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Rollback edit(s) by Bharatvasrsha (talk): per WP:NPOV (RW 16.1)

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{{about|activists|other types of foil|Foil (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
The '''Forum of Indian Leftists''' (FOIL), or the Forum of Inquilabi Leftists, is a group of left-wing activists<ref>[http://www.bcheights.com/news/2001/10/02/Columns/Indian.Leftists.Condemn.Attacks-108915.shtml South Asian leftists condemn attacks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119035305/http://www.bcheights.com/news/2001/10/02/Columns/Indian.Leftists.Condemn.Attacks-108915.shtml |date=19 January 2005 }} Published in the Tuesday, 2 October 2001 Edition of The Heights</ref> of [[India]]n background. The organization describes itself as "a clearinghouse for radical Indian activists in the United States, Canada and England."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.foil.org/|title=SINGH Foundation|website=www.foil.org|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> Its purpose is described by its founders as "some place for us to share information, offer support, and encourage each other to write in the open media on issues pertaining to Indians overseas and India itself, and help build projects that make our radical politics more material."<ref name=":1" />

== Founding and Mission ==
[[File:Babri Masjid Demolition Poster.jpg|thumb|[[Babri Masjid]] was a mosque in [[Ayodhya, India]] at a site believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity [[Rama]]. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century. The blame or the credit for the entire [[Ram Janmabhoomi movement|temple construction movement at Ayodhya]] is placed on the [[Sangh Parivar]], a group in direct opposition with FOIL. The RSS has denied responsibility and questioned the objectivity of the report that was filed blaming them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/communalism/rss-sangh-parivar-babri-masjid|title=The Babri Masjid Demolition Was Impossible Without RSS Foot-Soldiers Like These|website=The Wire|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> ]]

Two of the co-founders of FOIL are [[Biju Mathew]] and [[Vijay Prashad]].<ref>[http://pd.cpim.org/2001/march25/march25_biju_vijay.htm Hindutva For a Few Dollars a Day (author info)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828130119/http://pd.cpim.org/2001/march25/march25_biju_vijay.htm |date=28 August 2008 }}. ''People's Democracy'', Weekly Organ of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]</ref><ref>Building a U.S./South Asian left, Somayaji, Chitra ,1 November 1998 ,Copyright Economic Affairs Bureau Nov/Dec 1998</ref> In an interview from 2005, [[Biju Mathew]] describes the founding of FOIL to [[Yoginder Sikand]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.countercurrents.org/comm-mathew120805.htm|title=Stop Funding Hate By Yoginder Sikand & Biju Mathew|website=www.countercurrents.org|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> He claims, they started FOIL in 1995 following the [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|destruction of the Babri Masjid]] in 1992.<ref name=":2" /><blockquote>"We felt it was crucial to reach out to Indian students on American campuses. Now, it has expanded beyond university students as well, and we have more than 400 people on our email discussion list. We also have a website devoted to discussion of issues relating to South Asia from a leftist perspective. Besides sending out regular information through the internet we also organise groups of activists to speak on American university campuses on South Asian issues, focusing particularly on [[Communalism (South Asia)|communalism]] and so-called 'liberalisation' of the economy."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Similarly, [[Vijay Prashad]], in an interview with [[Mark Nowak]] of ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]]'', claims that the goal of any Socialist movement, including FOIL, is to close the intellectual gap facilitated by capitalism and inequality between the intellectual and the people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2016/12/socialist-writing-publishing-books-reading/|title=The Essentials of Socialist Writing|website=jacobinmag.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> This clearly shows FOIL's motives are rooted in promoting social harmony in India and more generally in South Asia and abroad.

Announcing a call to join FOIL in ''SAMAR'', or the [[South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection]], in the Summer/Fall 1997 Issue, Mathew and Prashad discuss various projects that FOIL has developed and how the many FOIL projects are coordinated by different members spread across the US, Canada and UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saada.org/item/20130130-1280|title=SAMAR Magazine Issue #8 (Summer/Fall 1997)|last=Chandana Mathur|first=Anannya Bhattacharjee|date=2013-01-30|website=SAMAR Magazine|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> Indeed, through its "clearing house" model, FOIL has spawned several organizations and groups in North America, Europe and India.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ahouseofcards.net/groups/foil/|title=The Forum of Inquilabi Leftists (FOIL) {{!}} A House of Cards: Coalition Against Genocide and The Politics of Deception|website=www.ahouseofcards.net|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref>

=== Organizations ===
Mathew and Prashad also started the annual [[Youth Solidarity Summer Camp]] in New York. This was intended as a response to the summer camps organized for young Indians in America by the RSS, or the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacw.net/2002/FEHi/FEH/part2.html|title=The Foreign Exchange of Hate: IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva|website=www.sacw.net|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> The purpose of these camps is to bring together young South Asian students to discuss a range of issues, including, but not only, communalism and religious tolerance. Almost 300 people have attended the camps and the networks that they have created has recently led to the setting up of a national youth organization called Chingari. [https://paralearning.in/chingari-movement/ Chingari] serves as a movement to empower educated Indian youth and help them with job placement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://paralearning.in/chingari-movement/|title=Chingarri Movement {{!}} Para|last=admin|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

== Founders ==

=== Biju Mathew ===
[[Biju Mathew]] is an American Marxist activist. He is an Indian immigrant and a professor of the Business Administration department at [[Rider University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rider.edu/faculty/biju-mathew|title=Biju Mathew|date=2010-08-09|website=Rider University|language=en|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> Mathew is also an organizer of [[New York Taxi Workers Alliance]]. He has published a book titled ''[[Taxi!: Cabs and Capitalism in New York City]]'' (The New Press).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thenewpress.com/authors/biju-mathew|title=Biju Mathew|website=The New Press|language=en|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> Biju Mathew is also a member of the Board of the [[Brecht Forum]] in NYC.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://thetruthaboutliars.wordpress.com/chapter-1-background-2/section-1-01a-spotlight-on-prominent-foil-members-and-their-affiliates/biju-mathew/|title=Biju Mathew|date=2011-08-16|website=The Forum of Intentional Liars|language=en|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> Although the Brecht Forum closed in 2014,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://marxedproject.org/our-legacy/|title=Our Legacy – Marxist Education Project|website=marxedproject.org|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> Mathew continues to spread his ideas through a radio show he co-hosts co-hosts called ''"Global Movements, Urban Struggles"'' on WBAI 99.5 FM (NYC).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wbai.org/program.php?program=83|title=WBAI Radio - NYC|website=wbai.org|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> He has written extensively, spoken and organized around issues such as communalism, immigration, labor issues, and against the war. He lives in New York City.

=== Vijay Prashad ===
[[Vijay Prashad]] is an Indian historian and journalist born on 14 August 1967 in [[Kolkata|Kolkata, India]]. From 1996 to 2017, Prashad served as the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and a professor of International Studies at [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College]] in [[Hartford, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/vijay-prashad|title=Vijay Prashad {{!}} The Guardian|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref> Prashad is the author of 25 books ranging in topics from South Asians in America to the future of communism in India. He has written numerous articles and papers on US imperialism and capitalist hegemony and impacts of this across the world.<ref>"Vijay Prashad has come to be known for his expert critical analysis of US imperialism and war", Chopping Through the Foundations of Racism With Vijay Prashad, Joel Wendland, 8 August 2003, FrictionMagazine.com. Accessed 19 November 2019.</ref> In one of his most popular pieces in ''[[The Nation]]'', Prashad describes his vision of the progression and struggle towards [[Socialism]].<ref name=":4">Prashad, Vijay (17 March 2009). "The Dragons, Their Dragoons". ''Thenation.com''. Retrieved 19 November 2019.</ref> He argues that socialist forces typically have very good ideas, but no power. He asserts that without power, good ideas have little consequences and claims that socialists must not simply theorize but also organize.<ref name=":4" /> A prominent critic of leftists in the US, Mathew argued at a 2004 conference on Life After Capitalism that leftists in the United States are not as effective as they could be in situations where they win influence through community organizing, such as in local governments, because they often do not appreciate ideas originating from other parts of the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/10092|title=Program Information - Vancouver Cooperative Radio: Life After Capitalism 2004: Vijay Prashad{{!}}A-Infos Radio Project|website=www.radio4all.net|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

== IDRF controversy ==
On 20 November 2002 FOIL published a report, titled '[http://www.sacw.net/2002/FEHi/FEH/index.html The Foreign Exchange of Hate IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva]',<ref name=":5">[http://www.stopfundinghate.org/sacw/index.html The Foreign Exchange of Hate IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva], 2002, [[Sabrang Communications]] & Publishing Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India, and The South Asia Citizens Web, France</ref> accusing the [[India Development and Relief Fund]] (IDRF), an organization which raised money in the United States, of funding hate. The report is described as a 'careful study and analysis of more than 150 pieces of documentary evidence, almost three-quarters of which are those published by the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] or RSS.'<ref name=":5" />

Separated into multiple parts, it begins by claiming the IDRF was supporting [[Hindutva]], or the extremist Hindu ideology which has caused much of the violence between religious groups in India recently<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/up-front/story/20190408-hindutva-terror-is-real-perspective-1489385-2019-03-29|title=Hindutva terror is real |last=Sahni|first=Ajai |website=India Today|language=en|date=March 28, 2019|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> and has seen tremendous growth, much of which the RSS is responsible for, outside India over the last two decades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/05/03/706808616/the-powerful-group-shaping-the-rise-of-hindu-nationalism-in-india|title=The Powerful Group Shaping The Rise of Hindu Nationalism in India|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> "The Foreign Exchange of Hate" asserts that the IDRF in fact has religious ties and serves as a major monetary sponsor for Hindutva organizations in India.

The authors of the report investigated the sending of money to Indian movements that participated in the attacks of Muslims in [[Gujarat|Gujarat, India]] in 2002. The report details donations to anti-Muslim organizations such as the RSS.<ref>See the section titled "Funding Hate" under [http://www.sacw.net/2002/FEHi/FEH/index.html The Foreign Exchange of Hate IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva] website. Accessed 17 November 2019.</ref> In an interview in 2002, Mathew claims he and the other FOIL members are in clear opposition to all forms of right-wing religious fundamentalist and obscurantist groups.<ref name=":3" /> Mathew states, "If there are petrodollars coming into India to fund radical Islamist groups, that needs to be investigated and stopped."<ref name=":0" />

The report was termed as misleading [[Marxist]] propaganda by IDRF who later published a report of their own<ref>[http://www.letindiadevelop.org/thereport/ A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF)], Friends of India and Authors of the Report</ref><ref>[http://www.letindiadevelop.org/considerthis.pdf Facts About the Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) by Sabrang Communications and the Forum of Indian Leftists (FOIL)], Friends of India 25 December 2002</ref> responding to the charges leveled by FOIL.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Leftist organisations in India]]

Forum of Indian Leftists - Revision history

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