Indian children born abroad

[Ashish Chandra]

It is indeed unfortunate that people who claim to be in the center actually
don't know what being in the center means. Is it a surprise that RSS
continually gets attacked here by the author of the following email ?

Quote (PB):
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and and its
offshoot Hindu Student Council (HSC) [or Shiv Sena]


Some points of clarification would be in order. HSC is NOT Shiv Sena. If
this were true, then everywhere in India, the Congress is Indian Union
Muslim League and the Communists are casteist parties.

I don't think I understand the following statement :

Quote (PB):
Their version of Hinduism is of course racist,
isolationist, ultraconservative, and jingoist.

VHP does not want to admit here in America that it is a DIRECT offshoot of
RSS and that it has created so much communal problems in India.

To talk of India being one nation and hence its people being one is
considered racist, isolationist etc. etc. ? How ?

VHP has been in the US for over 20 years now. It is an independent
organization with its own constitution. What is there to admit ? It was
formed at the behest of several leaders in India, one of who was Guruji M S
Gowalkar, the second Sarsanghachalak of RSS. Acharya Sushil Muni and Swami
Chinmayananda were also its original founders. So what exactly is it that
you would want VHP to admit ?

Quote (PB):
Most immigrant Indians do not know their link with RSS, BJP, or Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena has nothing to do with VHP even remotely. As for the people not
knowing, I'd like to know where you got that information. If you have
attended any of the VHP organized utsavs (festivals), there is open mention
of the Sangha Parivar. If you know of any people who are unaware of this,
please let me know and I think I can personally write to them and inform
them even though I don't speak for the VHP.


Look, the original theme was that Indian children here don't wish to go to
the temples etc. The issue is obviously one of identity: Am I more Indian
or American ? The family at home pressurizes children to take an active
interest in cultural and community affairs. This is not limited to the
Indian community but is a phenomenon that is observed amongst all ethnic
groups - namely, the desire to maintain the "home" touch. Because of the
vastly different cultures of India and the West, the pressure from the
parents is even more pronounced. The kid in the meanwhile faces additional
questions of being looked down upon by his/her "American" friends because
of the sometimes strange, and most definitely different, customs of his
parents and community. After we combine these reasons, there comes a tug
between the home (parents) and the outside. If the tug at home is strong
enough, the child forges an identity that is more to the liking of his/her
parents, something that might make him/her openly defensive in the outside
world, or sometimes, even aggressively defensive. If the tug from home is
not strong enough, he/she would naturally adopt a lifestyle that is more
conducive to their surroundings. This has nothing at all to do with a
despise amongst the children here for their religion, but rather a lack of
understanding for it.



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I feel happy that someone has finally raised this issue here.

However, this is not exactly a matter to talk about so lightheartedly. The
fact that Indian-American kids refuse to visit Hindu temples has a lot to
do with how stereotypically the temples function, how conservative and
patriarchal class- and caste-based Hinduism functions, what relevance these
kids find with their parent-imposed "Indianness" (or the lack of it), and
how these youngsters relate to India vs. their country of birth.

There is a huge cultural vacuum in the minds of these children, and
right-wing Hindutva proponents Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and and its
offshoot Hindu Student Council (HSC) [or Shiv Sena] keep taking advantage
of this vacuum cunningly.  Their version of Hinduism is of course racist,
isolationist, ultraconservative, and jingoist.

VHP does not want to admit here in America that it is a DIRECT offshoot of
RSS and that it has created so much communal problems in India. Most
immigrant Indians do not know their link with RSS, BJP, or Shiv Sena.

However, because of a lack of any organized attempt on the part of the
Indian liberals, secular, and progressive, VHP and HSC's version of
Hinduism is getting ground abroad which is unfortunate.

Sunaina Maira who is a Ph.D. from Harvard has been trying hard to organize
these children (at least in some big U.S. cities) based on secularism and
progressive agenda.

I would recommend her book to everybody who is interested in this extremely
important and sensitive subject, i.e., the subject of South Asian children
born and brought up outside India.

-Partha Banerjee