Thousands of these documents and emails from the covert Science of Identity political operation have been independently examined by the Washington Post. The content on this website is attributed solely to the site's author.
Chris Butler demands that Hindu organizations rally to defend him and his protege, Tulsi Gabbard. Behind their backs, he smears other Hindu paths as terrorists and frauds.
When any journalist questions Tulsi Gabbard or her guru, "Jagad Guru" Chris Butler, he demands that his network call it "Hinduphobia." Tulsi Gabbard's guru Chris Butler lines up Hindu groups to publicly defend him and Tulsi, using operatives including Sunil Khemaney, Tulsi herself, and the Hindu American Foundation.
Meanwhile, Butler plans a coordinated attack on the respected yoga group Ananda Marga. This is the first in a series on the Hindu paths his network secretly targets.
Butler tells his followers to line up Hindu groups to defend him
In the transcripts, Butler's operation is explicit about wanting respected Hindus and Hindu institutions out front as a shield.
"It would be good if it's a Hindu person like Suhag or HAF or whatever, Hindu Federation or somebody like this."
SIF political project office 1
"Create a petition and get local Hindus, as well as local non-Hindus… to stand behind us against discrimination and prejudice."
SIF political project office, on a coming negative article 1
The same playbook reaches for the Hindu American Foundation as the vehicle ("get HAF… to petition") and lists the friendly institutions to mobilize, "Hindus… ISKCON Hawaii, HAF," and others. 1
Publicly, Butler's people insist any scrutiny of him is an attack on all Hindus.
One group Butler and his followers attacked: Ananda Marga
Ananda Marga ("the Path of Bliss") is a global spiritual and service organization founded in India in 1955 by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. It teaches yoga and meditation and runs schools, children's homes, free kitchens, drug-rehabilitation centers, and homes for women in need. 2
Its relief team, AMURT, has carried out disaster relief in more than 100 countries, from Haiti to Myanmar. 3
It is exactly the kind of Hindu organization Butler demands respect for, when the organization is his own.
In May 2014, Butler's project office built a research packet on Ananda Marga and drafted a letter to the authorities. Here is what they wrote.
"A long and bloody history of violence, murder, and terrorism"
That is how Butler's office opened its draft letter, branding the entire group an "international security" threat whose "theology espouses the use of violence." 4
"Their humanitarian work… a PR ploy"
The schools, the children's homes, the disaster relief in over 100 countries? The dossier waves it all away as cover:
"Over the years, the group has done much humanitarian work in an attempt to 'clean up its act.' Some analysts, however, consider this to be a PR ploy, and a convenient means of establishing bases of operations worldwide."
SIF draft letter, May 24, 2014 4
A request to the government to act
The letter recycles a list of decades-old, contested 1970s and 1980s allegations, including one the document itself admits ended with the accused "cleared," then ends mid-sentence with its real purpose:
"After careful consideration of the facts, we believe it to be both prudent and in the best interests of the safety of our citizens that ….."
SIF draft letter, May 24, 2014 4
Butler's sickening hypocrisy
One Hindu organization runs disaster relief in over 100 countries and gets branded a terror network by Tulsi Gabbard's guru. Another, Butler's own, scripts a congresswoman's career from the shadows and cries "Hinduphobia" the moment a reporter notices.
There is a darker irony still. The dossier's ugliest claim accuses Ananda Marga of encouraging child sexual abuse "to use as a type of blackmail," after Butler's own network covered up child sexual abuse within its ranks for decades. Butler also lived a luxurious lifestyle in Kailua, Hawaii, while exploiting free labor from hundreds of his followers, claiming it was their "spiritual duty" to render "devotional service" to him and his wife, Huilan Zhang (aka Wai Lana).
"Hinduphobia" is simply a calculated attack weapon that Butler and Tulsi Gabbard aim at critics. This is an extreme case of the pot calling the kettle black.
