Lying religiously

The Hindu Students Council (HSC) is a North America based organization that publicly claims to provide a space to learn about Hindu heritage and culture and draws its membership primarily from the Indian American student community, claiming more than 75 chapters, most of them located on university campuses across the United States and Canada. Many Indian American youth join HSC chapterers because of HSC's claim to be a cultural and spiritual organization providing an independent, apolitical space to learn about Hinduism through activities, such as celebration of Hindu festivals, discussion of sacred texts, religious rituals and community service, and to assist Hindu students in their spiritual, emotional, and identity needs. This report challenges these claims of HSC and provides evidence documenting the findings of an investigation into the history, organization, and political links of the HSC, demonstrating that it is part of the Sangh Parivar, the extended network of affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the creators of Hindutva. These findings sharply contradict the public face HSC presents in the US as a spiritual and religious body. The report shows that HSC has deep-rooted connections - institutional, personal, and political - with the Sangh Parivar.