Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (Hindi: हिन्दू स्वयंसेवक संघ, lit. 'Hindu Volunteer Organization'; abbr: HSS) is a non-profit, social, educational, and cultural organization of the Hindus living outside India. It was founded in 1940s in Kenya, it is currently active in 156 countries and estimates 3289 branches.[1]
 | |
| Abbreviation | HSS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1940 |
Region | Outside India |
Parent organisation | Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh |
| Affiliations | Sangh Parivar |
| Website | Official website |
History
editTwo volunteer members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Swayamsevaks) that had settled in Kenya in the 1940s and started a shakha (branch). Since such shakhas were not on 'national' (rashtriya) soil, they were renamed as the branches of Bharatiya Swayamsevak Sangh, later Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS). RSS Pracharaks Bhaurao Deoras and others spent several years abroad to develop the organisation. During the Emergency RSS was banned in India and, consequently, sent its organisers abroad to seek support and carry out activism.[1]
HSS in the United Kingdom was established in 1966, and shakhas were established in cities like Birmingham and Bradford.[2]
In North America, the HSS gave the lead to the sister organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council), which was founded in Canada in 1970 and in the United States in 1971. The HSS followed in its wake.[3]
Australia
editThe HSS organisation in Australia, as elsewhere, says that its focus is on the country in which it is based and that it does not send money to India. It claims to be "ideologically inspired by the RSS vision of a progressive and dynamic Hindu society that can deal with its internal and external challenges, and contribute to the welfare of the whole world". Aside from providing links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), they also have links with organisations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu Youth Network. The professed aim is to raise awareness in matters relating to Hindus but support no specific political party or candidate.[4]
Kenya
editHSS Kenya was started in Nairobi on 14 January 1947 by Jagadish Chandra Shastri and Maneklal Rughani. It was originally known as Bharatiya Swayamsevak Sangh. Since then it has spread throughout Kenya with Shakhas operational in Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, and Meru.[5] HSS in Kenya also runs a socio-cultural-religious organisation of Hindus by the name of Hindu Religious Service Centre (HRSC). It was started in Nairobi in 1947.[6]
Liberia
editHSS Liberia was started in Monrovia on 29 October 2017.[citation needed]
During the COVID-19 pandemic on July 28, 2021, the HSS Liberia and the Red Cross provided food aid to Liberian people for the country's independence day.[7]
Nepal
editThe HSS was established in Nepal around 1992 by a group of Nepali students who were influenced by leaders of the Hindu nationalist RSS while studying in India. The two bodies share a similar Hindutva ideology. Their presence is particularly prevalent in the Terai region and they have regimented programs of education, dissemination of ideology and exercise as elsewhere in the world.[8]
The Nepali HSS has been among several groups campaigning for a reversal of Nepal's 2006 decision to become a secular state after years of being ruled by a Hindu royal family. They say that the king had not favoured Hindus, that the decision was engineered by anti-Hindu groups, included communists and missionaries, and that in any event, it was unnecessary because there had been no persecution of religious minorities under the previous system. Among their demands has been that only Hindus should be appointed to high official posts.[8][9]
United Kingdom
editHSS in the United Kingdom was established in 1966.[10] On 18 February 2015, the Charity Commission for England and Wales announced that it was opening an investigation into HSS and two other organisations that were featured in ITV's Exposure programme.[11] The broadcast showed a teacher at a HSS summer camp telling children that "the number of good Muslims 'can be counted on one finger'" and that "to destroy Hindu history is the secret conspiracy of the Christians".[12]
The Charity Commission conducted an inquiry into the allegations and published a report on 2 September 2016.[13] The inquiry found that there was mismanagement by the trustees who had failed to comply with their duties under charity law (page 4).[14] It accepted the trustees' testimony that the teacher was a 'volunteer' and did not find evidence that the views expressed the teacher were "endemic or systematic in the charity and its activities" (page 6).[14] The Commission also found that there was no evidence of any formal links between the RSS and HSS (page 7).[14]
United States
editIn the US, the HSS USA registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1989.[15]
Presence elsewhere
editThe RSS announced in 2014 that there were plans to establish HSS chapters in countries such as Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway. It claimed that the two organizations worked closely together and shared a similar ideology but were not as one.[16]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b Jaffrelot 2009, p. 362.
- ^ Starrs 2001, p. 13.
- ^ Jaffrelot 2011, pp. 700–701.
- ^ "FAQs". HSS Australia. 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- ^ "Home". hsskenya.org. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- ^ "Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) organised 21-day 'Vishwa Sangh Shiksha Varg-2016' begins at Nairobi, Kenya". Vishwa Samvada Kendra. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- ^ "Red Cross, HSS Liberia provide July 26 food ration for vulnerable people". The New Dawn Liberia. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ a b Mulmi, Amish Raj (2013). The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindutva in Nepal. Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. pp. 22–32.
- ^ Lawoti, Mahendra; Hangen, Susan (2013), Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nepal: Identities and Mobilization After 1990, Routledge, pp. 234–, ISBN 978-0-415-78097-1
- ^ "HSS UK". HSS UK. 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- ^ "New charity investigations: Global Aid Trust and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (UK)". The Charities Commission. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- ^ "RSS-inspired charity, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, under probe in the UK over "extremist" views". The Indian Express. PTI. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- ^ Charity Commission report landing page
- ^ a b c Inquiry Report Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (UK)
- ^ USA, HSS. "FAQs". HSSUS. HSSUS. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Uttam, Kumar (8 October 2014). "RSS plans to join Hindu groups, expand in the West". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
Bibliography
edit- Baumann, Gerd; Gingrich, André (2004), Grammars of Identity/Alterity: A Structural Approach, Berghahn Books, ISBN 978-1-84545-108-0
- Eisenstadt, Shmuel Noah (2002), Multiple Modernities, Transaction Publishers, pp. 176–177, ISBN 978-0-7658-0926-1
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (2009), Hindu Nationalism: A Reader, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-13097-2
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (2011), Religion, Caste, and Politics in India, C Hurst & Co, ISBN 978-1849041386
- Khandelwal, Madhulika Shankar (2002), Becoming American, Being Indian, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0801488079
- Starrs, Roy (2001), Asian Nationalism in an Age of Globalization, Routledge, ISBN 1903350034