On Monday, 14th August 2023, organizers of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, Illinois, abruptly informed Nivedita Raghuram Bhide from Swami Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, India, that her scheduled plenary session speech on August 16, 2023, had been cancelled. Bhide’s exclusion from the Parliament’s plenary session stemmed from a targeted campaign. The collaboration between left-wing media, academia, and Islamist groups worked to stifle authentic Hindu representation at the event.
Who is Nivedita Bhide?
Nivedita Bhide, a Padmashree awardee of 2017, is a ‘Jeevanvrati‘ of Vivekananda Kedra Kanyakumari – an organisation she has been working for since 1977. ‘Jeevanvrati’ is a lifetime devoted worker in the work of the organisation, where Nivedita Bhide is currently working as the vice president. Nivedita Bhide boasts an impressive literary record with more than 15 published books to her name. She conducts regular yoga teachings and spiritual retreats worldwide, imparting her wisdom.
Additionally, she has delivered numerous papers at both national and international conferences and has lectured at prestigious educational institutions across the globe. As a trustee of the Vivekananda International Foundation since its establishment, she has been actively involved in promoting cultural relations and has been a member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations since July 2020.
What is Vivekananda Kendra?
Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, often simply referred to as Vivekananda Kendra, is a well-known spiritual and cultural organisation in India. It was founded in 1972 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, in honour of the great Indian philosopher and spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda. The organisation takes its inspiration from Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and aims to promote his vision of a spiritually awakened and culturally vibrant India.
Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari was founded by Eknath Ranade in 1972. Eknath Ranade (1914-1982) joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while still in school. He became an important organiser and leader for the organisation, rising through its ranks to serve as its general secretary from 1956–62. Eknath Ranade was a dedicated social worker, spiritual leader, and follower of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. He played a pivotal role in establishing and nurturing the Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, which continues to promote Swami Vivekananda’s ideals and values to this day. His birth centenary year was celebrated by the organisation in 2014-2015 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present as the chief guest.
Key features and activities of Vivekananda Kendra include Yoga and Meditation, Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, cultural and educational activities at various places in India, rural development, Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas (schools), publication of various literature related to the life and works of Swami Vivekananda and the organisation, youth empowerment, and spiritual retreat.
What is the Parliament of the World’s Religions?
The Parliament of the World’s Religions is an international gathering that brings together individuals, organisations, and leaders from various religious and spiritual traditions to promote interfaith dialogue, cooperation, and understanding. It is supposed to serve as a platform for discussing and addressing global issues, fostering peace, and promoting social justice.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions was first held in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was organized as part of the World’s Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. The 1893 Parliament is considered a landmark event because it marked one of the earliest attempts at interfaith dialogue on a global scale. It featured representatives from various religious traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and more.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions typically includes a wide range of activities and events, such as plenary sessions, workshops and panel discussions, interfaith dialogues, cultural performances, exhibitions and displays, youth programs, community services, etc.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions 2023
Since its inception, the Parliament of the World’s Religions has been held at irregular intervals, with subsequent gatherings taking place in different cities around the world. In 2023, it was held in Chicago from 14th August to 18th August. The theme of this year’s gathering was ‘ A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights’. Unfortunately, the organisers of this conference surrendered before the leftists and Islamists and denied the freedom and human rights of one of the invitees to speak in the plenary session. The organisers cancelled a talk by Nivedita Bhide scheduled for 16th August 2023.
How Nivedita Bhide was demonised by leftists and Islamists?
The rise of intellectual intolerance is a notable trend in both the United States and other Western countries. Academic institutions, think tanks, and even corporations are becoming more accepting of practices such as cancel culture, censorship, de-platforming, disciplinary measures, financial penalties, and in some cases, legal actions as their preferred means of addressing dissenting voices and a variety of viewpoints.
Prior to her departure for Chicago, Bhide came across a social media post by Audrey Truschke, a leftist Islamist faculty member at Rutgers University. In this tweet, Truschke labelled Bhide as a “Hindu nationalist.” She said, “Bhide has personally engaged in spreading disinformation that demonises Indian Muslims in recent years, during which anti-Muslim violence has risen precipitously in India, under Hindu nationalist leadership. Bhide has deep connections with far-right political organisations that support Hindu nationalism, a deeply Islamophobic political ideology.”
This Audrey Truschke is on the advisory board of the Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI), an activist body in the United States of America with close ties to the Democratic party establishment. The activist body is most famous for organising the Hinduphobic ‘Holi Against Hindutva’ campaign in 2020 when it was simply called ‘Students Against Hindutva’.
A fellow member of the advisory board of SAHI is Ajit Sahi, advocacy director of the Indian American Muslim Council. Ajit Sahi is the former executive director of the disgraced Tehelka magazine. He has appeared on prominent platforms in the USA on several occasions to spread propaganda against India.
The Indian American Muslim Organisation (IAMC), one of the event’s sponsors, also took active steps to remove Bhide from the platform. They disseminated pamphlets containing propaganda in the guise of criticism of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Indian American Muslim Council is a radical Islamist group that has alleged links with banned terror organizations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and has a long history of lobbying against India.
Rasheed Ahmed, the executive director of the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) said, “Participants in the Parliament of World Religion must vocally oppose the inclusion of Hindu nationalist Nivedita Bhide in the ‘A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights’ conference. As the leader of the Vivekananda Kendra, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organization, Bhide is helping to advance a fundamentally exclusionary vision of India – the very opposite of ‘defending freedom and human rights’.”
The IAMC is a Jamat-e-Islami-backed lobbyist organisation claiming to be a rights advocacy group. In the past, it had reportedly collaborated with and had even paid money to various groups in the USA to get India blacklisted by the USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom). A detailed report by Disinfo Lab has exposed its links with the terror outfit Jamat-e-Islami.
On 7th August 2023, the Middle East Eye published an article titled, ‘Activists raise alarm over Hindu nationalist presence at Parliament of World Religions’. This article was written by Islamist propagandist Azad Essa. He wrote, “Nivedita Bhide has routinely shared the rhetoric of right-wing Hindu nationalists who demonise prominent Indian activists. Targets have included Afreen Fatima, a researcher and activist; Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub; and the late Christian Priest, Father Stan Swamy.”
Azad Essa, posing as a journalist, spearheads the campaign against Nivedita Bhide. Under the guise of addressing Islamophobia, he employs his writing and collaborates with similar voices to portray Muslims as victims and others as aggressors. Audrey Trushke is one of the links in this narrative. Azad Essa has quoted her remarks about Nivedita Bhide to bolster his argument. The other culprits he utilised at his convenience are figures like Rasheed Ahmed from IAMC, who received support from Azad Essa, a self-styled journalist with a controversial background, previously associated with Al Jazeera English, a network linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Azad Essa works for Middle East Eye (MEE), which is owned by Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso, a former official associated with Al Jazeera in Qatar and the Hamas-affiliated al-Quds TV in Lebanon. Hamas is the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist terror organisation. Hamas has a long history of violating human rights. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries including The European Union, the United States, Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom etc.
Jamal Bessasso operates MEE through M.E.E. Ltd. In the past, he has worked as the director of planning and human resources for Al Jazeera and the director of Human Resources for the Samalink Television Production Company in Lebanon, which serves as the registered agent for Al Quds TV’s website. It was MEE and other leftists and Islamists that launched a severe attack on Nivedita Bhide, leading to the cancellation of her address at the Parliament of World’s Religions’ plenary session.
Karma is cyclic in its operation.
On Friday, 18th August 2023, ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke, known for her history of anti-Hindu narratives, faced an unexpected turn of events during her scheduled talk at the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago. She was slated to discuss topics like ‘censorship,’ ‘free speech,’ ‘disinformation,’ and alleged ‘threats and harassment from right-wing groups,’ alongside fellow anti-India proponents Sunita Vishwanath and Rasheed Ahmed. Despite the event, titled ‘The Importance of Freedom of Speech to Defend Human Rights,’ being conducted virtually, Truschke found herself addressing empty chairs and vacant halls.
The cold reception faced by those advocating for Nivedita Bhide’s exclusion from the religious conference serves as a reflection of the Karma principle, which finds various interpretations in Hindu scriptures. The essence of this principle is that one ultimately experiences the consequences of their actions. Audrey Truschke aimed to prevent Nivedita Bhide from addressing the conference to suppress her views, but ironically, she found herself addressing an audience of empty chairs during her own turn at the same event.
Parliament of World’s Religions and Swami Vivekananda
It is notable that the first Parliament of World’s Religions held in Chicago in 1893 is remembered for the distinguished presence and speech of Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda – a Dharmik figure inspiring the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari. Swami Vivekananda made his iconic address at the Parliament’s gathering in 1893, addressing the issues of sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendants, which have filled the earth with violence, destroyed civilisations, and sent whole nations to despair. He also highlighted a faith that has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance – that is Hinduism. One hundred thirty years later, Nivedita Bhide, a devoted follower of Swami Vivekananda, was denied the opportunity to speak at the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
