Comments - Hateful Hindutva Ideology Infects Indian Diaspora - PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network 2024-03-29T06:24:22Zhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=1119293%3ABlogPost%3A410769&xn_auth=noSex scene with Cillian Murphy…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-25:1119293:Comment:4256542023-07-25T14:48:41.905ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Sex scene with Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh in ‘Oppenheimer’ becomes latest target of India’s Hindu nationalists</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/media/india-oppenheimer-backlash-hindu-right-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/media/india-oppenheimer-backlash-hindu-right-intl-hnk/index.html</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>New Delhi</span><br></br><span>CNN</span><br></br><span>—</span><br></br><span>Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster…</span></p>
<p><span>Sex scene with Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh in ‘Oppenheimer’ becomes latest target of India’s Hindu nationalists</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/media/india-oppenheimer-backlash-hindu-right-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/media/india-oppenheimer-backlash-hindu-right-intl-hnk/index.html</a></span><br/><br/><span>New Delhi</span><br/><span>CNN</span><br/><span>—</span><br/><span>Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer” has sparked controversy among the Hindu-right in India, with some calling for a boycott and demanding the removal of a sex scene in which the titular character utters a famous line from the religion’s holy scripture.</span><br/><br/><span>The film tells the story of the atomic bomb through the lens of its creator, Robert Oppenheimer, and the scene in question depicts actor Cillian Murphy, who plays the lead role, having sex with Florence Pugh, who plays his lover Jean Tatlock.</span><br/><br/><span>Pugh stops during intercourse and picks up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and asks Murphy to read from it.</span><br/><br/><span>“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” Oppenheimer’s character says, as they resume intercourse.</span><br/><br/><span>The scene has caused outrage among some right-wing groups, with a politician from India’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the film a “disturbing attack on Hinduism” and accusing it of being “part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”</span><br/><br/><span>In a statement Saturday, India’s Information Commissioner, Uday Mahurkar, said the scene was “a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus,” likening it to “waging a war on the Hindu community.”</span><br/><br/><span>He added: “We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people.”</span><br/><br/><span>The film has been received well in most quarters in India, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, with critics giving it rave reviews and people flocking to cinemas to watch it.</span><br/><br/><span>Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in "Barbie"</span><br/><span>The 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' double feature shouldn't be a one-off</span><br/><br/><br/><span>“Oppenheimer” grossed more than $3 million in its opening weekend in the country, according to local reports, higher than filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated “Barbie,” which released on the same day and grossed just over $1 million.</span><br/><br/><span>India’s film board gave “Oppenheimer” a U/A rating, which is reserved for movies that contain moderate adult themes and can be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. There are so far no bans on the film in any of the country’s states and union territories.</span><br/><br/><span>This isn’t the first time that the Hindu-right has taken offense to films, television shows or commercials for its portrayal of Hinduism. Some have been boycotted or even forced off air following outcry from conservative and radical groups.</span><br/><br/><span>In 2020, Netflix (NFLX) received significant backlash in India for a scene in the series “A Suitable Boy” that depicted a Hindu woman and Muslim man kissing at a Hindu temple. That same year, Indian jewelry brand Tanishq withdrew an advert featuring an interfaith couple following online criticism.</span><br/><br/><span>Meanwhile, analysts and film critics say there has been a shift in the tone of some Indian films, with nationalist and Islamophobic narratives gaining support from many within India, as well as the BJP.</span><br/><br/><span>Last year, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s box office smash “The Kashmir Files,” based on the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus as they fled violent Islamic militants in the 1990s, polarized India, with some hailing the film as “gut-wrenching” and “truthful,” while others criticized it for being Islamophobic and inaccurate.</span><br/><br/><span>Similarly, the release this year of “The Kerala Story,” about a Hindu girl who is lured into joining ISIS, angered critics who called it a propaganda film that demonized Muslims.</span></p> How did Rajiv Gandhi, applaud…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-19:1119293:Comment:4255522023-07-19T17:45:53.057ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>How did Rajiv Gandhi, applauded for his modernist ideologies, accelerate Hindu nationalism politics?</span><br></br><span>An excerpt from ‘India is Broken: And Why It’s Hard To Fix,’ by Ashoka Mody.</span><br></br><span>Ashoka Mody…</span><br></br><br></br><br></br></p>
<p><span>How did Rajiv Gandhi, applauded for his modernist ideologies, accelerate Hindu nationalism politics?</span><br/><span>An excerpt from ‘India is Broken: And Why It’s Hard To Fix,’ by Ashoka Mody.</span><br/><span>Ashoka Mody</span><br/><br/><br/><span><a href="https://scroll.in/article/1042462/how-did-rajiv-gandhi-applauded-for-his-modernist-ideologies-accelerate-hindu-nationalism-politics" target="_blank">https://scroll.in/article/1042462/how-did-rajiv-gandhi-applauded-for-his-modernist-ideologies-accelerate-hindu-nationalism-politics</a></span><br/><br/><br/><span>In 1987, Indians owned just 13 million televisions. Friends and neighbours gathered around television sets in homes and at shopfronts. In villages, hundreds of people assembled around the one available set. On average, about 80 million people (almost 10 percent of the population) watched an episode. By the time the serial ended, almost all Indians had seen multiple episodes. More so than the Ekatmata yagna (the series of processions in late 1983), the Ramayana serial fused Savarkar’s view of India as the fatherland and holy land of the Hindus.</span><br/><br/><span>In a tribute Savarkar might have savored, the Indian Express’s media correspondent Shailaja Bajpai commented on August 7, 1988, a week after the series ended, “From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, from Gujarat to Gorakhpur, millions have stood, sat and kneeled to watch it.” Reflecting on that total absorption, she wondered: “Is there life after Ramayana?” No, she answered, there could be no life after Ramayana. Instead, echoing the void Jawaharlal Nehru sensed when Mahatma Gandhi died, Bajpai wrote: “the light has gone out of our lives and nothing will ever be the same again.”</span><br/><br/><span>For the 78 weeks that Ramayana ran, it presented a martially adept and angry Ram dispensing justice. The VHP projected its partisan view of the serial in its iconography of Ram. The author Pankaj Mishra described the Ram in VHP posters as an “appallingly muscle- bound Rambo in a dhoti.” Theatre scholar Anuradha Kapur lamented that VHP images showed Ram “far more heavily armed than in any traditional representation.”</span><br/><br/><span>In one image, Ram carried a dhanush (a bow), a trishul (trident), an axe, and a sword “in the manner of a pre-industrial warrior.” In another image, Ram, the angry male crusader, marched across the skies, his dhoti flying, chest bared, his conventionally coiled hair unrolling behind him in the wind. Accompanying those images, every VHP poster pledged to build a temple in Ayodhya. The dismayed Kapur noted that Ram, the omniscient and omnipresent Lord, was everywhere. Pinning him down to Ayodhya made no sense. “Hinduism,” she despairingly wrote, “is being reduced to a travesty of itself by its advocates.”</span><br/><br/><span>The Hindutva movement’s heavy reliance on young hypermasculine warriors to achieve its mission only exacerbated this travesty. In April and May 1987, when the Ramayana serial was in its early months, bloody Hindu-Muslim riots broke out in Meerut, a city in western Uttar Pradesh. By most accounts, Muslims provoked the riots. But then the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary, infected by the Hindutva virus, killed hundreds of Muslims in cold blood.</span></p> Modi and India’s Diaspora: A…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-19:1119293:Comment:4255512023-07-19T14:50:12.787ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Modi and India’s Diaspora: A Complex Love Affair Making Global Waves</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/asia/india-diaspora.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/asia/india-diaspora.html</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to fuse his image to the economic and political power of Indians abroad. They voice both pride and worry in return.</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><br></br><span>With an emphasis on…</span></p>
<p><span>Modi and India’s Diaspora: A Complex Love Affair Making Global Waves</span><br/><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/asia/india-diaspora.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/asia/india-diaspora.html</a></span><br/><br/><span>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to fuse his image to the economic and political power of Indians abroad. They voice both pride and worry in return.</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><span>With an emphasis on national pride, Mr. Modi and his conservative Hindu-first Bharatiya Janata Party have cultivated a surprisingly strong relationship with India’s successful diaspora. The bond has been strengthened by a global political machine, supercharged under Mr. Modi with party offices in dozens of countries and thousands of volunteers. And it has allowed Mr. Modi to fuse his own image — and his rubric of elevating India — with superstar executives and powerful, often more liberal constituencies in the United States, Britain, Australia and many other nations.</span><br/><br/><span>No other world leader seems to draw such a steady flow of diaspora welcome parties, most recently in Paris, New York and Cairo, or giant audiences, including 20,000 fans at a rally in Australia in May. Mr. Modi was in France on Friday as the guest of honor at the annual Bastille Day parade, and with elections next year in India, the pattern has been set.</span><br/><br/><br/><span>“The B.J.P. leadership wants to show its strength abroad, to create strength at home,” said Sameer Lalwani, a senior expert on South Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace.</span><br/><br/><span>But in some corners of the diaspora, strains are emerging. Many Indian professionals who cheer when Mr. Modi boasts that India has become the world’s fifth-largest economy — who gush about new infrastructure and more modern cities — also fear that his government’s Hindu-supremacist policies and growing intolerance of scrutiny will keep India from truly standing as a superpower and democratic alternative to China.</span><br/><br/><span>Vinod Khosla, a prominent Silicon Valley investor, who has often pushed for closer U.S.-India relations, said in an interview that India’s greatest risk is a disruption to economic growth from the instability and inequality inflamed by Hindu nationalism. Others worry that Mr. Modi, in a bubble of political celebrity and religious certitude, is ignoring the fragility of positive momentum in a complex, diverse and volatile nation of 1.4 billion people.</span><br/><br/><span>“The demographics only work for India if there is progressivism and inclusion,” said Arun Subramony, a private equity banker in Washington with digital, health and other investments in India. “The party has to make an extra effort to make clear that India is for everyone.”</span><br/><br/><span>--------</span><br/><br/><span>political scientists believe that the B.J.P. and Hindu organizations draw a significant flow of money from the diaspora. In 2018, Mr. Modi’s government rushed through Parliament a law allowing Indians living abroad and foreign companies with subsidiaries in India to make undisclosed political donations. Spending on India’s 2019 campaign topped $8 billion, making it the most expensive election in the world.</span><br/><br/><span>“There’s an absence of transparency, and it’s by design,” said Gilles Verniers, a senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.</span><br/><br/><span>In the United States, the B.J.P. registered its presence — a requirement for any foreign political party — only after questions were raised about the financing of a giant “Howdy Modi” celebration in 2019 in Houston with President Donald J. Trump.</span><br/><br/><br/><span>In Australia, the organization still does not appear in the foreign transparency register, despite the costs associated with Mr. Modi’s rally in May at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena, where hundreds of people lined up outside for selfies with twin Modi cardboard cutouts framing a giant sign with “We ❤️ Modi” in bright white lights.</span></p> Inspired by Jewish groups tha…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-06-28:1119293:Comment:4247922023-06-28T16:29:37.685ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>Faced with rising scrutiny over India’s worsening human rights record, Hindu…</span></p>
<p><span>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a></span><br/><br/><span>Faced with rising scrutiny over India’s worsening human rights record, Hindu groups have used “the same playbook and even sometimes the same terms” as Israel-advocacy groups, “copy-pasted from the Zionist context,” said Nikhil Mandalaparthy of the anti-Hindutva group Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR). Hindu groups have especially taken note of their Jewish counterparts’ recent efforts to codify a definition of antisemitism—the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition—that places much criticism of Israel out-of-bounds, asserting that claims like “the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” constitute examples of anti-Jewish bigotry. In April 2021, the Rutgers University chapter of the Hindu Students Council (HSC)—which the RSS has referred to as its “torch bearers abroad”—held a conference to generate a “robust working definition” of the term “Hinduphobia.” (The HSC did not respond to questions.) In an email to Jewish Currents, the HAF’s Shukla wrote that the effort was “similar to members of the Jewish community coalescing around the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.” The resulting definition refers to Hinduphobia as “a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviors towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.” Its examples of Hinduphobic speech—which were reiterated at an event in December by HAF managing director Samir Kalra—include “calling for the destruction and dissolution of Hinduism” and using ethnic slurs (Kalra cited examples like “cow-piss drinker,” “dothead,” and “heathen”). Although the definition never names India or the political project of Hindutva, its examples also include “accusing those who organize around or speak about Hinduphobia . . . of being agents or pawns of violent, oppressive political agendas”—a characterization that is regularly applied to efforts to call out Hindu nationalist activity, such as the Teaneck Democrats’ resolution.</span><br/><br/><span>Although the Rutgers definition of Hinduphobia never names India or the political project of Hindutva, its examples include “accusing those who organize around or speak about Hinduphobia . . . of being agents or pawns of violent, oppressive political agendas”—a characterization that is regularly applied to efforts to call out Hindu nationalist activity.</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><span>On the HAF’s website, a glossary of Hinduphobic terms includes the word “Hindutvavadi,” or “someone who espouses or promotes Hindutva,” which the HAF says is “intended to demonize Hindu Americans and delegitimize the causes they advocate for.” It also contains the epithet “Bhakt,” or “devotee,” slang in India for die-hard supporters of the BJP, which the glossary says “presents Hindus through a simplistic, political binary of for or against,” adding that the term’s use “in conjunction with portrayals of Narendra Modi and his political party as supremacist or fascist” are “particularly egregious.” Naik called this logic “absurd”: “How can one take a criticism of a hateful ideology and conflate that with a religion?”</span><br/><br/><span>Despite such contradictions, the concept of Hinduphobia has enjoyed a meteoric rise in usage in the wake of the Rutgers conference, gaining ground against terms like “anti-Hindu” or “anti-India” in the US. “I saw it grow over the past three or so years,” said anti-Hindutva advocate and journalist Pieter Friedrich, whose activism has recently been labeled “Hinduphobic” by the HSS and its affiliates.</span></p> Inspired by Jewish groups tha…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-06-28:1119293:Comment:4249642023-06-28T16:23:56.287ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.<br></br><br></br><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a><br></br><br></br>The Teaneck incident is one of many in which Hindu groups have worked to silence criticism of Hindu…</p>
<p>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.<br/><br/><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a><br/><br/>The Teaneck incident is one of many in which Hindu groups have worked to silence criticism of Hindu nationalism by decrying it as anti-Hindu or “Hinduphobic.” In 2013 and again in 2020, a coalition of such groups used allegations of “anti-Hindu bias” to prevent the passage of House Resolutions 417 and 745, both of which criticized Modi. In 2020, when progressives objected to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s decision to appoint Amit Jani, a close supporter of Modi, as his director for Asian American Pacific Islander outreach, the HAF denounced these criticisms as an example of “Hinduphobia.” (Biden retained Jani despite the protests.) “The Hindu right wants to distract from India’s catastrophic human rights record,” Audrey Truschke, a South Asia historian at Rutgers University, told Jewish Currents. “So there’s a lot of value in portraying Hindus as victimized people.”<br/><br/>“The Hindu right wants to distract from India’s catastrophic human rights record. So there’s a lot of value in portraying Hindus as victimized people.”<br/><br/>The HAF, the most influential Hindu American advocacy group, has spearheaded a number of these campaigns. Since its founding in 2003, the organization has been known for its work on Hindu civil rights issues; it has pushed for workplace religious protections, school holidays during Hindu festivals, and immigration reform for skilled professionals. But in recent years, it has increasingly sought to raise awareness about what it describes as a new form of anti-Hindu bias. HAF executive director Suhag Shukla told Jewish Currents in an email that while anti-Hindu sentiment in the US used to be animated by “anti-immigrant xenophobia or rooted in colorism, rather than specifically being about Hindus or Hinduism,” recent manifestations of anti-Hindu hatred are “paralleling political tensions arising in India,” and include “terminology and tropes” that originate in sectarian conflict in South Asia.<br/><br/>“What the HAF is trying to do is to conflate Hindutva with Hinduism—to prove that a criticism of Hindutva is an attack on Hinduism,” said the Kashmiri American journalist Raqib Hameed Naik. “There is no doubt that the HAF subscribes to the ideology of Hindutva.” Asked to respond, HAF senior communications director Mat McDermott repeatedly called the allegation “nonsense.” “HAF does not, either officially or unofficially, ‘subscribe’ to Hindutva as an ideology,” he wrote in an email to Jewish Currents.</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> Inspired by Jewish groups tha…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-06-28:1119293:Comment:4247912023-06-28T16:21:22.858ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.<br></br><br></br><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a><br></br><br></br>By Aparna Gopalan<br></br><br></br>EVERY AUGUST, the township of Edison, New Jersey—where one in five residents is of…</p>
<p>Inspired by Jewish groups that cast criticism of Israel as antisemitism, Hindu American organizations are advancing a concept of “Hinduphobia” that puts India beyond reproach.<br/><br/><a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook" target="_blank">https://jewishcurrents.org/the-hindu-nationalists-using-the-pro-israel-playbook</a><br/><br/>By Aparna Gopalan<br/><br/>EVERY AUGUST, the township of Edison, New Jersey—where one in five residents is of Indian origin—holds a parade to celebrate India’s Independence Day. In 2022, a long line of floats rolled through the streets, decked out in images of Hindu deities and colorful advertisements for local businesses. People cheered from the sidelines or joined the cavalcade, dancing to pulsing Bollywood music. In the middle of the procession came another kind of vehicle: A wheel loader, which looks like a small bulldozer, rumbled along the route bearing an image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi aloft in its bucket.<br/><br/>For South Asian Muslims, the meaning of the addition was hard to miss. A few months earlier, during the month of Ramadan, Indian government officials had sent bulldozers into Delhi’s Muslim neighborhoods, where they damaged a mosque and leveled homes and storefronts. The Washington Post called the bulldozer “a polarizing symbol of state power under Narendra Modi,” whose ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is increasingly enacting a program of Hindu supremacy and Muslim subjugation. In the weeks after the parade, one Muslim resident of Edison, who is of Indian origin, told The New York Times that he understood the bulldozer much as Jews would a swastika or Black Americans would a Klansman’s hood. Its inclusion underscored the parade’s other nods to the ideology known as Hindutva, which seeks to transform India into an ethnonationalist Hindu state. The event’s grand marshal was the BJP’s national spokesperson, Sambit Patra, who flew in from India. Other invitees were affiliated with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the international arm of the Hindu nationalist paramilitary force Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), of which Modi is a longtime member.<br/><br/>Initially, New Jersey politicians—including Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez and Edison mayor Sam Joshi—decried the parade. In September, the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee, a local wing of the New Jersey Democratic Party, passed a resolution condemning the event and calling for a crackdown on what they described as Hindu nationalist groups’ operations in the state. The resolution alleged ties between several Hindu organizations—including a prominent Washington, DC-based advocacy group called the Hindu American Foundation (HAF)—and the RSS, and called on the FBI and CIA to “step up [their] research on foreign hate groups that have domestic branches with tax-exempt status.” It also called for the revision of anti-terrorism laws to “address foreign violent extremists with speaking engagements in the US.”<br/><br/>But soon after the Teaneck resolution was adopted, nearly 60 Hindu American groups released a statement that shifted the conversation away from rising Hindu nationalism toward fears of Hindu victimization. The signatories—who made no mention of the wheel loader, Modi, or the RSS—claimed that the “hate-filled” Teaneck resolution “[demonizes] the entire Hindu American community.” A couple of weeks later, Hindu activists sponsored ten billboards in north and central New Jersey calling on Democrats to “Stop bigotry against Hindu Americans.” Before long, lawmakers began to denounce the resolution. Teaneck mayor James Dunleavy and New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer came out against the “anti-Hindu” Teaneck resolution; the New Jersey Democratic State Committee soon followed. In the coming weeks, Booker and Menendez both released statements condemning “anti-Hinduism.”</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> What’s fueling the rise in Hi…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-06-28:1119293:Comment:4249632023-06-28T03:28:47.051ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>What’s fueling the rise in Hindu nationalism in the U.S.<br></br><br></br><br></br><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/modis-popularity-grows-india-hindu-nationalism-rising-us-rcna90680" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/modis-popularity-grows-india-hindu-nationalism-rising-us-rcna90680</a><br></br><br></br>To some, Modi represents the face of a new, better India. To others, his human rights violations are ushering in an era of Hindu nationalism — and it's rapidly…</p>
<p>What’s fueling the rise in Hindu nationalism in the U.S.<br/><br/><br/><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/modis-popularity-grows-india-hindu-nationalism-rising-us-rcna90680" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/modis-popularity-grows-india-hindu-nationalism-rising-us-rcna90680</a><br/><br/>To some, Modi represents the face of a new, better India. To others, his human rights violations are ushering in an era of Hindu nationalism — and it's rapidly spreading in the U.S.<br/><br/>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit turned the nation’s capital into a microcosm of Indian politics on Thursday. Thousands of South Asians of every creed and community flooded the city’s landmarks — some to support the controversial leader, others to protest his visit, while many attended to simply take in the historic moment.<br/><br/>Chants of “Go Modi” and “Jai Hind” (“Long live India”), juxtaposed against “Killer Modi” and “no justice, no peace,” echoed through the streets and buildings. The South Asian American diaspora cares about Indian politics like never before, experts say, and the common denominator is Modi.<br/><br/>After nearly a decade in office, Modi, 72, is cited as the most popular leader in the world, according to a Morning Consult poll. But the diaspora has mixed feelings.<br/><br/>While his supporters credit him with making India a presence on the global stage, his critics accuse him of fanning the flames of Hindu nationalism in India and abroad. At its most extreme, the nationalist movement seeks to create a Hindu India, perpetuating the narrative that Hindus are oppressed in the country, and abetting violence and discrimination against Muslims and other minority groups, experts told NBC News.<br/><br/>In the U.S., Hindu nationalism can take the form of cultural youth groups, but also online doxxing and harassment campaigns against dissenters. Charity work might operate parallel to lobbies against bills aimed at protecting those born into lower castes in India’s caste system, according to experts.<br/><br/>“There is something that is very distinct about what’s happening now,” said Sangay Mishra, an associate professor at Drew University in New Jersey and author of “Desis Divided: The Political Lives of South Asian Americans.” “There’s something very specific about Narendra Modi: He wants to be liked in the Western world.”<br/><br/>Modi’s government and those that surround it — like his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the right-wing Hindu nationalist organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — have focused specifically on Indian Americans as the new frontier of political mobilization, Mishra, who teaches political science and international relations, said. And they’ve invested resources into spreading the word in schools, government offices and on social media.<br/><br/>India is now the most populous country in the world, with 1.43 billion people, and it also has the world’s largest diaspora, with 32 million living abroad. Modi’s government is trying to get the world on board in making India a global player, Mishra said.<br/><br/>Leading Hindu nationalists “always thought that Hindus anywhere are a part of India,” he said.<br/><br/>And the government's efforts seem to be effective, he said. Those who came to Washington to see Modi told NBC News that they simply love his energy and positivity. While many feel tied to the BJP, others lining the streets were less politically motivated, dressed in their best to witness the prime minister like they would any other celebrity.<br/><br/>But to those concerned about India’s direction, the historical significance of Modi’s visit isn’t the growing U.S.-India ties, but rather the human rights violations they say has defined his time both as chief minister of the state of Gujarat and now as prime minister. It’s an agenda supporting upper-caste Hindu supremacy, they say, and it’s seeping into Indians around the world.<br/><br/>“We claim as a diaspora we’re very connected to our heritage and we want to celebrate our culture,” said Harita Iswara, 23, who works with Hindus for Human Rights and protested during Modi’s visit. “But when people’s identities are under attack in India, we have to do as much, if not more, to speak up to protect them.”</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> Albanese does The Boss’s bidd…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-05-27:1119293:Comment:4244332023-05-27T23:07:12.693ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>Albanese does The Boss’s bidding, no questions asked<br></br><br></br><br></br><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/albanese-does-the-boss-s-bidding-no-questions-asked-20230524-p5datx.html" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/national/albanese-does-the-boss-s-bidding-no-questions-asked-20230524-p5datx.html</a><br></br><br></br>To the cheering of 20,000 fans in Sydney’s Qudos Arena, Anthony Albanese proclaimed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi “The Boss”. Whether Modi is a Bruce Springsteen fan or not,…</p>
<p>Albanese does The Boss’s bidding, no questions asked<br/><br/><br/><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/albanese-does-the-boss-s-bidding-no-questions-asked-20230524-p5datx.html" target="_blank">https://www.smh.com.au/national/albanese-does-the-boss-s-bidding-no-questions-asked-20230524-p5datx.html</a><br/><br/>To the cheering of 20,000 fans in Sydney’s Qudos Arena, Anthony Albanese proclaimed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi “The Boss”. Whether Modi is a Bruce Springsteen fan or not, light-heartedly or otherwise, it is impossible to imagine him ever calling an Australian prime minister his boss.<br/><br/><br/>---------<br/><br/>It was hard not to stand back and appreciate the contrast. On the one hand, Australia is silent on India’s persecution of ethnic minorities, its imprisonment of human rights activists, the prospective jailing of the leader of its largest opposition party, its global leadership in internet shutdowns and its targeted political censorship, amid a long list of anti-democratic activities listed by Human Rights Watch and other organisations, not to mention its neutrality on Putin’s war in Ukraine. On the other hand, The Boss can raise the graffiti-ing of temples and receive warm reassurances that we will do better.<br/><br/>We have all arrived at social functions and found ourselves caught by surprise, conscripted into the service of our host’s personal agenda. But for Wednesday’s rally, an Indian political event on Australian soil, Albanese would have tied his own tie. It was saffron, a colour with deep religious significance for Hindus that has been appropriated by The Boss’s Bharatiya Janata Party, a socially conservative, economically neoliberal, stridently nationalist political movement. No doubt Albanese saw the tie as symbolising friendship with India, when in much of India it is seen as symbolising friendship with the BJP.<br/><br/>Questioned the next morning about what had appeared to be his role as The Boss’s wingman, Albanese said there were “1.4 billion reasons” for Australia to strengthen ties with India. And he is right – except that, at a politicised event, his actions and his choice of tie were taking sides against the 63 per cent of Indian voters who did not support Modi in the 2019 elections. By being used, while trying so hard to be non-partisan, Albanese unwittingly puts hundreds of millions of anti-Modi Indians offside.<br/><br/>At least Albanese answered questions. At his joint “press conference” with Modi in Sydney, no questions were permitted. Modi has not taken questions at media conferences for the past nine years. He simply does not submit to free media questioning in India. And even in Australia, he sets the ground rules.<br/><br/>A power asymmetry has revealed itself. India is the world’s biggest country, and in a generation it will be an economic superpower eclipsing China. India is not merely Australia’s useful ally in an alliance to counterbalance China’s influence. India is fast becoming the main player in our region. It knows this, hence The Boss setting the rules and the convivial host giving him what he wants.<br/><br/>This is not a criticism, nor anything like an assessment of Modi’s rule which has also brought economic prosperity to many in his country; it is simply an observation of where we stand, an asymmetry brought home so volubly at Homebush.</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> Violent ethnic clashes in Lei…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-05-14:1119293:Comment:4242112023-05-14T23:57:17.584ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Violent ethnic clashes in Leicester last year were stoked by Modi's Hindu nationalist party | Daily Mail Online</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081129/Violent-ethnic-clashes-Leicester-year-stoked-Modis-Hindu-nationalist-party.html" target="_blank">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081129/Violent-ethnic-clashes-Leicester-year-stoked-Modis-Hindu-nationalist-party.html</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>Ethnic community tensions on…</span></p>
<p><span>Violent ethnic clashes in Leicester last year were stoked by Modi's Hindu nationalist party | Daily Mail Online</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081129/Violent-ethnic-clashes-Leicester-year-stoked-Modis-Hindu-nationalist-party.html" target="_blank">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081129/Violent-ethnic-clashes-Leicester-year-stoked-Modis-Hindu-nationalist-party.html</a></span><br/><br/><span>Ethnic community tensions on Britain's streets have been stoked by Indian political activists linked to Narendra Modi and his ruling Hindu nationalist party, UK security sources say.</span><br/><br/><span>The Mail on Sunday can reveal that elements close to Indian prime minister Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are suspected of having incited British Hindus to confront Muslim youths in last summer's explosive riots in Leicester.</span><br/><br/><span>A UK security source said there was evidence of BJP-linked activists using closed WhatsApp groups to encourage Hindu protesters to take to the streets.</span><br/><br/><span>But the source warned that this was only the 'most egregious' example of Indian Hindu nationalists using private social media posts to interfere in the UK.</span><br/><br/><span>He warned: 'So far, it's mainly local politics - Modi and his BJP doing that they would do in Gujarat [Mr Modi's home state] to get this or that local councillor elected.</span><br/><br/><span>But it has to be stopped before it spreads to attempts to influence our national politics.'</span><br/><br/><br/><span>The claims are likely to provoke a diplomatic storm between London and New Delhi at a time when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – himself a practising Hindu - is trying to seal a lucrative post-Brexit trade deal with India.</span><br/><br/><span>Last summer's ethnic disturbances in Leicester followed months of simmering tensions between newly-arrived Hindu immigrants and the city's settled Muslim residents, tarnishing its reputation as a beacon of racial harmony in Britain.</span><br/><br/><span>Violent clashes broke out between Hindu and Muslim youths after an India-Pakistan cricket match in late August, grabbing international media attention, particularly in India where it was spun as Muslims attacking Hindu residents.</span><br/><br/><span>This newspaper was told that India-based BJP activists then started to issue messages and memes which were widely circulated within WhatsApp groups among Hindus in Leicester.</span><br/><br/><span>Since the India-Pakistan cricket match on August 28, there were several nights of protests in Leicester until September 22, with marauding youths marching on the streets shouting 'Jai Shri Ram,' [Victory to Lord Ram], which has become the rallying cry of the BJP in India.</span><br/><br/><span>There were reports of attacks on Muslims and their homes, as well as attacks and vandalism against Hindu temples and homes.</span><br/><br/><span>The security source said the alleged interference appeared to be part of Mr Modi's desire to pose as the leader of Hindus across the world.</span><br/><br/><span>After last year's riots, several studies were done in examining the role of social media in stoking up the Leicester disturbances.</span><br/><br/><span>Think tank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue published a study showing, as the clashes broke out in Leicester, the Indian media depicted the trouble as Hindus coming under attacks from Muslims, with the violence blamed on 'Pakistani organised gangs.'</span><br/><br/><span>On Twitter, a new hashtag emerged, #HindusUnderAttackInUK, which was a variant on the well-known BJP mantra, #HindusUnderAttack.</span><br/><br/><span>The report also mentioned that, within days of the cricket match fallout, pro-BJP activists and influencers framed the clashes as Hindus being the sole victims.</span><br/><br/><span>Separately, a report conducted by the US-based Network Contagion Research Institute also showed evidence of so-called bot-farms operating out of India, which were retweeting messages on the Leicester disturbances on an industrial scale.</span><br/><br/><span>Charlotte Littlewood, an expert at the Henry Jackson Society think tank which investigated the riots, said that the disturbances begun as a result of tensions between newly-arrived Hindu youths from India and the more settled Muslim community.</span><br/><br/><span>Ms Littlewood said that, although the reasons for the clashes were local, when they hit the international media, foreign pro-BJP elements began escalating the tensions for their own ends.</span></p> What is the history of Hindut…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-05-06:1119293:Comment:4236282023-05-06T20:18:55.052ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>What is the history of Hindutva?</span><br></br><br></br><span>BARD answer:</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><span>Hindutva is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu nationalism. It was first formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. Hindutva is based on the belief that Hindus are a distinct nation with a shared culture, history, and religion. It seeks to create a Hindu Rashtra, or Hindu nation, in India.</span><br></br><br></br><span>Hindutva is a controversial ideology. It has been accused of being…</span></p>
<p><span>What is the history of Hindutva?</span><br/><br/><span>BARD answer:</span><br/><br/><br/><span>Hindutva is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu nationalism. It was first formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. Hindutva is based on the belief that Hindus are a distinct nation with a shared culture, history, and religion. It seeks to create a Hindu Rashtra, or Hindu nation, in India.</span><br/><br/><span>Hindutva is a controversial ideology. It has been accused of being exclusionary and discriminatory towards non-Hindus. However, its supporters argue that it is a legitimate form of nationalism that seeks to protect the interests of Hindus.</span><br/><br/><span>The Hindutva movement has been gaining popularity in India in recent years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, has been in power at the federal level since 2014. The BJP has been accused of promoting Hindutva policies, such as the construction of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya, which is a site of religious dispute between Hindus and Muslims.</span><br/><br/><span>The Hindutva movement is also active in the Indian diaspora. In the United States, for example, there are a number of Hindutva organizations that promote Hindu nationalism and work to influence American foreign policy towards India.</span><br/><br/><span>The Hindutva movement is a complex and controversial one. It is important to understand the different perspectives on Hindutva in order to have a meaningful discussion about it.</span></p>