In India, Hindu nationalism has resurfaced under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in 2014 and won landslide elections in 2019. The ruling party has faced harsh criticism over growing attacks on Muslims. in recent years, from the Muslim community and other religious minorities, as well as some Hindus who say Modi’s silence emboldens right-wing groups and threatens national unity.
Hindutva feeding hate
In Edison, New Jersey, a bulldozer, which has become a symbol of the oppression of India’s Muslim minority, rolled down the street during a parade on India’s Independence Day. At an event in Anaheim, California, a shouting match broke out between people celebrating the holiday and those who showed up to protest violence against Muslims in India.
American Indians of various religious backgrounds have coexisted peacefully in the United States for several decades. But these recent events in the US, and the violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims last month in Leicester, England, have raised concerns that the sharp political and religious polarization in India is seeping into communities of the diaspora.
Attacked by one’s own identity
Hindu nationalism has divided the expatriate Indian community just as Donald Trump’s presidency polarized the United States, said Varun Soni, dean of religious life at the University of Southern California. He has about 2,000 students from India, among the highest in the country.
Soni has yet to see these tensions surface on campus. But he said USC was dealt a blow for being one of more than 50 US universities to co-host an online conference called “Dismantling Global Hindutva.”
The 2021 event aimed to spread awareness of Hindutva, Sanskrit for the essence of being Hindu, a political ideology that claims India is a predominantly Hindu nation, in addition to some minority religions with roots in the country, such as Sikhism. , Jainism and Buddhism. Critics say it excludes other minority religious groups such as Muslims and Christians. Hindutva is different from Hinduism, an ancient religion practiced by around a billion people around the world that emphasizes the unity and divine nature of all creation.
Soni said it’s important that universities remain places where “we can talk about issues that are based on facts in a civil way.” But as USC’s senior chaplain, Soni worries how polarization over Hindu nationalism will affect the spiritual health of students.
“If someone is being attacked for their identity, ridiculed or scapegoated because they are a Hindu or a Muslim, I am most concerned about their well-being, not who is right or wrong,” he said.
Rejection of Hindutva akin to being anti-national
Anantanand Rambachan, a retired university religion professor and practicing Hindu who was born in Trinidad and Tobago to a family of Indian origin, said his opposition to Hindu nationalism and association with anti-ideology groups prompted complaints from some at a Hindu temple. Minnesota where he has taught religion classes. He said opposing Hindu nationalism sometimes results in charges of being “anti-Hindu” or “anti-India,” labels he rejects.
Hinduphobia on the rise?
On the other hand, many Hindu Americans feel vilified and persecuted for their views, said Samir Kalra, managing director of the American Hindu Foundation in Washington, DC.
“The space to express oneself freely is shrinking for Hindus,” he said, adding that even agreeing with Indian government policies unrelated to religion can result in being branded as a Hindu nationalist.
Pushpita Prasad, a spokesman for the Coalition of North American Hindus, said his group has been counseling young Hindu Americans who have lost friends because they refuse to “take sides in these battles emanating from India.”
“If they don’t take sides or don’t have an opinion, they are automatically assumed to be Hindu nationalists,” he said. “Their country of origin and their religion are held against them.”
Both organizations opposed the Dismantling Global Hindutva conference, criticizing it as “Hinduphobic” and failing to present diverse perspectives. Conference supporters say they refuse to equate calling Hindutva with being anti-Hindu.
Disinformation generates polarization
Some Indian Americans, like 25-year-old Sravya Tadepalli, believe it is their duty to speak up. Tadepalli, a Massachusetts resident who is a board member for Hindus for Human Rights, said her activism against Hindu nationalism is grounded in her faith.
“If that is the fundamental principle of Hinduism, that God is in everyone, that everyone is divine, then I think we have a moral obligation as Hindus to uphold the equality of all human beings,” he said. “If any human being receives inferior treatment or his rights are infringed, then it is our duty to work to correct it.”
Tadepalli said his organization also works to correct misinformation on social media that travels across continents fueling hate and polarization.
‘Bulldozer justice’ takes control
Tensions in India peaked in June after Udaipur city police arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting the throat of a Hindu tailor and posting a video on social media. The slain man, Kanhaiya Lal, 48, had reportedly shared an online post supporting a ruling party official who was suspended for making offensive comments against the Prophet Muhammad.
Hindu nationalist groups have attacked minority groups, particularly Muslims, over issues related to everything from eating to wearing headscarves to interfaith marriage. Muslim homes have also been bulldozed with heavy machinery in some states, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bugger justice.”
‘I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring’
Such reports have Muslim Americans fearful for the safety of their relatives in India. Shakeel Syed, executive director of the South Asian Network, a social justice organization based in Artesia, California, said he regularly listens to his sisters and feels “pervasive fear, not knowing what tomorrow will be like.”
Syed grew up in the Indian city of Hyderabad in the 1960s and 1970s in “a more pluralistic and inclusive culture.”
“My Hindu friends would come to our Eid celebrations and we would go to their Diwali celebrations,” he said. “When my family went on summer vacation, we would leave our house keys with our Indian neighbor, and they would do the same when they had to leave town.”
Syed believes that violence against Muslims is now widespread in India. He has heard of girls in his family considering removing their hijab or headscarf out of fear.
In America, he sees his Hindu friends reluctant to engage in a public dialogue because they fear reprisals.
“There is still a conversation going on, but it is happening in pockets behind closed doors with like-minded people,” he said. “It’s certainly not happening between people who have opposing views.”
Hinduism ‘hijacked’ by Hindutva brigades
Rajiv Varma, a Houston-based Hindu activist, takes a diametrically opposite view. The tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the West, he said, are not a reflection of events in India, but stem from a deliberate attempt by “religious and ideological groups who are waging war against Hindus.”
Varma believes that India is “a Hindu country” and the term “Hindu nationalism” simply refers to love for one’s country and religion. He sees India as a country ravaged by conquerors and settlers, and the Hindus as a religious group that does not seek to convert or colonize. “We have the right to recover our civilization,” he affirms.
Rasheed Ahmed, co-founder and chief executive of the Washington DC-based American Indian Muslim Council, said he is saddened “to see that even educated Hindu Americans do not take Hindu nationalism seriously.” He believes that American Hindus must make “a fundamental decision about how India and Hinduism should be viewed in the US and around the world.”
“The decision to recover Hinduism from whoever kidnapped it is theirs.”
Education and dialogue to reinforce peaceful coexistence
Zafar Siddiqui, a Minnesota resident, hopes to “reverse some of this mistrust and polarization” and build understanding through education, personal connections and interfaith caucuses. Siddiqui, a Muslim, has helped bring together a group of Minnesotans of Indian origin, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and atheists, who come together for monthly potlucks.
“When people sit down, say, over lunch, dinner or coffee, and have a direct dialogue, instead of listening to all these leaders and spreading all this hate, it changes a lot of things,” Siddiqui said.
But during a recent meeting, some discussed a draft proposal to eventually seek dialogue with people who have different views. Those who disagreed explained that they did not support reaching out to Hindu nationalists and feared harassment.
Siddiqui said that for now, future plans include focusing on education and interfaith events that highlight the different traditions and religions of India.
“Keeping silent is not an option,” Siddiqui said. “We needed a platform to unite people who believe in the peaceful coexistence of all communities.”
(With contributions from AP)
