Diaspora groups raise eyebrows: Top US non-pofit newsroom has VHP influencer as CEO

By A Representative
One of the United States’ biggest nonprofit newsrooms, The Texas Tribune, has run into controversy over the appointment of Sonal Shah as the organization’s chief executive officer because of her alleged links with the Vishwa Hindu, Parishad (VHP), whom diaspora rights groups call Hindu supremacist, citing Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) categorizing it as a “religious militant organization”.
Shah, who reportedly has extensive experience in social innovation and nonprofits, will take over from Evan Smith, who was a founder of The Tribune since 2009. It is a free to read news portal with 10,000 paid subscribers and 175,000 newsletter subscribers. She will take over from Smith in January 2023.
Shah has been an active member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), the US counterpart of VHP, which rights groups say is one of the principal non-state actors responsible for whipping up anti-Muslim and anti-Christian hate, bigotry, and violence.
The US Department of State, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International are known to have implicated VHP in numerous incidents of “deadly” anti-minority violence in India.
Last year, VHPA invited Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for a virtual event. Saraswati is a Hindu militant priest spearheading a pan-India campaign to commit genocide of the country’s 200 million Muslims.
During Shah's stint with VHPA, internal emails are cited to suggest, she often advised the group about its image management.
Shah has supported Ekal Vidyalaya, another VHP-led project in India, which has been accused of spreading the RSS agenda of Hindu supremacy and of promoting anti-minority hate among young children.
Shah has also volunteered for Sewa International USA (a charity group currently chaired by Ramesh Bhutada, the Vice President of Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, the international wing of RSS in the US.) Sewa International is the foreign service wing of RSS’s Sewa Bharati India.
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to be the nation’s largest advocacy organization for Indian American Muslims, urging The Tribune to reconsider its decision, said, her links with India’s Hindu supremacist groups are “well-doumented.”
“If her appointment is not rescinded, it will demonstrate a total disregard by The Tribune for the sentiments of the American Muslim community, especially Indian American Muslims and Indian minorities who are facing an onslaught of hate from Hindu extremist groups like VHP and RSS in India,” said IAMC executive director Rasheed Ahmed.
“The Texas Tribune’s board of directors must reconsider its decision and revisit its vetting process for candidates to be appointed for such important positions in the organization,” he added.
In 2008, Shah’s appointment to the then-US President-elect Barack Obama's transition team advisory board prompted condemnation for her “Hindu extremist links.”
Her recent appointment as Chief Commissioner of President Joe Biden’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and later to the Advisory Council of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was also marred in controversy, prompting more than 20,000 people to sign a petition calling for her removal.

Comments

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup* I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Search This Blog