Canadian rights group seeks probe of 21 RSS-linked charities
Complaint asks Canada’s tax agency to examine millions of dollars flowing through charities allegedly tied to India’s Hindu supremacist RSS network
OTTAWA, Canada (MNTV) — A Canadian human rights group has asked the country’s tax authority to investigate 21 registered charities over alleged financial and organizational links to India’s Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, raising questions about whether tax-advantaged charitable funds are supporting the organization’s transnational network.
The complaint was filed with the Canada Revenue Agency by Just Peace Advocates as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived in Canada this week, following a contentious visit to the United States that drew protests and calls for sanctions against him.
Just Peace Advocates said its analysis identified about $46 million moving among organizations it describes as RSS-affiliated in Canada, as well as more than $21.5 million transferred from those organizations to RSS-linked groups outside the country.
The figures are based partly on data compiled by Sciences Po’s Center for International Research in France.
Among the registered charities named in the complaint are Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Canada, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of Ontario and Sewa Canada International Aid Inc.
At the center of the challenge is Canada’s requirement that registered charities operate for recognized charitable purposes and provide a public benefit.
Just Peace Advocates argues that organizations promoting religious discrimination or channeling resources toward non-charitable activities should not receive the benefits associated with charitable status.
The group also asked authorities to examine whether some of the charities failed to devote resources to their own charitable activities, supported organizations that were not qualified recipients or submitted inaccurate financial disclosures.
The complaint brings renewed attention to the RSS’s expanding international footprint as Bhagwat tours Western countries during the organization’s centenary year.
Founded in India in 1925, the RSS sits at the center of a sprawling network of Hindu nationalist organizations collectively known as the Sangh Parivar. Its political offshoot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has governed India since 2014.
The RSS describes itself as a cultural organization devoted to Hindu society and rejects accusations that it promotes religious intolerance.
Rights advocates, however, accuse the organization and groups associated with it of advancing a Hindu-majoritarian vision of India that has contributed to hostility and discrimination against Muslims, Christians and other minorities.
Scrutiny of the organization has increasingly extended beyond India. During Bhagwat’s U.S. visit last week, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom renewed its call for targeted sanctions against RSS members over alleged severe violations of religious freedom.
The recommendation is nonbinding and has not been adopted by the U.S. government.
Bhagwat’s Canadian visit has also faced opposition. More than 40 civil society and community organizations had urged Canadian authorities to deny him entry, according to Just Peace Advocates.
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