The American media often has a lot to say about Islamic militants and Muslims who commit violence in the Middle East, and it is true that they pose a threat to others (as well as to other Muslims). However, that same media typically ignores similar extremism and similar violence committed by Hindu nationalists in India. Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at Freedom House%u2019s Centre for Religious Freedom who recently published a book on the rise of Hindu extremism in India, writes that a country once personified by Mahatma Gandhi is fast becoming known for religious hatred and violence. While India remains the world%u2019s largest democracy, the ruling BJP is linked to Hindu extremist groups like the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which mount hate campaigns and sometimes-violent attacks against religious minorities and demand that Hinduism dominate society and politics. The RSS was founded by admirers of fascism and Nazism, produced Gandhi%u2019s murderers and is now perhaps the world%u2019s largest paramilitary organisation, with millions of members, he adds.
