Research maps Hindu nationalist network in Netherlands as part of world’s largest far-right organization
A groundbreaking research project has identified at least four organizations linked to India's Hindu nationalist movement operating in the Netherlands
AMSTERDAM (MNTV) – A groundbreaking research project has identified at least four organizations linked to India’s Hindu nationalist movement operating in the Netherlands, part of a sprawling global network of over 2,500 groups that researchers describe as the world’s largest far-right organization.
The “Seeing the Sangh” project, a joint initiative by SciencesPo’s Centre for International Studies and The Caravan magazine, recently produced the first comprehensive map of the organizational ecosystem surrounding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, revealing a far more extensive network than the RSS formally acknowledges.
In the Netherlands, the network includes Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Netherlands, founded in 1987 and based in The Hague, which the research categorizes as having “conclusive” linkage to the RSS as a direct subsidiary.
The organization self-identifies as a Sangh affiliate and displays RSS paraphernalia.
Also operating in the country is the Vishva Hindu Parishad Netherlands, the Dutch branch of the VHP established in 1995 with offices in Amsterdam.
The organization has conclusive Sangh linkage based on its self-attestation as a Sangh entity.
The Overseas Friends of the BJP Netherlands, founded in 2015 by Pratima Singh, actively campaigns for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party among the Dutch diaspora.
The research found it has co-hosted events with known Sangh affiliates and hosted RSS officials and formal Sangh Parivar speakers at its programs.
The Hindu Council of the Netherlands, which describes itself as the highest representative body of Hindus in the country, is based in Rotterdam and has “probable” linkage to the network. Researchers found it has shared officials with Sangh appendages and is listed as an affiliate by organizations with conclusive Sangh ties.
The Dutch presence is part of a broader European network that the six-year research effort has documented, with over 40 Sangh-supportive organizations active across the continent.
Many share personnel, operate from the same addresses, regularly co-organize events, and are connected by shared financial flows.
Experts weigh in
“The Sangh is history’s oldest, richest, largest far-right network,” said Felix Pal, lecturer in political science at the University of Western Australia. “In tracing the Sangh, it is not enough to just look for loud and proud Hindutva.
But by following the Sangh’s personnel, finances, relationships and material infrastructures, we can say more precisely what the Sangh is, where it has spread, and what it does.”
The research revealed that the bulk of Hindu far-right organizations are made up of seemingly innocuous entities—service providers, publishing houses, cultural organizations—that act as key vectors for Sangh legitimacy and flows of informational and financial resources.
“This network is not confined to India but is expanding globally thanks to the support of the diaspora,” said Christophe Jaffrelot, research director at SciencesPo-CERI. “Hindu nationalist activists have reached out to almost every social and professional milieu.”
The RSS has long obscured its organizational ties, formally acknowledging only about three dozen affiliates despite coordinating what researchers found to be a network of at least 2,500 distinct organizations.
This obfuscation has allowed the RSS to maintain plausible deniability for various activities while creating an air of mystique about its influence.
The project’s interactive dashboard, published by The Caravan, allows public access to detailed information about the RSS network.
Members of the public can submit their own data and evidence, which will be independently verified and periodically added to the map. A restricted data repository at SciencesPo-CERI will be available to vetted academics and researchers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently called the RSS “the biggest NGO in the world,” while the organization itself seeks to become “indistinguishable from Indian society.”
The research was sourced entirely from publicly available materials, including the Sangh’s own publications, corroborated by academic literature, financial filings, and government documents.
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