(RNS) — Joining a motley crew of economic libertarians, Trump acolytes, moderate Republicans and old-school racists at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month was Ram Madhav, little known in the United States but a towering political figure in India.
Presenting himself as a tolerant, pluralistic conservative, Madhav has in fact helped lead two of the most divisive and violent organizations in Indian history: the Bharatiya Janata Party, where Madhav was general secretary, and its militant, ideological parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, where Madhav is currently national executive.
His appearance at the convention signals a frightening new chapter in the burgeoning love affair between the U.S. right and Hindu nationalists — those who believe India must become a Hindu ethno-state, where other religions are second-class citizens. American right-wing groups are not simply partnering with Hindu nationalists opportunistically, but encouraging them to evangelize their authoritarian tactics to U.S. political leaders.
To judge by his convention speech, I’m not sure American conservatives know what they are getting into.
Madhav whitewashed the Hindu nationalist movement, arguing it is dedicated to the view that “freedom of religion is sacrosanct” and presenting the controversial construction of the new state-sponsored Hindu Temple in Ayodhya as the product of a “new conservative consensus in India.” Portraying India as a success story for the triumph of a grassroots conservative movement, Madhav offered the support of 1 billion Indians who, he falsely claimed, share the Hindu nationalist vision.
This image of unity and peace could not be further from the truth. In 2023 and 2024, members of Radhav’s RSS, as well as members of RSS-affiliated groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, continued killing Muslim cattle traders, terrorizing Muslim shop owners and leading rallies through Muslim neighborhoods, stoning mosques and provoking violent confrontations. BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demonized Muslims during the recent election, with Modi calling followers of Islam “infiltrators.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to lead the opening of a temple dedicated to Hinduism’s Lord Ram in Ayodhya, India, Jan. 22, 2024. The temple lies at the site of a 16th-century mosque that was destroyed by a Hindu mob in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, far from being the product of consensus, was instead accomplished after the mob-led destruction of a historic mosque and ensuing riots that left thousands of predominantly Muslim Indians dead. Madhav’s later reference to “reclaim(ing) universities and academic bodies” and “tak(ing) back our media” has in practice entailed the BJP-led government appointing Hindu nationalist sympathizers to top university positions and imprisoning critical academics and dissident journalists.
Far from being the chosen ideology of a billion Indians, India’s Hindu nationalist party and Modi were resolutely rejected in June by record numbers of Indian voters, and Modi will have to rule in coalition for the first time in his career as prime minister.
Madhav’s picture of a tolerant, triumphant Hindu nationalism is a lie, in other words. The National Conservatism Conference helped him to spread it.
The many American conservatives who remain deeply committed to protecting religious freedom, who in particular oppose the persecution of Christians abroad, should be deeply concerned about Madhav’s entrance into the U.S. sphere of influence.
Christians throughout India have been extensively persecuted for their beliefs, with an estimated two anti-Christian attacks per day there. BJP-ruled states have banned interfaith marriages between Hindus and Christians, while Hindu nationalist paramilitary groups, including the RSS-affiliated Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, have assaulted Christians and churches under the pretext of preventing religious conversion. More than 200 churches were razed in northwest Manipur state since the eruption of violence last year.
Members of Meira Paibis, a powerful vigilante group of Hindu majority Meitei women, block traffic as they check vehicles for the presence of members from the rival Christian tribal Kuki community, in Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, June 19, 2023. For months, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained largely silent on ethnic violence that killed over 150 people in Manipur. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
Conservatives committed to religious freedom should not listen to Madhav for even a moment. Others no doubt know who they are dealing with and are looking to build power alongside Madhav and other Hindu nationalists in the U.S.
Then-President Donald Trump partnered with Modi in 2019 to co-host the massive “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston that drew around 50,000 supporters. Organized with the support of U.S.-based Hindu nationalist organizations, the event laid the groundwork for an enduring collaboration between the American right and Hindu nationalists.
Steve Bannon, currently in prison for refusing to comply with a subpoena order related to the Jan. 6 riots, was appointed head of the Hindu nationalist Republican Hindu Coalition in 2019. In this position, Bannon reportedly endorsed the BJP-led Indian government’s decision to revoke the constitutionally guaranteed political autonomy from the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, a major plank of a broader Hindu nationalist campaign to disenfranchise Muslim voters.
In addition to denouncing critics of Hindu nationalism, the Hindu Republican caucus has also endorsed a slate of Republican leaders, including Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Johnson and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
More recently, Trump mega-donor Elon Musk met with and praised the Indian PM while he toured the U.S., in spite of the fact that the Indian government has raided the homes of Indian X employees for failing to comply with their extensive censorship orders. Former Republican presidential candidate and ardent Trump supporter Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed Modi on X, writing: “I respect Modi for reviving national pride in India.”
In 2022, Ramaswamy spoke at an online gala organized by Hindupact, an advocacy initiative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. The VHPA, a U.S.-based Hindu nationalist group, has raised millions of dollars for its overseas counterpart, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a militant group in India whose members have organized mass killings of Muslims.
As the U.S.-India military partnership continues to deepen, the American far right and the Hindu nationalist right will no doubt continue to develop their ties and learn from each other.
By the same token, the growth and consolidation of the Indian opposition in India has emboldened a growing resistance movement in the United States.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state helped inaugurate a new pro-democracy, anti-Hindu-nationalist coalition called Sacred Acts last week. In California, numerous groups banded together to make caste discrimination illegal in the state, facing vociferous opposition from local Hindu nationalist groups. Cities throughout the U.S. have also passed resolutions condemning Hindu nationalist violence, responding to the pressure of organized, interfaith constituencies in their community.
Defending religious freedom in the United States and India will require ongoing collaborations like these. Organizing across national lines will enable us all to oppose the growing right-wing Hindu nationalist threat and defend the values of tolerance and pluralism advocated by the founders of India and the U.S. alike.
(Rasheed Ahmed is executive director of the Indian American Muslim Council. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)
