No, I’m not talking about the Republican Party, I am talking about the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the descendant of the fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

You see, after 17 years, the official report on the destruction of the Babri Mosque by a BJP led riot has been released, and it has explicitly stated that the BJP, and the leaders of the party meticulously planned the destruction of the 450 year old structure.

It should be noted that it was this action, and the rioting that followed, that catapulted what had been an obscure bigoted nationalist party onto the Indian public sphere, with negative consequences that continue to this day.

In addition to the uproar, it appears that the leaders cited in the report, most notably former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will not be fielded as candidates.

This is not a report that you are likely to see much of in the US press. (the top link is the Christian Science Monitor, but their beat is overseas)

The reason is that while the BJP may be a party with a history of ethnic cleansing and bigotry, it is also a party that is far more accommodating to foreign investors and foreign banks, and so US media see them as “good guys”.