'An ITV documentary has revealed hatred and extremist views in registered charities. A year-long investigation by the Exposure programme followed three separate organisations: The Steadfast Trust, Global Aid Trust, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK... Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK (HSS) "runs as a voluntary organisation with weekly youth leadership training centres across the country," according to its website. But undercover filming shows children as young as 13 being taught at a summer camp organised by the charity that the number of good Muslims "can be counted on fingers".
'In another act of embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat stoked controversy again on Sunday by remarking that India belongs to the Hindus. “Hindustan is our nation, a rashtra of Hindus,” the RSS Sarsanghchalak said in Meerut while addressing a meeting of several wings of the party. “But we have to expand it by uniting all Hindus. Our country would become great if we succeed in uniting the Hindus. This unity will also be a bliss for the world. The world will awaken if the Hindus are united and awakened,” he added.
'The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) attempts at re-writing Dalit history has drawn sharp criticism from scholars and activists. As part of its efforts to aggressively push the Hindu nationalist agenda and consolidate the Hindu vote, the RSS has sought to introduce communal overtones to the origins of caste in a never-before-heard-of take on Dalit history. In three recently released books on the subject, top RSS leaders have held foreign invaders responsible for the emergence of certain castes.
'A rare BJP leader with no RSS link, Kiran Bedi, the party’s Chief Ministerial nominee for Delhi, on Wednesday described the Sangh as “very nationalistic” that has kept India united. The 65-year-old Bedi, who has been pitchforked to a leadership role within days of joining BJP, also felt that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing organisation, was a very disciplined outfit and has been contributing significantly to nation building. “They( RSS) are very nationalistic. I would think here is an organisation which kept India together, which has kept India neat,” Bedi said...'
"The Central Board of Film Certification has been reconstituted after the resignation of former chief Leela Samson with at least four actors who are BJP members and a Vice Chancellor of the central Gujarat university. At least one member is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Samajik Samarasta Manch. Samson has been replaced by filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani who has several Bollywood films--- 'Aankhen', 'Talaash: The Hunt Begins...' and 'Shola Aur Shabnam'---to his credit.
"In another shocking and serious blow to the freedom of expression, Perumal Murugan, an influential Tamil writer at the peak of his creative powers, has been bullied, blackmailed and harassed by anonymous vested religious elements led by the Hindutva right, in collusion with the police and the state administration of Tamil Nadu, into helpless submission – so much so that he has, in pain and frustration, announced that he is giving up writing altogether.
"The Indian Council of Historical Research, the government body that funds research into the past, seems set to continue on its saffron trend as it gets ready to reconstitute its governing panel. Three of the 18 candidates suggested by Y Sudarshan Rao, president of the council, are office holders in the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, the historical wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Rao, who was a member of the organisation before moving to the council in Delhi in July, has spoken of the need to Indianise historical research.
'If there’s one thing that the 102nd Indian Science Congress, held in Mumbai, will be remembered for, it’s the outrageous claims made at it about the achievements of science in ancient India, including the assertion that Indians between 7000 and 6000 BC knew how to make airplanes that could undertake “interplanetary travel”, and fly backwards and sideways, as well as forwards!
"The RSS’ current fascist rhetoric is not surprising given its historical links to fascism in the 1930s, which have been established convincingly using authentic archival material. It is a legacy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a pracharak for most of his life, identifies with and believes in.
"The Hindu Mahasabha is going full on to uphold its agenda of propagating Nathuram Godse's ideology. In a fresh move, the Hindu Mahasabha has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding Mahatama Gandhi's photo be replaced on Indian currency notes with that of Veer Shivaji, Maharana Pratap along with image of B R Ambedkar who gave the country the Constitution post-Independence... The mahasabha has also urged the PM to stop universities and colleges from teaching students that Mahatama Gandhi is "father of the nation" when the same has not been done officially by the government.
