American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD)

American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) is a U.S.-based Hindu far-right advocacy group founded by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA). The VHPA is the American affiliate of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a major organization within the Hindu nationalist Sangh Parivar network.

VHP is widely regarded as the religious and cultural arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu supremacist paramilitary organization and the ideological parent of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The group has been deeply involved in stoking communal tensions and promoting anti-minority hate and violence, particularly against Muslims.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has listed VHP as a “militant religious organization” for a number of years in its World Factbook. In early June 2018, an archived version of the CIA World Factbook site notes VHP as a “militant religious organization,” however, a couple of weeks later the sub-section where this was listed was removed along with the mention of the VHP.

VHP played a central role in the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, that the Hindu far-right claims was built on top of the birthplace of  the Hindu god, Lord Ram. Following the demolition, there were subsequent riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. VHP is also accused of orchestrating the violence during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat state, killing over 1,000 Muslims.

A UK government inquiry into the pogroms found that the violence was pre-planned and that “the VHP and its allies acted with the support of the state Government.” In recent years, VHP leaders have been advocating for the genocide of the country’s Muslim citizens.

The VHPA openly acknowledges its ideological connection to its Indian parent organization. On its website, the organization states it is “ inspired by the same values and ideals” as VHP in India. Scholars have similarly documented the VHPA’s close relationship with Hindu nationalist politics.

Historian Dr. Audrey Truschke, Associate Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University, has written that VHPA follows “its Indian parent group in encouraging militant, including violent, behavior among Hindus,” while Assistant Professor of Political Science at Drew University, Dr. Sangay K. Mishra notes in his book, Desis Divided: The Political Lives of South Asian Americans, that the group is “aligned closely with Hindu nationalist politics in India.”

AHAD describes itself as the “first Hindu organization” and a watchdog group dedicated to “preserving the sanctity of Hindu symbols, icons, culture, and customs.” While originally established to respond to what it characterized as the denigration or misuse of Hindu religious symbols, AHAD’s activities have expanded significantly beyond this stated mission.

Today, AHAD operates under the umbrella of the Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (HinduPACT), an advocacy organization that emerged from the VHPA network. Through media monitoring, research, advocacy campaigns, and public pressure, AHAD and its affiliated initiatives increasingly target criticism of Hindu nationalism, Hindutva organizations, and the policies of India’s BJP government.

This approach frequently blurs the fundamental distinction between Hinduism, a diverse religious tradition, and Hindutva, a political ideology advocating Hindu majoritarianism. The groups have been aggressively characterizing criticism of Hindu nationalist organizations and their political activities as hostility toward Hinduism itself.

In an April 2022 appearance on India’s News 18 channel, Utsav Chakrabarti, VHPA’s HinduPACT Executive Director, attacked American Muslim organizations for their advocacy on the persecution of minorities in India and falsely accused them of colluding with “radical jihadists from groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.”

Such rhetoric reflects a broader pattern in which Hindu nationalist advocacy networks in the United States seek to delegitimize Muslim civil rights organizations and other critics of the Indian government by associating them with extremism or terrorism.

In June 2023, Chakrabarti was seen secretly filming protesters during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to the United States. The incident led to a hostile confrontation that ultimately required police intervention.

In December 2023, a Washington Post investigation reported that HinduPACT had actively promoted material connected to a disinformation network operated by an Indian intelligence officer and targeting critics of the Indian government and Hindu nationalism in the US. The investigation documented HinduPACT lobbyists distributing copies of a report produced by Disinfo Lab, the organization whose work was central to the broader influence operation examined by the Washington Post.

AHAD increasingly weaponizes the language of anti-discrimination and “defamation defense” to deflect human rights criticism directed at the BJP government and Hindu nationalist organizations. Its campaigns frequently label journalists, academics, researchers, advocacy organizations, and other critics as “Hinduphobic” for documenting caste discrimination, religious violence, democratic backsliding, or the activities of Hindu nationalist groups.

AHAD was one of the co-organizers of the August 2026 event featuring RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at Madison Square Garden in New York City in an effort to mainstream and sanitize the RSS and its Hindu nationalist ideology in the US.