Aurora Hindu Temple Shooting Plot: What Happened in Illinois?
- White Supremacy and Anti-Indian Hate: The Threat to Religious Minorities in the USA
- RSS Ideology and Hindu Nationalism: Historical Roots of Religious Exclusion
The alleged Aurora Hindu temple shooting plot in Illinois raises concerns about white supremacy, neo-Nazism, anti-Indian hate, and the global politics of religious nationalism. Shamsul Islam examines historical links between Hindutva ideology, RSS writings, and extremist manifestos, while exploring the threats facing religious minorities and multicultural democracy.
HATE SUNAMI AGAINST RELIGIOUS MINORITIES REACHES USA: COURTESY RSS
On October 11, 2026, a horrible attempt on the lives of innocent Hindu worshippers at one of the largest Hindu temples in USA, Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois State, got aborted due to the jamming of an AR-style rifle (a lightweight, magazine-fed, semi-automatic firearm available freely in the USA) of the conspirator. The temple is around 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. According to prosecutors, ALEXANDROS PAPORAKIS a 19-year-old US citizen, allegedly planned a mass shooting at the Aurora Temple. Police found a rifle without a serial number, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a tactical vest (a kind of bulletproof jacket) and a patch depicting Nazi symbolism at his home.
According to Associated Press, Palatine Police Chief William Nord disclosed that a red Acura RDX registered to Paporakis entered the parking lot of the Temple around 12:25 pm on Sunday, October 11, and left less than 15 minutes later. Why no massacre could be executed, Paporakis told his office colleague that his gun had jammed and that he had left the scene quickly, but intended to “retry”. He also sent to the same co-worker a video showing an AR-style rifle and a photograph of himself wearing a tactical vest. It was this real hero who passed this information to the police which in quick response arrested the would-be mass killer.
Though the conspiracy was exposed on October 11 and Paporakis arrested the same day, local police did not share the details immediately so that no panic would spread as it was festival time for Hindus in USA, celebrating Navratri, a nine-day long Hindu festival. Indian media as well as the Indian external affairs ministry reported it only on October 15.
In the meantime, more shocking details emerged after further investigations by the police. The Associated Press reported that prosecutors disclosed that Paporakis had shared a document titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)” consisting of eight-pages.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a lengthy statement, condemned this targeting of a Hindu temple as ‘racist hostility’ and ‘anti-India hate’ in US. Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson, at the ministry’s media briefing stated that the incident highlighted growing concerns about hate crimes and racial discrimination against Indian communities in the United States. He demanded that US authorities should “thoroughly investigate the matter, bring those responsible to justice, and take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents”.
This conspiracy was widely condemned by several US lawmakers and advocacy groups warning that anti-Indian and anti-Hindu rhetoric could contribute to violence against minority communities. It is to be noted that RSS in India or its more than 20 tributaries in USA like Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh did not react to the alleged plot. Imagine if it had happened in Pakistan or Bangladesh and perpetrator had been a Muslim by now the High Commissions of these countries would have been reduced to ashes and countless Indian Muslims lynched.
How White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis of the world are emulating RSS
Paporakis coinciding with his plan to massacre Hindus at Temple in Aurora issued a manifesto titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)”. It is an eight-page document in which he denigrated all non-white using Racist slurs and outlined a plan to kill as many of them as possible. The document also described him as a white supremacist and neo-Nazi who fantasised about mass murder.
[‘Police say Chicago suburb suspect in alleged mass shooting plot had white supremacy manifesto’, Reuters, October 15, 2026.]
The victims of Paporakis’ hatred for multi-culturalism, non-white communities and religious minorities were going to be Hindus of USA but a crucial dimension should not be overlooked that he represented an ideology akin to what RSS stands for, cleansing of minorities like Muslims and Christians from India. The founder of RSS, KB Hedgewar parted from Indian National Congress led by MK Gandhi in 1925 because it believed that Hindus and Muslims were not two nations but part of inclusive Indian nation. For Hedgewar India was an exclusive Hindu nation who were Aryans. The most prominent ideologue of RSS MS Golwalkar who led RSS after Hedgewar’s demise (1940) wrote a book, We or Our Nationhood Defined (1939), a Bible for RSS cadres which declared that India was for Hindus only. According to him “Hindusthan is the land of the Hindus and is the terra firma for the Hindu nation alone to flourish upon…” [Golwalkar, MS, We Or Our Nationhood Defined, Nagpur, 1939, p. 45]
Then what was going to be the fate of Muslims and Christians who followed foreign religions? Golwalkar was unambiguous in holding that it would be like the Jews under Hitler and Mussolini. Golwalkar glorified the Holocaust in the following words:
“German Race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races—the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.” [pp. 34-35]
Golwalkar in 1960s penned a long chapter titled as ‘Internal Threats’ in which Indian Muslims and Christians were declared to be threat number one and two respectively. [Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu (RSS publication house), Bangalore, 1996, p. 193.] This hatred for Muslims and Christians continues to be the main ideological plank known as Hindutva even today. When Narender Modi, a senior RSS cadre became PM of India in 2014 it was declared that “Our target is to make India a Hindu Rashtra by 2021. The Muslims and Christians don’t have any right to stay here…So they would either be converted to Hinduism or forced to run away from here”. [Leading RSS office-bearer, Rajeshwar Singh ‘We will free India of Muslims and Christians by 2021’, Mail Today, 19 December 2014.]
Neo-Nazi mass murderer of Norway, Breivik’s linkages with the RSS
Even serious researchers of criminal antecedents of RSS have missed a crucial incident in Europe which under-scored it becoming an ideal Neo-Nazis. Neo-Nazi mass murderer of Norway, Anders Behring Breivik who went to massacre a large number of people in Norway on JULY 22, 2011 also released a shocking ‘manifesto’ of 1,518 pages, of which 102 pages dealt with the glorification of Hindutva movement of India. It declared support to “Sanatana Dharma movements and Hindu Nationalists.” He opened a Pandora’s Box when declared “Hindu Nationalist” movement of India as a key ally in a global struggle to bring down democratic regimes across the world. This manifesto also laid down a plan of co-operation between Neo-Nazi movements of Europe and “Hindu Nationalist” organizations of India. It said that it was essential that these two “learn from each other and cooperate as much as possible” as “Our goals are more or less identical.” This manifesto specially mentioned the name of the fountain head of the Hindutva politics like RSS and its subsidiaries like BJP (political wing of the RSS), ABVP (student wing of the RSS) and VHP (RSS wing to bring the world under Hindutva hegemony) in this regard. [‘Norwegian mass killer's manifesto hails Hindutva: Goals of Indian Hindu nationalists were identical to Justiciar Knights, Anders Breivik claimed’, December 4, 2021. Link: ]
Importantly, the manifesto pledged military support “to the nationalists in the Indian civil war and in the deportation of all Muslims from India” as part of a larger campaign to “overthrow of all western European multi-culturalist governments.
Even before this there were ominous signals of the RSS becoming a pivot for Neo-Nazis
The leading US newspaper the New York Times in a startling and focused editorial titled ‘Deadly alliances against Muslims’ on October 15, 2014) stated:
“The world has not bothered to take any notice of a new terrorist network developing fast in India and its neighbourhood between RSS and the two ultra nationalist Buddhist groups of Myanmar and Sri Lanka against minorities (Muslims and Christian) in the region.
“On his 79th birthday in July, the Dalai Lama appealed to Buddhist extremist groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka to stop instigating attacks against Muslim minorities that have killed scores. Instead, in an affront to Buddhism’s core message of compassion, leaders of those groups announced an alliance to make common cause against Muslims.
“The time has come to ally internationally,’ Galagodaththe Gnanasara, the leader of the radical Sri Lankan Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena, announced at a convention held in Colombo last month. The guest of honour was Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist radical whose picture Time magazine put on its July 1 covers as ‘The Face of Buddhist Terror. The government of Prime Minister Mahindra Rajapaksa ignored pleas by Sri Lankan Muslim and Christian civil groups, fearful of more anti-Muslim violence in their country, to deny Mr. Wirathu a visa. Granting Mr Wirathu a visa can only reinforce the fears of many Muslims that the government—and perhaps more powerful regional allies—back Bodu Bala Sena, which translates as Buddhist Power Force.
“Last week, Mr Gnanasara claimed he was in discussions ‘at a high level’ with the right-wing Indian Hindu group Rashtriya Swayam Sevak to form what he called a ‘Hindu-Buddhist peace zone’ in South Asia. A Rashtriya Swayam Sevak spokesman, Ram Madhav, promptly denied that there were any such discussions. But Mr. Madhav, now general secretary of India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party [he is again GS of BJP in 2026], has written comments sympathetic to Bodu Bala Sena and Mr Wirathu’s group 969 in Myanmar on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“It is folly for the governments of Mr. Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka, President Thein Sein of Myanmar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, or their political allies, to give even the appearance of tolerating these Islamophobic groups in a region that has too often been convulsed by religious sectarian violence. They should condemn this mad alliance before it can spread further.”
[Editorial, ‘Deadly Alliances Against Muslims’, Oct. 15, 2014. ]
It is no hidden fact that RSS hates concepts like equality, justice, democracy, socialism, gender justice and Casteless (another form of Racism) society. It claims as the largest Hindu organization to be working for establishing a Hindu nation in India where there would be no place for minorities like Muslims and Christians. All those who stand for egalitarianism are denigrated as Wokes as is done by neo-Nazis and Supremacists the world over.
The current Supremo of RSS, Mohan Bhagwat expressed the same hatred towards them. “RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat used his annual Vijayadashami speech on October 24 (2023) to launch a scathing attack on ‘cultural Marxists or woke’ people. Terming them ‘selfish, discriminatory and deceitful forces’, the RSS chief said such people were plunging the nation into a state of ‘confusion, chaos, and corruption’ to fulfil their sectarian interests after taking control of the media and academia.” [Why RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called out 'woke' people, India Today, October 26, 2023.]
PM Modi has described woke people with many other nomenclatures like Urban Naxals, Dimaghee Naxal, Cultural Marxists, Cockroaches and anti-national. RSS is active at anti-woke international forums. According to the Guardian “National Conservatism (NatCon) conferences and the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC)—have increasingly integrated Hindu nationalist figures from India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) into a broader global coalition of cultural nationalists.”
It is true that target of ALEXANDROS PAPORAKIS aborted attempt were Hindus in the USA but his hatred for minorities or ‘others’ is a direct borrowing from RSS’ fundamental heinous principle (both in theory and practice) of cleansing of minorities like Muslims and Christians from India. Fight against ALEXANDROS PAPORAKIS or other Neo-Nazis of the world can not succeed unless the world centre of terrorism against minorities is dismantled in India.
Shamsul Islam
October 21, 2026
FAQs
What happened in the alleged Aurora Hindu temple shooting plot in October 2026?
According to the supplied article and reports attributed to prosecutors, a 19-year-old suspect, Alexandros Paporakis, allegedly planned a mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, on October 11, 2026. The alleged attack was not carried out, and police arrested the suspect following information provided by a colleague.
What did investigators reportedly find in the Aurora temple shooting case?
The article reports that investigators found a rifle without a serial number, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a tactical vest, and a patch depicting Nazi symbolism at the suspect’s home. Prosecutors also reportedly disclosed an eight-page document titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto).”
What is the connection between white supremacy and anti-Hindu hate?
White supremacy is an ideology that promotes the supposed superiority of white people over other racial groups. When adherents target Hindu temples or worshippers because of their ethnicity or religion, such conduct can reflect anti-Hindu prejudice and racial or religious hatred. The alleged Aurora plot highlights the potential danger of extremist ideologies directed at minority communities.
What is the RSS, and why does the article examine its ideology?
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is an Indian Hindu nationalist organisation founded in 1925. The article examines writings by RSS ideologue M.S. Golwalkar and argues that elements of Hindutva ideology promote religious exclusion. These interpretations are part of the author's political and historical argument and should be assessed against primary sources and historical scholarship.
What did M.S. Golwalkar write about Nazi Germany and religious minorities?
In *We or Our Nationhood Defined* (1939), Golwalkar discussed Germany's treatment of Jews in the context of racial and cultural nationalism. The article quotes passages that it interprets as expressing admiration for racial purity and as offering a model of exclusion. Readers should consult the original text and scholarly historical analysis to assess the quotations and their context.
Did Anders Breivik's manifesto refer to Hindu nationalism?
Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian far-right terrorist responsible for the July 22, 2011 attacks, published an extensive manifesto that included discussions of Hindu nationalism. The article argues that these references demonstrate ideological connections between some European far-right extremists and Hindu nationalist movements. The presence of such references does not, by itself, establish organisational collaboration or shared responsibility for violence.
Why is the alleged Aurora temple attack significant for religious minorities in the United States?
The alleged plot raises concerns about the safety of Hindu worshippers and the wider vulnerability of religious and ethnic minorities to extremist violence. It also underscores the importance of timely threat reporting, law enforcement action, protection of places of worship, and public condemnation of hate-motivated violence.
What role can political rhetoric play in extremist violence?
Dehumanising language, racial stereotypes, conspiracy theories, and rhetoric portraying minorities as threats can contribute to an environment in which discrimination and violence become easier to justify. However, establishing that particular statements caused a specific attack requires evidence of the perpetrator's motives, influences, and actions.
What does the article argue about RSS and global far-right movements?
The author argues that aspects of Hindu nationalist ideology have parallels with white-supremacist and neo-Nazi ideas, particularly regarding religious exclusion and opposition to multiculturalism. The article cites Breivik's manifesto and historical commentary on nationalist movements to support this interpretation. Such comparisons require careful attention to differences in historical context, ideology, and organisational structure.
How can governments protect religious minorities from hate crimes?
Governments can strengthen the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes, protect religious sites, improve reporting systems, support affected communities, and apply laws consistently regardless of the victim's or perpetrator's religion or political affiliation. Public institutions and political leaders can also help prevent violence by rejecting collective blame and dehumanising rhetoric.
