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Good morning wonderful people! How much do you know about the VHP-America? Buckle-up.

The VHP heads one of the major wings of the Sangh Parivar (family of Hindu nationalist groups headed by the paramilitary RSS). The VHP oversees religious affairs.
Many of the big Sangh groups have parallels in American and the US, often sharing a near exact name.

So, we have the VHP in India and the VHP-American in the US.

In India, the VHP is violent. So violent that the American CIA has flagged it as militant.
The VHP-A was the first Hindutva group formally established on American soil. This is unusual. More commonly, the HSS leads (because the HSS is the RSS overseas).

Why did the VHP establish a US-based group first? Maybe a nod to American religiosity? Hindutva adapts to contexts.
Read 7 tweets
Educational moment on Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) groups in the US -- Today focusing on the VHPA.

The VHPA is one of five Hindu nationalist groups named as such in a recent resolution by a local Democratic council in New Jersey.

Some history on this Hindu nationalist group: Image
Standard notes --

I'm a historian; I've been engaged in a research project on the US-based Hindu Right for close to 2 years.

Hindutva is not Hinduism (and it is offensive to conflate the two).

Hindutva is a political ideology, a rather hateful and right-wing one.
The VHPA (Vishwa Hindu Parishad - America) was founded in the US in 1970 by four RSS members.

Recall that the RSS is a violent paramilitary group in India; their most famous contribution to history is that an RSS man assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.
Read 10 tweets

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