“American Hindu Foundation wants people to be concerned about Hinduphobia because “this is a tornado”

Indian Hindus in the US who deem themselves discriminated against because of their belief were the focus of the Hindu American Foundation’s talk on “Rising Hinduphobia.”

When Indian-originated engineers have been driving the Silicon Valley growth for two decades and are becoming increasingly politically engaged, it can be anomalous to discuss Hinduphobia in the US. However, the new goal of the Hindu American Foundation is to raise awareness of and concern for the problem of growing Hinduphobia.

The phrase has progressively gained popularity in recent months among online users.

Suhag Shukla, co-founder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), said at the 85th Indian Foundation Dialogue held at the India Habitat Center, “In the US, where Indians make up 2% of the residents, a lot of Hinduphobia is truly coming from people who are of Indian origin, who may or may not be Hindu.

She claimed that the “sloppy and unthinking” Marxist application of the oppressor/oppressed framework to the Hindu majority in India, which transforms the upper-caste Brahmin man into the white male or white Christian male, is the cause of this internal enmity.

It is simple to dismiss the possibility that we would experience discrimination and other difficulties in the United States, even though we are a minority both racially and religiously, she said.

Her discussion, “Rising Hinduphobia,” focused on the perceptions of Hindu Americans who are part of the Indian diaspora and who determine the victim because of their religion. She concentrated in particular on how “Hinduphobia” is perceived globally, in corporations, local governments, and on college campuses. She also cited the Dismantling Global Hindutva Table Conference, which took place in September 2021, as a turning point in the diaspora’s awareness of the perils of Hinduphobia.

Come, Carpentier, the World Affairs editor-in-chief of Journal, presided over the meeting. Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, BJP leader Ram Madhav, Professor S.R. Bhatt from the Indian Council of Social Science Research, and senior diplomat Amar Sinha were among the India Foundation members present.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is dispelling myths about Hinduism and its practice, according to Ram Madhav, who added that they are fighting a perceptional struggle in the US against Hinduism.

Shukla attempted to capture the tone and spirit of the conference by playing a video clip with clips from some of the presentations given there, referring to it as an “all-you-can-eat buffet of Hinduphobia.” Speakers questioned whether Hinduism could be a  friendly religion in the presence of the caste system and whether Hindutva could be divorced from Hinduism while rousing dramatic music played in the background.

Hindudvesha, Hinduphobia, and Hindumisia 

The origin of the phrase “Hinduphobia” can be linked to a symposium conducted at Rutgers University, which is ironically where Audrey Truschke, a South Asian history professor, teaches.

Hinduphobia is preferred by the HAF above other terms like Hinduvesha and Hinduism. A working description of Hinduphobia is provided by them: “Hinduphobia is a combination of antagonistic, harmful, and disparaging attitudes and behaviors towards Hindus and Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.”

According to Shukla, HAF wants to be accepted in society in the exact way that the term “antisemitism” is.

Hinduphobia, according to Mishra, “is something that is not fixed to the borders of Bharat but is present wherever that is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He and two of his fellow Hindi second-year students had skipped class to go to Shukla’s talk.

In the lecturer’s concluding remarks, the question of whether individuals who oppose Hinduism merely have inferiority complexes was raised. One audience member remarked, “There are some who are afraid of Hinduism for its might.

Hindu practices and ideas are very popular around the world, according to Shukla. In her opinion, more and more people are turning to ideas like yoga, the idea that “there are many paths to one truth,” that “there’s some kind of unity between all of us,” and the idea that “we must proceed in consonance with our natural and earth resources” in these difficult times.

In the interest of development, she added, “We shouldn’t forget all of those ancient beliefs that are a component of us.” We need to learn more about our culture and comprehend why Westerners are drawn to it.

Shukla continued, “I do think that India, and the fact that Hindu dharma is more alive than ever, is an exclusivist religious tradition and a constant reminder of the failure of expansionists— they tried for a thousand years, and we’re still here.