A week after the Rutgers-Newark University apologised to Hindu students after they were abused and threatened for speaking up against Hinduphobic ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke, radical Islamic organisations that have links with terror groups and far-left ‘activist’ groups have extended support to the historian.
A group of controversial Islamic groups, far-left organisations and Kashmiri separatist networks have now released a letter in support of alleged historian Audrey Truschke after Hindu students had exposed Truschke’s bigotry against Hindus, who had depicted Hindu Gods as a “misogynistic pig” and had claimed that Hindu texts promote rape culture.
In the letter signed by mostly non-Hindu groups and some extremist groups, the signatories have accused Hindu students of being Nazi sympathisers and putting out false propaganda to target ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke for expressing her “unwavering opposition” to Hindutva.
In the letter of support issued by a few radical Islamic organisations and far-left groups, they’ ‘unequivocally’ extended their support to Dr Audrey Truschke against an “ongoing systematic campaign of vilification against her”, including vile threats of extreme violence against her and her family.
Hindu students’ letter is an outright lie, says supporters of Audrey Truschke
The letter also stated that the claims in the complaint from the Hindu students were dubious or outright lies. Defending the lies peddled by Audrey Truschke, the letter written by Islamist organisation and far-left groups whitewashed the crimes of Mughal invader – Aurangzeb by asserting that he did not kill as many Hindus as suggested by Hindu groups.
Extending their solidarity, the Islamic organisations have claimed in the letter, “The real reason behind the campaign of intimidation against Dr Truschke is her courageous and unwavering opposition to Hindutva, the supremacist ideology espoused by the RSS and its affiliates. It is this hateful ideology that is the driving force behind the rapidly escalating bigotry and horrific violence in India. The campaign attacking her scholarly integrity is intended to silence her, curtail her academic freedom as well as her advocacy for peace and pluralism.”
Targeting Hindus for exposing the vile Hinduphobia of Audrey Truschke, the letter said that Hindutva’s propagandists hate Dr Truschke because she deployed her scholarship to debunk the supremacist myths Hindus are desperate to perpetuate.
Hindu students are linked to RSS and PM Modi, the letter claims
Unsurprisingly, the Islamic and far-left groups have also attempted to associate the Hindu students of Rutgers University with RSS and PM Modi, by claiming that the students are “intimately connected” with the RSS and PM Modi.
Amusingly, the letter also goes on to make false assertions by claiming that the students criticising Truschke are nothing but the admirers of Adolf Hitler as they share links with the RSS, which according to Islamists had embraced Adolf Hitler in 1939.
“In the end, we would like to share with you that the RSS has long been an admirer of Adolf Hitler…That, in essence, is the ideology of Hindu nationalism, adhered by the RSS and its followers, in India and in the U.S. They are the people who attack Dr Truschke for her erudition and courage. They are the people behind the petition against her,” the letter signed by CAIR, IMAC and other far-left organisations in support of Audrey Truschke read.
Radical Islamic organisation linked to terror groups, Kashmiri separatists groups are signatories of the letter
Interestingly, the signatories of the letter that extends support to alleged ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke also include radical Islamic organisation such as Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Kashmiri separatists groups such as ‘Stand with Kashmir’.
The death threats, some of which are laced with anti-Muslim sentiment, received by professor @AudreyTruschke are disturbing. We ask for @RutgersU to ensure the safety of all its staff and studentshttps://t.co/v7QbTblMw9
— CAIR New Jersey (@CAIRNJ) March 19, 2021
Far-left organisations such as the Indian Civil Watch, which have been whitewashing crimes of Urban Naxals and sympathisers of left-wing terror, who are accused of plotting to kill Prime Minister Modi, are also signatories of the so-called letter. Some other far-left organisations that have expressed solidarity with Audrey Truschke include – ICNA Council for Social Justice, India Civil Watch International, Coalition to Stop Genocide, Justice for All, Center for Pluralism, South Asian Left Activist Movement.
Interestingly, one of the members of freelance protestor Yogendra Yadav’s ‘Swaraj Abhiyan’ is also a signatory to the letter in support of Audrey Truschke.
Here are some details about some of the organisations that have signed in support of Audrey Truschke’s Hinduphobia:
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Council of American Islamic Relations is also known for having ties with Islamic terror organisations such as Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Jamaat-e-Islami. The terrorist-linked organisation has time-and-again spewed venom against India, especially Hindus, and has a history of propagating false anti-Hindu propaganda.
Council of American Islamic Relations has been one of the prominent organisations in the United States that sponsors anti-India propaganda. It has hosted Kashmiri separatists in several webinars to peddle lies about human rights violations in Kashmir. CAIR, along with the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), have been strong backers of Kashmiri separatism.
It is important to note that CAIR aims to attack the Indian government’s decision on the Abrogation of Article 370 and to peddle lies about the “atrocities to Muslims in Kashmir” allegedly carried out by the Indian government. It is worth mentioning that CAIR receives most of its funding from Qatar and Turkey. CAIR is included in the list of groups identified as the Palestine Committee, a group created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support terror outfits such as Hamas.
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC)
Similarly, IAMC – another radical Islamic organisation that has now descended to support Truschke, also has a history of spewing anti-Hindu lies and has alleged links to terror outfits such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
According to Hindu American Organisation, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) is well known for its anti-India and Hinduphobic views. IAMC, established by Shaik Ubaid, has hosted Mohammad Siddiqi, the founder of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned terrorist organization in India. The organisation has been extensively carrying out anti-India propaganda in the US and has reportedly hired a lobbying firm in the US to target Hindus.
The Islamist organisation often misrepresents publicly available facts and ignores ground realities, to undermines India’s secular judicial system by promoting the empowerment of separate minority courts.
In addition to these groups, several far-left groups claiming to be Dalit and Amberkarite organisations, along with Kashmiri separatists groups have also extended their support to the controversial writer Audrey Truschke. One such group is StandWithKashmir (SWK).
StandWithKashmir (SWK):
StandWithKashmir (SWK) describes itself as a “Kashmiri diaspora-driven independent global citizen grassroots group committed to standing in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in ending the occupation and supporting their right to self-determination.”
As per its website, it is a “Kashmiri diaspora-driven independent global citizen grassroots group committed to standing in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in ending the occupation and supporting their right to self-determination.” Calling India’s military presence in Kashmir an ‘occupation’ reveals amply the ideological orientation of the network. The organization further says, “We believe any proposed resolutions must foreground Kashmiri aspirations. We condemn the use of Islamophobia to undermine Kashmiri aspirations for freedom.”
In the past, StandWithKashmir has supported terrorists such as Yasin Malik who has ties with the LeT, Riyaz Naikoo, a senior commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen who was eliminated by security forces. SWK also calls Asiya Andrabi a ‘sociopolitical activist’ despite her known links to terrorists.
There are even more problematic aspects of SWK’s ideology. In the ‘Origins of Conflict‘ segment of its website, it traces the roots of the Jihad in Kashmir to 1931, a decade after the Khilafat Movement that led to the creation of Pakistan, but never calls it as such. Instead, SWK paints it as ‘secular’. Furthermore, not once does it mention the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits.
Intriguingly enough, a member of the SWK is a member of the Joe Biden administration. Sameera Fazili of Kashmiri origin has been appointed as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. She is a member of SWK and has made problematic comments in the past.
Faculty members of Rutgers university defend controversial ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke
Earlier this week, the faculty members of the university had come out to support the controversial professor after Hindu students had accused Audrey Truschke of whitewashing her anti-Hindu remarks and views as ‘academic freedom’.
The faculty members, which includes Gaiutra Bahadur, Manu Samriti Chander, Sadia Abbas, Akil Kumarasamy, Johan Mathey and Karishma Desai, refused to accept that Audrey Truschke is Hinduphobic, and defended her work which involves glorifying the Mughal regime in India and denying that Mughals destroyed Hindu temples to build mosques in their place. The letter signed by faculty also said that the agitating students should be intellectually challenged in the issue.
This letter of unreserved support is authored by faculty of South Asian origin at Rutgers and co-signed by colleagues at other universities.
— Dr. Audrey Truschke (@AudreyTruschke) March 18, 2021
The letter is addressed to the Rutgers community. I encourage all to read it.https://t.co/REns9hvgGX pic.twitter.com/C6liIBeNRQ
“We insist that a critical examination of Hindutva, a political ideology, is not the same thing as Hinduphobia,” the statement issued by the Rutgers faculty members said. It then goes on to familiar Hinduphobic narrative, accusing Hindus of atrocities against Muslims and other minorities.
The faculty members had claimed that they have every confidence in “Truschke’s respect for Hindus and Hinduism and its compatibility with a critique of Hindu nationalism as a social and political enterprise”.
The letter by the faculty members had come as a response after Rutgers University had issued an apology to the Hindu community for failing to communicate properly causing misunderstanding during the Audrey Truschke controversy. Though the university had issued an apology to the Hindu students, they have remained silent in their latest statement about the conduct of Audrey Truschke.
Hindu students expose Audrey Truschke’s Hinduphobia , Rutgers hails it as ‘academic freedom’
The controversy broke out after several Hindu students of Rutgers University had written a letter to the university in reaction to ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke’s attempts to sell Hinduphobic fiction in the name of ‘history.
In its petition, the group of Hindu students studying at Rutgers-Newark pointed out that Audrey Truschke tired to trivialise and downplay the Hindu genocide committed by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb. The students who initiated the petition were miffed with Truschke’s continuous vile and bigoted opinions against Hindus.
In an open letter written to the university authorities, the students said that they are “aghast at the bigotry being peddled against Hindus via continued derision of our religion, our deities, and our sacred texts” in the university, which may be a potential threat to their security, as it may lead to “potential attacks, bullying, and backlash, either on campus or via social media, due to our faith”.
The petition specified how the atmosphere in the university is at odds with the Hindu student due to the hateful and vile anti-Hindu remarks made by professor Audrey Truschke on various occasions.
However, Rutgers University, instead of addressing the concerns of Hindu students, had backed Audrey Truschke and whitewashed her vile and bigoted anti-Hindu remarks as ‘academic freedom’.
