Sir Sadiq Khan has decided not to exclude groups accused of “anti-Muslim hate” reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

The Mayor of London has rejected calls to sever ties with the UK wing of an organisation found by the UK government to have organised mass anti-Muslim violence in India.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK (VHP-UK), also known as the World Council of Hindus UK in the English language, are on the official committee of organisers for the City Hall-backed Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square today (12th October).

In 2002, a Foreign Office report found that the Indian branch of the organisation organised a pogrom which killed thousands of Muslims in Gujarat that year. The document, cited in a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says: “The aim of the perpetrators of the violence, the VHP and other Hindu extremist groups, was to purge Muslims from Hindu and other mixed localities in order to ghettoise them.

“Their systematic campaign of violence has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.”

The issue was raised last year directly with the mayor, when VHP-UK were also on the organising committee, but City Hall today dismissed any concerns about their involvement.

Rajiv Sinha, of Hindus for Human Rights UK, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “As a proud Hindu, I am disgusted that London’s annual Diwali celebration is organised by a range of organisations that bring the unacceptable politics of Hindutva, anti-Muslim hate, and casteism.

“For most people Diwali is thought of as a celebration of good over evil, of truth over falsehood, yet the Mayor of London apparently considers it appropriate to be working with the the likes of VHP UK. The VHP is a violent Hindu supremacist component of the Sangh Parivar, or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) family of organisations.

“The Mayor of London must cut off all ties with these organisations. It requires only the most basic level of research to discover the horrors the VHP is affiliated with — it is an anti-Muslim pogrom group that played key roles in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the Gujarat riots of 2002, and countless more instances of violence and terror.”

Sinha added that he doesn’t consider the current makeup of the Diwali in London Committee to represent “progressive, anti-Hindutva, anti-caste Hindu voices” in its entirety.

He said he raised the issue directly with the Mayor last year and was surprised it had not been addressed.

On its website, VHP-UK says “the local organisation works independently in pursuit of the objectives of the VHP in harmony with the laws” of the country they operate in.

They reject any notion that “any organisation was responsible for initiating or supporting” the Gujurat riots, adding: “We wish to emphasise that in India people of all faiths live harmoniously with each other, and enjoy equal rights and religious freedom.”

VHP-UK were approached for comment.

The UK-Indian Muslim Council (UK-IMC) said VHP-UK’s participation was an “unacceptable lapse of judgment by the mayor”, adding: “By partnering with organisations linked to the Hindutva movement, the Mayor’s Office risks undermining its own commitment to inclusion. Festivals of unity cannot be organised by groups with a history of division.”

India Labour Solidarity, which campaigns against the caste system, added: “A celebration like this should be promoting cohesion, not a platform for groups linked to caste violence and Hindutva extremism. Aligning with such organisations risks deepening divisions in London, where race-related and Islamophobic hate marches are already on the rise.”

A spokesperson from the Muslim Greens, an advocacy group within the party, told the LDRS: “Entertaining groups who fuel any kind of exclusivity on the occasion of Diwali – or any other occasion – is far from acceptable. The Indian diaspora in the UK must insist that the mayor commemorate Diwali with organisations who champion plurality and who represent and advocate for all of India’s communities.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the LDRS: “Diwali on the Square is attended by tens of thousands of people and welcomes people of all backgrounds and faiths. The event is a beacon of inclusivity and showcases the very best of London.

“The Diwali in London (DiL) Committee is made up of several different organisations which represent London’s Hindu and Jain communities and supports the delivery of Diwali on the Square.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office declined to comment, but Whitehall sources pointed out that the organisation of the Diwali celebrations was purely a matter for the Mayor of London, not the government.

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