The RSS: Fascism in India

The realities of India are in sharp contrast with the image it projects internationally. For example, you probably haven’t heard of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS. It is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary organization. The RSS, with its millions of members, exerts enormous influence and power in India. Its political party is the BJP, the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organizations called the Sangh Parivar, which has a presence in all facets of Indian society. It promotes a Hindu supremacist ideology that is intolerant of India’s minority communities, especially Muslims. India, particularly under the current regime of Narendra Modi is in Arundhati Roy’s words “a dangerous place” where “a deeply flawed, fragile democracy has transitioned– openly and brazenly–into a criminal, Hindu-fascist enterprise.”

Speaker: Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy is a world-renowned award-winning writer and global justice activist. Tariq Ali says of her she “is both loathed and feared by the Indian elite. Loathed because she speaks her mind. Feared because her voice reaches the world outside India and damages the myths perpetrated by New Delhi.” Among her many books are My Seditious Heart and Azadi.


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