The rise of Global Hinduphobia & Academic Terrorism
"Dismantling" is the most ill-conceived word to associate with Hindutva because anyone knowing the concept will never use it.
Dismantling Global Hindutva – Is it a new idea?
Unfortunately, it is not because the effort to destroy Hinduism has continued for various centuries in the Indian subcontinent.
The Mughal invasions led by ethnic groups from Afghanistan, Iran, and the Mongols before establishing Mughal rule in the 16th and 17th century AD are proof enough of the failed attempts to convert a Hindu Bharat into an Islamic nation.
Following the decline of the Mughal period after Aurangzeb, the British Empire took over. They started off by masquerading as traders, but the ultimate objective was to colonize India and convert it into a part of the British Empire. Undoubtedly, there were religious overtures, as evidenced by the numerous instances of conversion to Christianity, especially in South India, Sri Lanka, and the Northeastern part of the country.
However, the resiliency of Hindu Bharat overcame all such attempts by these dominant religions to subvert Hinduism. This resilience is the character of Hindutva that the so-called liberals in India and abroad could not digest. Hence, there has been a continuous concerted attempt by such people to show Hindutva in poor light. Not surprisingly, these campaigns have found sympathizers within the Hindu community who have always opposed the Hindutva concept.
Hatred Against Hindutva – Resurfacing
What the Mughals could not accomplish by brute force, the British had tried to achieve by using deceit. One must say that they have been successful to a certain extent in instigating Muslims against the Hindus and vice-versa. By the time India achieved its independence from British Rule, they had managed to divide the country into an Islamic Pakistan and a pseudo-secular India governed by the Indian National Congress.
Handing over the reins of governance to the Indian National Congress suited the British objectives. It enabled them to carry out covert religious conversions and brainwash Indian minds against Hindutva. The Indian Governments over the majority of the past six to seven decades have tacitly supported these attempts to destabilize Hindutva.
The change in the Government in New Delhi in 2014 set the alarm bells ringing in the ears of such pseudo seculars because they realized that there is a government that does not subscribe to their ideology. The ruling dispensation in India since 2014 has been successful in reigniting Hindu passions amongst Indians, especially the diaspora settled abroad in places like the USA and Europe. This diaspora consists of the Indians who have migrated to these countries to pursue higher education, professions, employment, and business interests. The re-emergence of Hindutva and the support of Indian Government has contributed to the resurfacing of the anti-Hindutva brigade, but this time with active support from the so-called academicians internationally.
The Academician-Activist Nexus
The tirade against Hindutva has received active support from a class of activists who prefer to be called intellectuals. It comprises people like,
Anand Patwardhan – a documentary filmmaker and a self-proclaimed human rights activist renowned for propagating false narratives against Hindu institutions by donning a secular garb
Ayesha Kidwai – a left-wing activist with a predominantly communist outlook and a history of promoting individuals displaying animosity towards India in general and Hindus, in particular
Kavita Krishnan – Politburo member of CPI (ML) {Communist Party of India – Marxist-Leninist), and a compulsive supporter of fake news peddlers in India
Banu Subramaniam – a professor at the University of Massachusetts having a bigoted view of ancient Vedic science and a limited understanding of India and Hindutva
Bhanwar Megwanshi – who claims to be a former RSS activist and a self-proclaimed champion of Dalit rights
Christophe Jaffrelot – an author known for anti-India leanings who provide fuel and ammunition to the so-called intellectual liberals in India.
Meena Kandasamy – a vociferous anti-Brahminism tweeter with a pronounced hatred against the Hindu community
These so-called liberals have the support of academicians like Nalini Sundar and journalists like Neha Dixit, supposedly having underhand dealings with anti-BJP political parties like the Indian National Congress and the Communists. The irony is that the people mentioned above wield considerable influence amongst the masses and can influence or brainwash unsuspecting minds to further their cause against Hindutva.
All the names mentioned here have displayed anti-Hindu sentiments perpetually. Hence, it is no surprise that they were invited to speak/discuss 'Hindu-phobic' issues at the Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference in September 2021.
The Brain behind Dismantling Global Hindutva
The promoter and organizer of the Dismantling Global Hindutva event is Audrey Truschke, an alleged historian surprisingly obsessed with whitewashing and justifying the crimes of Aurangzeb. She is a pronounced anti-India propagandist on the advisory boards of SAHI (Students Against Hindutva Ideology), an activist organization in the USA with supposedly close ties with the Democrats.
What makes Truschke and SAHI more dangerous is that it has worked with Ziad Ahmed, a 21-year old activist who runs a consultancy and marketing agency to help corporate brands reach out to young people. Zaid Ahmed has connections with Hillary Clinton's campaign and has worked with SWK (Stand With Kashmir), an organization that espouses the Pakistani view on Kashmir. In addition, SAHI has glorified the Islamists in various protests against the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act).
Besides, Truschke is a professor at Rutgers University and can influence international students, especially from the Indian subcontinent, to peddle a hateful agenda against Hindutva. Students have petitioned her of falsely linking Hindus with the extremists rioting at Capitol Hill. The petition also states that Truschke has slandered Hindu Gods and misinterpreted the Bhagavad Gita. In addition, Truschke has a history of portraying Hindus in a bad light as lustful, sex-obsessed, and cow urine drinkers.
Truschke, in her capacity as an influential professor in a reputed university, has corrupted young minds by brainwashing them against the principles of Hindutva and distorting Bharatiya history. International students are most vulnerable in the early days of their university education in a foreign land. Therefore, professors like Truschke pounce on these opportunities to influence young minds and recruit them in the Academica to spread misinformation about Hindutva and hatred against fellow Hindus.
Such templates are used in different corners of the world including New Zealand. In late September 2021, Mohan Dutta published a white paper titled “The communicative strategies of Hindutva” accusing Chinmaya Mission of spreading Hindutva. The sole objective of such whitepaper is to spread Hinduphobia and cultural degeneration of Sanatan Dharma. During onset of Covid-19 in February 2020, Sapna Samant of Care NZ published an entire opinion piece titled India’s ugly Hindu Islamophobia arrives in New Zealand with sole objective of marginalizing entire Hindu community.
Later that year Mohan Dutta & Sapna Samant once again took critical exception on Labour MP of Indian Origin Gaurav Sharma for taking oath in Sanskrit and equated it to rise of Brahmanical supremacy and playing upper caste card.
The roots for Dismantling Global Hindutva isn’t a one or two pronged attached on Hindus but strategical attack to disseminate thousands of years old culture. Academic freedom is just another tool used for achieving such objective. It was no surprise to see Massey University as one of the sponsor for DGH conference.
Dismantling Global Hindutva – The Conference
The Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference was one of the many attempts made by the anti-Hindutva brigade to paint Hindus and India, in particular, in poor light as a nation of extremists. However, as Truschke is a professor at a reputed university, she has managed to secure support from like-minded individuals working on other universities to show the Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference as being co-sponsored by departments from more than 45 US universities.
Besides, she has invited the so-called Indian liberals to voice their opinion on the online platform and further their case of destabilizing Hindutva.
Dismantling Global Hindutva – Can they succeed?
Try as they might, no one can dismantle Hindutva because it is not a physical machine that can be disassembled or reassembled at will. Hindutva is an ideology seriously imprinted in the minds of true and committed Hindus. It espouses virtues of religious tolerance and non-violence, as described in the Bhagavad Gita. Hindutva is about recognizing the good features in all religious faiths and working together to create a harmonious world where everyone would be free to practice whichever religion they like.
Can a group of individuals puncture this identity? The answer is an emphatic NO. The Mughals and the British tried it before but have failed miserably. Grooming gangs need no introduction, new ones are sprouting every single day in Europe. The concept of such grooming gangs is used & exploited by some sections of Academia to spread disinformation on Hinduism & Hindutva. Today's modern-day so-called academicians are trying out their new tricks by brainwashing the youth, but their endeavors are doomed for failure.
There will be attempts by specific sections of the Indian and the international media to attack and ridicule Hinduism. In addition, there might be attacks on Hindus in Islamist-dominated countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the Gulf nations. However, Hindutva as an ideology has proved its resilience in the past and will do so again in the future.