In Edison, New Jersey, a bulldozer, which has become a symbol of repression against India’s Muslim minority, rolled into the streets in a parade marking that country’s Independence Day.
At an event in Anaheim, California, a shouting match broke out between those celebrating the holiday and those who were present to protest against violence against Muslims in India.
American Indians from diverse faith backgrounds have coexisted peacefully side by side with the states for several decades.
But recent events in the United States – and violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims last month in Leicester, England – has raised concerns that India’s marked political and religious polarization is infiltrating diaspora communities.
In India, Hindu nationalism flourished 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 fierce criticism for increasing attacks against Muslims in recent years, from the Muslim community and other religious minorities, as well as some Hindus say Mr. Modi’s silence is the cause of far-right groups and threatens national unity.
Varun Soni, dean of the religious life department at the University of Southern California, said: “Hindu nationalism has divided the expatriate Indian community just as Donald Trump’s presidency has polarized America. It has about 2,000 students from India, one of the highest in the country.
Soni has not yet seen these tensions emerge on campus. But he said USC has received a response as one of more than 50 US universities co-funding the program Online conference called Dismantling Global Hindutva.
The 2021 event aims to spread awareness of Hindutva, Sanskrit being Hindu in nature, a political ideology that claims India is a predominantly Hindu country with some minority faiths. Some have roots in the country such as Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism.
Critics have said that it excludes other religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians. Hindutva differs from Hinduism, an ancient religion practiced by about a billion people worldwide that emphasizes the uniqueness and divine nature of all creation.
Soni said it’s important that universities remain a place where “we can talk about fact-based issues in a civilian way,” but, as USC’s chaplain, Soni worries about polarizing way Hindu nationalism affect the mental health of students.
“If someone is attacked for their identity, mocked or made a scapegoat because they are Hindu or Muslim, I care most about their happiness – not about who is right or wrong, ” I said.
Anantanand Rambachan, a retired university religion professor and a Trinidad and Tobago-born Hindu to a family of Indian descent, said his opposition to Hindu nationalism and His association with anti-ideological groups has sparked complaints from some at a Minnesota temple where he has taught religion classes.
He said opposing Hindu nationalism sometimes leads to being accused of being “anti-Hindu” or “anti-Indian”, which he has denied.
Accusations of Hindu nationalism
On the other hand, many Hindu Americans feel vilified and targeted for their views, said Samir Kalra, executive director of the American Hindu Foundation in Washington, DC.
“Space for freedom of self-expression is shrinking for Hindus,” he said, adding that even in agreement with the Indian government’s non-religious policies India can also lead to being seen as a Hindu nationalist.
Pushpita Prasad, a spokeswoman for the Union of Hindus of North America, said her group has counseled young Hindu Americans who have lost friends because they refuse to “stay on the side of battles.” originating in India”.
“If they don’t take sides or have no opinions, people automatically assume they are Hindu nationalists,” she said. “Their country of origin and their religion against them.”
Both organizations opposed the Dismantling Global Hindutva conference, calling it “fanatics” and failing to offer diverse views.
Supporters of the conference said they rejected equating calling Hindus with anti-Hindus. They say Hindutva supporters, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – an ideological adviser to Modi’s BJP – aim to make India a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation), in which minorities number will be second class citizens.
Some Hindu Americans, such as 25-year-old Sravya Tadepalli, believe it is their duty to speak up. Tadepalli, a Massachusetts resident who is a council member of Hindus for Human Rights, said activism against Hindu nationalism is informed by her faith.
“If that is the basic principle of Hinduism, that God is in all people, that everyone is divine, then I think we have a moral obligation as Hindus to be must speak for everyone’s equality,” she said. “If any human being is treated less or their rights are violated, it is our duty to work to fix that.”
Tadepalli said her organization also works to correct misinformation on social media that spreads across continents, creating hate and polarization.
Tensions in India ran high in June after police in the city of Udaipur arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting a Hindu tailor’s throat and posting a video of the scene on social media. The man killed, Kanhaiya Lal, 48, is said to have shared an online post in support of a ruling party official who was suspended for making insulting remarks to the Prophet Muhammad.
Hindu nationalist groups have attacked minorities, especially muslims, on matters related to everything from food to wearing a headscarf to marriage between couples. Muslim homes have also been demolished with heavy machinery in several states, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bulldozer justice,” despite “prosecution proceedings.” litigation” and “rule of law”.
Such reports make Muslim Americans fear for the safety of family members in India. Shakeel Syed, chief executive officer of South Asian Network, a social justice organization based in Artesia, California, said he often listens to his sisters and feels a “pervasive, fearless fear I know what tomorrow will bring.”
Syed grew up in the Indian city of Hyderabad in the 1960s and 1970s in “a more pluralistic and inclusive culture”.
“My Hindu friends will come to our Eid and we will go to their Diwali celebration,” he said. “When my family goes on vacation, we leave the house keys with our Hindu neighbor, and they do the same when they have to leave town.”
Syed believes that violence against Muslims is now widespread in India. He has heard from girls in his family who are considering taking off their headscarves or headscarves out of fear.
‘Behind closed doors’
In America, he finds his Hindu friends reluctant to engage in a public dialogue because they fear reprisal.
“A conversation is still going on, but it is happening in pockets, behind closed doors, with like-minded people,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t happen between people with opposing views.”
Rajiv Varma, a Hindu activist in Houston, takes a completely different view. Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the West, he said, are not a reflection of events in India but stem from a deliberate effort by “religious and ideological groups that are waging war against the Hindus”.
Varma believes that India is “a Hindu nation” and that the term “Hindu nationalism” simply refers to one’s love for one’s country and religion. He saw India as a country ravaged by conquerors and colonists, and the Hindus as a religious group that did not seek to convert or colonize.
“We have the right to restore our civilization,” he said.
Rasheed Ahmed, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based Indian American Muslim Council, said he was saddened to “see that even educated Hindu Americans don’t take it seriously. respect for Hindu nationalism”. He believes that Hindu Americans must make “a fundamental decision about how India and Hinduism should be viewed in America and around the world.”
“The decision on whether to take back Hinduism from whoever has appropriated it is theirs.”
Zafar Siddiqui, a Minnesota resident, hopes to “reverse some of this confusion, polarization” and build understanding through education, personal connections, and interfaith councils. Siddiqui, a Muslim, helped bring together a group of Minnesotans of Indian descent – including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and atheists – who met for a monthly income.
“When people sit down, talk over lunch or dinner or have coffee, and have a face-to-face dialogue, instead of listening to all these leaders and spreading all this hate,” Siddiqui said. it will change a lot of things.
But in a recent meeting, some debated a draft proposal to, at some point, seek dialogue with people of different views. Those who disagree explained that they do not support outreach to Hindu nationalists and fear harassment.
Siddiqui said for now, future plans include a focus on education and interfaith events that highlight India’s different traditions and religions.
“Just keeping quiet is not an option,” Siddiqui said. “We need a platform to bring together people who believe in the peaceful coexistence of all communities.”
