London mayor criticised over Diwali event run with Hindu nationalist groups
Several British Indian organisations have slammed the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, after he co-organised a Diwali celebration on Sunday with groups accused of having links to India’s Hindu nationalist movement.
One of the groups that organised the event was the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK (VHP-UK), the British arm of an organisation that a UK government report found organised mass anti-Muslim violence with "all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing" in India.
Hindus for Human Rights UK, an advocacy group, wrote to Khan to express its "dismay" at the Diwali celebration being organised "by a coalition of groups that perform, to varying degrees, a whitewashing or supportive function for the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist/supremacist) movement”.
Rajiv Sinha, director of the organisation, said Khan told him in July he was aware of the issue.
“Since the mayor has taken ownership of the event,” he told Middle East Eye. “I hope that he also takes responsibility for the due diligence that should have taken place with regards to the event, its organisers, and their underlying affiliations and activities.
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“There has been a serious lapse in this due diligence,” he added.
'There has been a serious lapse in this due diligence'
- Rajiv Sinha, Hindus for Human Rights
The VHP is a wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Modelled on 1930s European fascist organisations, the RSS is a Hindu nationalist paramilitary group whose supporters say advocates a nationalist ideology which upholds Hindu culture and values.
VHP founder MS Golwalkar was an avid supporter of Adolf Hitler, calling his attempt to “purge” Jews a “good lesson” for India.
A British Foreign Office report in 2002 found that the Indian branch of the VHP organised a pogrom that killed more than 1,000 Muslims in India’s western state of Gujarat.
The report, made public in 2023, said: “The aim of the perpetrators of the violence, the VHP and other Hindu extremist groups, was to purge Muslims from Hindu and other mixed localities in order to ghettoise them.
“Their systematic campaign of violence has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.”
The report further found that India's VHP and other groups “acted with the support of” Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat and now the country's prime minister.
'Shocking and egregious'
The letter to Khan, seen by MEE, was signed by several civil society groups, including Scottish Indians for Justice, the South Asia Solidarity Group, the Students’ Federation of India United Kingdom and the UK-Indian Muslim Council.
Several Green Party councillors, members and groups also signed, including the West Central London Green Party, Muslim Greens and Greens for Palestine.
Thousands attended the event in Trafalgar Square, organised by the Diwali in London Committee and the mayor of London.
“We are not condemning people that attended the event in good faith, wishing to celebrate Diwali, express their cultural/religious identity, and be with family, friends, and community,” the letter noted.
However, it described the involvement of the UK arm of the VHP as “shocking and egregious”.
VHP-UK says on its website that in different countries “the local organisation works independently in pursuit of the objectives of the VHP in harmony with the laws of that country”.
The British group also says that it “made extensive enquiries and found no evidence that any organisation was responsible for initiating or supporting” the 2002 violence in Gujarat, insisting the violence was not pre-planned - in contrast to the Foreign Office’s assessment.
The violence had erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, killing 59 people. Muslims were blamed for the fire, and more than 1,000 people were subsequently killed by Hindu mobs in the ensuing violence. Later, an Indian government inquiry concluded that the fire was started by accident.
VHP-UK says on its website: “The reaction to the murder of Hindus was natural and spontaneous.”
In recent years, several VHP leaders in India have made repeated statements accused of being anti-Muslim.
Other organisations involved in organising the London event have also been accused of Hindu nationalist ties.
The Chinmaya Mission, a religious group that was praised by Rishi Sunak while he was British prime minister, previously expressed support for Modi and its global head has met with the Indian premier.
Modi is seen as a Hindu nationalist figurehead. As a child he joined the RSS and, by the 1970s, he was a full-time worker for the Hindutva organisation, rising up the ranks in Gujarat.
The infamous 2002 violence happened while he was Gujarat's chief minister - and the British foreign office report alleged that Modi was directly responsible for it.
Meanwhile the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has strong ties with the RSS and a recent history of anti-Muslim views among its leadership.
'British Muslims and British Hindus should always be allies'
Khan, a Muslim, has a record of condemning conflict between Hindus and Muslims.
In September 2022, following violent disturbances in London alleged to have been stoked by Hindu nationalist groups, the mayor said: “British Muslims and British Hindus have far more in common than that which divides us.”
“For a generation, Asian families have lived side by side in the UK as friends and neighbours - not allowing the politics of the sub-continent to spill over here at home or to affect our relationships," he added.
“British Muslims and British Hindus should always be allies, not adversaries.”
However, Hindus for Human Rights UK director Sinha accused Khan on Tuesday of having “taken no substantive action” against Hindu nationalism.
A spokesperson for the mayor told MEE that the annual event is "attended by tens of thousands of people and welcomes people of all backgrounds and faiths".
"The event is a beacon of inclusivity and showcases the very best of London," they said.
"The Diwali in London (DiL) committee is made up of several different organisations, which represent London’s Hindu and Jain communities, and supports the delivery of Diwali on the Square."
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