For years, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) presented itself as an advocacy organization pursuing a “Hindu human rights” agenda in the U.S. The organization snatched up political credibility among Democrats, civil liberties groups, and progressives, all while supporting the far-right Hindu supremacist movement both in India and transnationally, according to a new report by research group Savera, which details how this carefully constructed image is starting to slip.
In its early years, HAF pursued causes that could be said to advance religious freedom, diversity, and inclusion. Behind the push for the public commemoration of Hindu holidays and “taking back” yoga, however, lays a more nationalistic and chauvinistic agenda, advocates say. In January, Savera joined a chorus of observers in pointing out HAF’s connections to a fascist movement in India that not only extols Hindu supremacy, but also holds real political power through India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Savera’s report, released in October and titled “HAF Way to Supremacy: How the Hindu American Foundation Rebrands Bigotry as Minority Rights,” tracks how HAF has hidden its true ideology behind a pretense of advocating for Hindus in a Christian-majority country. The report asserts that this approach has made the group palatable to progressives in the U.S.
This latest report builds upon a series of investigations by Savera into the activities of the “Sangh Parivar,” the “family” of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalist, organizations across the globe dedicated to transforming the Indian state into a theocracy.
“We have no response to the Savera report,” said Mat McDermott, HAF’s senior director of communications. He went on to describe Savera’s allegations as “baseless” and accused the organization of being affiliated with India’s opposition Congress Party.
Prachi Patankar, an activist and writer whose work against caste-based oppression informed many of Savera’s findings, has meticulously dissected HAF’s strategic facade.
This story was originally published in prismreports.org. Read the full story here.
