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How Four Hindu Nationalist Websites Make Their Money (bellingcat)
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/05/28/how-hindu-nationalist-far-right-india-websites-money/How Four Hindu Nationalist Websites Make Their Money
May 28, 2024
With millions of people voting in India’s General Election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third term in office, and are widely tipped to get it. The Hindu nationalist movement in India predates Modi and the BJP but their decade in power has catapulted Hindu nationalism into the mainstream.
Modi’s rise to power has reshaped India including the landscape for foreign funded organisations and media. Many human rights groups, journalists and activists critical of the government have come under intense scrutiny. A direct outcome has been the suspension or cancellation of their licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) which permits non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to receive funds from abroad.
In the past nine years more than 16,000 NGOs have had their FCRA registration cancelled due to “violations” according to, national daily The Hindu, including those working on rights of India’s most vulnerable minority groups.
[...]
However, some media outlets that have thrived in the Modi-era, with content promoting Hindu nationalism and vilifying minority groups, are in fact receiving foreign donations or operating in ways that may be inconsistent with Indian laws. Bellingcat identified two such far-right outlets–OpIndia and Hindu Existence. We also found two other outlets receiving donations in ways that lack transparency–and both of these sites have links to a RSS-affiliated organisation in the US. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) was founded in 1925 and is often described as a volunteer, “paramilitary” organisation accused of stoking riots against minority groups and carrying out assassinations plots.
[...]
May 28, 2024
With millions of people voting in India’s General Election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third term in office, and are widely tipped to get it. The Hindu nationalist movement in India predates Modi and the BJP but their decade in power has catapulted Hindu nationalism into the mainstream.
Modi’s rise to power has reshaped India including the landscape for foreign funded organisations and media. Many human rights groups, journalists and activists critical of the government have come under intense scrutiny. A direct outcome has been the suspension or cancellation of their licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) which permits non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to receive funds from abroad.
In the past nine years more than 16,000 NGOs have had their FCRA registration cancelled due to “violations” according to, national daily The Hindu, including those working on rights of India’s most vulnerable minority groups.
[...]
However, some media outlets that have thrived in the Modi-era, with content promoting Hindu nationalism and vilifying minority groups, are in fact receiving foreign donations or operating in ways that may be inconsistent with Indian laws. Bellingcat identified two such far-right outlets–OpIndia and Hindu Existence. We also found two other outlets receiving donations in ways that lack transparency–and both of these sites have links to a RSS-affiliated organisation in the US. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) was founded in 1925 and is often described as a volunteer, “paramilitary” organisation accused of stoking riots against minority groups and carrying out assassinations plots.
[...]