Washington, October 17, 2022 (PPI-OT):Muslim American bodies and activists raise alarm as the US government appointed a director of the Hindutva group Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS-USA) to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) faith-based religious council.

Chandru Acharya, who was appointed by the DHS in late September to advise the US government on domestic issues, is a director of HSS-USA, a group that has repeatedly defended India’s Islamophobic policies and programs, according to Middle East Eye, a London-based online news website. The HSS is the overseas arm of the Hindu militant group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The 25-member faith-based Security Council on the DHS includes leaders from several faiths. It was set up to provide advice to the secretary on matters “related to protecting houses of worship, preparedness and enhanced coordination with the faith community.”

“How can a member of a group whose parent organisation in India is implicated in violence against religious minorities and attacks their places of worship be a good fit for this position?” asks Rasheed Ahmed, executive director of the Indian American Muslim Council. “Regrettably, DHS has chosen an individual representing a supremacist hate group,”

“The RSS is the ultra-right wing Hindu extremist organisation and the founding of the Hindutva ideology, which is a Hindu supremacist and Islamophobic ideology. The HSS is the overseas arm of the RSS. We firmly oppose the inclusion of organisations like HSS in any religious freedom council,” said Riaz Chakraborty, policy director for Hindus for Human Rights (HFHR).

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