Melbourne; 17 Nov 2020 (UMMN): The Humanism Project (THP) of Australia, a human rights and political advocacy organisation of the Indian diaspora based in Australia, has written to the Australian PM Scott Morrison expressing its disappointment at the visit by Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O'Farrell to the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on 15 November 2020.
“Australia’s relationship with India is robust and is based on the two nations’ history of shared values of democracy, respect for human rights and equal treatment of all people regardless of their race, colour, ethnicity and religious beliefs.
In the above context, it was a matter of great anguish and disappointment for us, and for many Indians who believe in the above shared values, to see the Australian Envoy to India providing legitimacy to RSS, an organization that never made any secret of its love for Adolf Hitler. Both its first chief M.S. Golwalkar and one of the organisation’s heroes, V.D. Savarkar, were admirers of Hitler, mainly for his “cultural nationalism” and his persecution of the Jews. RSS runs quasi-militant outfits that have often been charged with participating in communal riots and running campaigns against the religious minorities of India.”, stated the letter.
THP’s letter to PM Morrison cited the hate crime of RSS’ militant outfit Bajrang Dal, whose leader Dara Singh was convicted for burning alive Australian Pastor Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons on 22 January, 1999.
“The RSS website makes no secret of its contempt for Christian Missionaries whom they consider to be foreign elements trying to interfere with their dream of a Hindu India.
It is doubtful that Mr O’Farrell would not have been aware of RSS’s history when he made the trip to Nagpur, to meet Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief. It is reasonable to conjecture that he would have done his reading about the RSS and would have probably known that the RSS has been banned twice, once in the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, and has been accused of violence against religious minorities.
The High Commisioner would have not only taken the decision to visit the RSS headquarters with due consideration and thinking, he would have also cleared it at the highest level from his own government.
Mr O’Farrell’s attempt through his tweet to portray the RSS as some kind of benign group of do-gooders does not deflect from the fact that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is an organization dedicated to the idea that India was and should be a Hindu nation, and that Hinduism’s followers are entitled to reign over India’s religious minorities.” said the email.
THP appealed PM Morrison not to endorse and give legitimacy to organisations like the RSS, which fundamentally go against the shared principles that the relationship of Australia and India is built upon.
“Political and diplomatic exigencies surely cannot take precedence over our fundamental ideas of democracy, freedom, tolerance, respect, and equality of all humans”, read the letter.
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