Mayor of London<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\u201cThe 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 \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Sinha added that he doesn\u2019t consider the current makeup of the Diwali in London Committee to represent \u201cprogressive, anti-Hindutva, anti-caste Hindu voices\u201d in its entirety.<\/p>\n
He said he raised the issue directly with the Mayor last year and was surprised it had not been addressed.<\/p>\n
On its website, VHP-UK says \u201cthe local organisation works independently in pursuit of the objectives of the VHP in harmony with the laws\u201d of the country they operate in.<\/p>\n
They reject any notion that \u201cany organisation was responsible for initiating or supporting\u201d the Gujurat riots, adding: \u201cWe wish to emphasise that in India people of all faiths live harmoniously with each other, and enjoy equal rights and religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
VHP-UK were approached for comment.<\/p>\n
The UK-Indian Muslim Council (UK-IMC) said VHP-UK\u2019s participation was an \u201cunacceptable lapse of judgment by the Mayor\u201d, adding: \u201cBy partnering with organisations linked to the Hindutva movement, the Mayor\u2019s Office risks undermining its own commitment to inclusion. Festivals of unity cannot be organised by groups with a history of division.\u201d<\/p>\n
India Labour Solidarity, which campaigns against the caste system, added: \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from the Muslim Greens, an advocacy group within the party, told the LDRS: \u201cEntertaining groups who fuel any kind of exclusivity on the occasion of Diwali \u2013 or any other occasion \u2013 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\u2019s communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0-4-4-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Mayor")
Sadiq Khan Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga\/MyLondon<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the LDRS: \u201cDiwali 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Diwali in London (DiL) Committee is made up of several different organisations which represent London\u2019s Hindu and Jain communities and supports the delivery of Diwali on the Square.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce9
\n
\n ![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design-1-e1749297433790.png\" "\\"Mayor")
<\/p>\n
Get the latest breaking news, roadworks, crime updates and local events straight to your inbox \u2013 totally free, every day.<\/p>\n
SIGN UP below<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mayor of London has rejected calls to sever ties with the UK wing of an organisation found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,7833,257,7834,12,14252,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-489292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-harrow-online","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-london-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-sadiq-khan","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0-3-6.jpg\" "\\"Mayor")
Rajiv Sinha, Hindus for Human Rights UK Credit: Rajiv Singh<\/p>\n