar

Stop Funding Hate Campaign Responds to IDRF's Rebuttal

Frequently Asked Questions

Girish Agrawal, San Jose, California, To AsianWeek

RSS Emulates Nazis

DEAR EDITOR: I read the piece on the funding flowing from the United States to violent, extremist organizations in India, “Anti-Hindu Nationalist Campaign Targets Indian American Organization,” (Dec. 5). Commendable.

I found the headline a little confusing. I hope you did not mean to say that the people opposing the organizations funding Hindutva groups in India are anti-Hindu, since most of the people who prepared the “Foreign Exchange of Hate” report and the folks who constitute the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate are Hindus.

I also hope the following was a proof-reading error. You say that “The National Voluntary Service, the movement’s parent organization, was founded in 1925 on the platform of opposing German and Italian fascists.”

This is the exact opposite of what the RSS stands for! The RSS was explicitly founded to emulate (NOT oppose) the Nazis and the Italian Fascists. The founders and early leaders of the RSS were great admirers of Mussolini and Hitler and openly desired to emulate Hitler’s ‘cleansing’ Germany of Jews by ‘cleansing’ India of minorities. The RSS, to this day, nearly worships Hitler.

Finally, for some more concrete evidence of how the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram — an organization that is near the top in terms of funds received from the Indian Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) and from IDRF’s sister group in the United Kingdom, Sewa International, U.K., — is involved in sectarian violence, please see the news report on “Funding Gujurat Extremists” as part of BBC Channel 4 news’ series on terrorism, available at www.channel4.com.

Girish Agrawal
San Jose, California

Mahua Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Binghamton University, SUNY Binghamton, New York, To India West

Heartened by Cisco, Sun Suspensions

Dear Editor,

I am writing to thank you for your thoughtful coverage of the ongoing campaign against the IDRF (I-W, Dec. 13). As one of the most influential sources of information for the Indian diaspora in North America, India- West has a crucial role to play in keeping the secular/anti-fascist voices alive in public discourse.

I hope that you will continue to cover this campaign and related future efforts to stop the flow of money from the U.S. and Canada that has been used to fund violent attacks on minority populations in the Indian sub- continent.

As you know, the IDRF has been unable to refute any of the charges made against them. We have also been heartened by the suspension of donations to IDRF by Cisco and Sun, since it points clearly to the corporate community's unwillingness to support hate-mongering.

We are hopeful that continued support from newspapers like yours will further help raise consciousness among both corporate groups and the readership in general. Thank you once again.

Mahua Sarkar
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Binghamton University, SUNY Binghamton, New York

Use Money for Empowering Projects

Dear Editor,

I am glad to finally see the Indian American press taking up the cause of U.S. dollars being used to fund campaigns of violence and hatred in India (I-W, Dec. 13). As an Indian American, I was appalled to learn that the donations my parents and their friends made was being used in campaigns like the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the killing of Christians. I was convinced by the evidence based on the RSS's own records and through the list of organizations funded by the IDRF.

Those organizations' current attempts to deflect criticism are at best unconvincing and at worst a smear campaign against the organizers of the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate. Since the RSS and IDRF could not deny their close ties, they decided instead to use their age old tactics of hate mongering --this time against the people who have exposed their corruption.

This type of reaction only convinces me further that Indians in the U.S. have been duped into funding hate campaigns for a long time. I urge my fellow Hindus to stop funding such violent and hateful organizations. Whatever our differences, violence against our own people is never the answer and should not be tolerated. We should be using our money towards truly sustainable and empowering projects, not the destruction of property and lives.

Ragini Shah
Brooklyn, New York

Fed Up With VHP's Hateful Activities

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my dismay at the reactions of the IDRF supporters to the recent report put out by the Stop Funding Hate Campaign (I-W, Nov. 29). Instead of hanging their heads in shame for duping well-meaning Indians into parting with their money for nefarious Sangh- related activities, they are more defiant than ever.

As an Indian sociologist, I join hundreds of thousands of my fellow Indians who are simply fed up with the VHP's hateful activities and attempts to distort India's traditions of tolerance. For the IDRF to suggest that they are simply a benign welfare and development organization, they would have to do a much better job of actually refuting specific claims in the report, which I note they have not done.

The report proves to me and over 200 Indian academics in the U.S. beyond a doubt that the IDRF is a dangerous organization. Please continue to spread the word about them so that we can begin to reverse the horrible turn that India appears to be taking.

Manali Desai
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, California

CSFH Report an Eye-opener for NRIs

Dear Editor,

Thank you for your recent articles calling attention to the re- cent report by the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate highlighting the blatant misuse of charity funds by an organization which calls itself the Indian Development and Relief Fund in the U.S. --and which, instead, funds violent and sectarian organizations like the RSS in India (I-W, Nov. 29). The report should and, I suspect, will act as an eye-opener to many well-intentioned NRIs who seek to better conditions in India through their donations.

The report documents in clear factual language the ways funds solicited from such individuals and the large corporations they work for (Sun, Cisco) are used to forward the cause of an irrational, narrow and destructive ideology like that of Hindutva. The IDRF, having found it impossible to challenge any of the facts of the re- port, has, instead, resorted to attempting to malign the organizers of the campaign. In the mean- while, the RSS's own tax documents show that they receive up to 80 percent of IDRF money; This despite the fact that only approximately 10 percent of donor-designated funds are earmarked for Sangh affiliates. Also, all of the nine IDRF organizations which enjoy tax-exempt status are Sangh (RSS) organizations.

I think it essential that this report receive very wide coverage. These organizations and the ideologies they promote --and the horrors they perpetrate -- are all powerful and all the more horrific for their claim to speak in the name of religion. They must be brought to book if we are indeed to move toward a more moral, more humane society. As a deeply concerned citizen, I urge you to continue your coverage of the important work against fascism in its myriad forms.

Sonali Sathaye Via Ernail

Bringing About Moral Change

Dear Editor,

I am writing to ask that you never relent in your coverage of the IDRF's practices of spreading hate and inciting violence in India (I-W, Nov. 29).

At a time when the whole world is violently being divided along religious lines, it is imperative that you continue to expose the people and organizations responsible and their despicable tactics, and that you continue to be a voice for those of us who truly believe in freedom of religion and nonviolence as a way of life.

None of the world's major religions are going to go away, no matter how many people are killed or buildings are destroyed. We MUST learn to live amongst one another in a community of respect and peace. IDRF's practices and beliefs have no place in the world I envision, and I hope that you will continue to be vigilant in your pursuit of truthful and fair journalism, and that such efforts will continue to bring about moral change.

Thank you again for your efforts!

Brooke McAdams
San Francisco, California

Information Lifeblood of Democracy

Dear Editor,

Thanks for you coverage of the funding of communal groups by U.S. corporations and NRls (1- W, Nov.
29). I offer the following points for your consideration:

1. The IDRF has been unable to challenge any substantive aspects of the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate report;

2. The IDRF's brief responses have been essentially aimed at Campaign organizers, not the Campaign's content;

3. Cisco and Sun suspended IDRF contributions -a critical signal. that the corporate community is not willing to fund Hindutva;

4. IDRF's denial of being a Sangh organization does not wash. The report points out more than 80 percent of IDRF's money goes to the Sangh and this fact is verifiable through the Sangh's own documents;

5. The nine organizations listed in IDRF's tax exemption application are all Sangh organizations;

6. Cisco and Sun don't need to go to the IRS or the U.S. government because their own by laws prohibit donations to sectarian, political and religious organizations;

7. The hate campaign being unleashed by IDRF affiliates (such as hinduunity.org) is ample testimony to the sectarian and hate-filled ideology of Hindutva;

8. Personal attacks on individuals associated with the CSFH report reveal bigotry and aversion to dialogue.

Please continue in your duty to report the facts that civil society needs. Information is the lifeblood of democracy, making your role indispensable.

Chetan Talwalkar Via Email

Stand Up Against Funding Divisiveness

Dear Editor,

What do the Sangh Parivar affiliates do when slapped with a damning report about IDRF's involvement (I-W, Nov 29) in their spread of hatred. Take potshots at the authors of this eye-opening report.

They obviously have no basis on which to refute the findings and contents of this report. Their cover has been blown and the only way they respond to the challenges thrown their way is by making baseless charges against the authors. It is about time they "fessed up" to their insidious, underhand dealings.

I am shocked and ashamed at the fact that monies we supposedly contribute towards "development," through the IDRF, actually end up being used to disseminate hatred against minority communities in India. What we end up contributing to, therefore, is not innocuous development but destruction, not humanitarian relief but devastating and dehumanizing violence.

We need more fact-finding missions into the workings and dealings of U.S.-based “charitable” organizations, like the IDRF, and hold them accountable. I laud Cisco’s and Sun Microsystems’ decisions to stop funding the IDRF, and hope that other corporate and individual donors will do the same. It is about time that we stood up against funding divisiveness and hatred in India.

Anu Sharma
New York, New York.

Dear Editor:

I am writing in regards to Ashfaque Swapan's recent article on the US faculty petition that is calling for a freeze on funds to the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF). I wish to take issue with IDRF-spokesperson Vijay Pallod's statements regarding the number of people who have signed the petition. I'm afraid Mr. Pallod misses the forest for the trees. The significance of the faculty petition is not in its numbers, but rather in who has signed it: the world's leading authorities on the economics, societies, politics, cultures, histories, and law of South Asia. And indeed, to have nearly 300 such signatories is, in point of fact, a matter that cannot simply be brushed aside.

In this story, the IDRF has again given up a public opportunity to refute the charges leveled against it, which are based on the report "The Foreign Exchange of Hate [FEH]: IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva." The key issue here is, of course, evidence that the FEH report provides. The South Asia faculty petition is a ringing endorsement, by those with the most expertise to judge, of the convincing nature of this evidence.

Finally, I find it ironic and disturbing that Mr. Pallod claims that the IDRF is the "true follower" of M.K. Gandhi considering that some of the IDRF's most vocal supporters are from the Bajrang Dal, which extensively praises both the IDRF and the assassin of the Mahatma, Naturam Godse, on its official website, www.hinduunity.org. Mr. Pallod's weak attempt to distance the IDRF from hinduunity.org does not ring true, considering that the Bajrang Dal is a leading member organization of the Sangh Parivar, which the FEH report makes clear is the largest beneficiary of IDRF funds, a claim which I again point out the IDRF has failed to refute.

Sincerely,

Manu Bhagavan
Assistant Professor of History and Political Science
Manchester College

December 16, 2002

Dear Editor,

I would like to salute you for your reporting on the IDRF and the growing resistance to this movement within American academic circles. As a faculty member teaching South Asian cultures and literatures at the University of Texas at Austin, the largest American university, and as a person who was born and raised in India, I feel it is incumbent upon us to thwart the agendas of bigotry and violence exemplified by such organizations. Much to my dismay, I witness everyday the spate of misinformation springing from the propaganda machines that are bent upon defining India as a Hindu country, thereby sacrificing the subcontinent's broader history and culture at the altar of exclusivist religious discourses. The recent victory of N. Modi in Gandhi's state is revelatory of the grim realities that India now faces. Because of institutions like the IDRF, many young people attending colleges and universities in the US have become unwitting facilitators of communalist agendas, further aggravating the wounds of the Indian constitution. By bringing to the fore an important issue that deals with ignorance and hatred and by publishing the names of South Asian scholars who are combating the projects of the IDRF and its likes, you have helped us place this significant issue in the public domain. I know I speak for many of my colleagues when offering my profound thanks to you for alerting your readers to the incendiary nature of organizations whose names might signify benevolence but whose actions are destructive to the secular fabric of India.

Sincerely,

Syed Akbar Hyder
Asst. Professor of Asian Studies
The University of Texas at Austin

Letter to Editor:
Re: Recent Coverage of IDRF's Funding to Promote Sectarianism in India

For its recent coverage on IDRF's funding and the counter-campaign by more than 250 U.S.-based faculty IndiaWest is to be commended. As a result, the links between funding streams from the U.S. and Hindu sectarianism in India are becoming disturbingly clear. IndiaWest's balanced coverage provides a crucial opportunity to promote awareness among well-meaning individual and corporate donors.

Hopefully, many more will redirect their contributions to organizations that promote equality through a variety of social services in India. For those who knowingly support IDRF's communal stance, such discussions provide opportunities for reflection on the dangers and ill-boded future of communal politics. If there is one thing we have learned about the outcome of sectarian politics in the past, then it is that the ensuing devastation leaves virtually no group unharmed.

Therefore, I urge IndiaWest to continue to spotlight these issues; recent parallel reports from U.K. further underscore the magnitude of this problem. Now is the time for people of Indian origin living in the U.S to take stock of our role in shaping India's present and future.

Jyoti Puri
Associate Professor, Sociology and Women's Studies
Simmons College