A conference set to take place with sponsorship from Universities in the United States of America has attracted a lot of attention in India. The theme of the conference is ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ and is set to be attended by ’eminent intellectuals’ of the Indian liberal camp.
Nandini Sunder, Naxal sympathizer Kavita Krishnan, ostensible propagandist Anand Patwardhan and insufferable troll Meena Kandasamy are some of the speakers at the event. Discussions on the matter will revolve around caste, gender politics and related matters.
One segment will also devote itself to describing what precisely is ‘Global Hindutva’. But the most intriguing aspect of the event is the segment titled ‘Hindutva and White Supremacy’. It isn’t clear what the link between the two is precisely.
But the objective appears to be clear. The event is geared towards appealing to western audiences and ensuring that people in the West do not have a favourable opinion of Hindutva as an ideology.
As to how they intend to do that is something we will discover during the conference. But we can speculate the manner in which the organisers, and the speakers, seek to go about their business. Audrey Truschke, who has been heavily publicizing the event, has provided some insight in the past regarding the manner in which they seek to associate Hindutva with White Supremacy.
Audrey Truschke vs Mike Cernovic
Back in March, Mike Cernovich, an American media personality with a populist Republican political orientation, commented on Audrey Truschke. He only said what most Hindus feel about the ‘historian’. The comments were made during the Rutgers University controversy when the institution attempted to defend Truschke over allegations of ‘Hinduphobia’ from students.
Cernovich said that in any other content, her conduct would be considered “genocide denial” and “holocaust revisionism” but since her agenda is against Hindus, the University does not care.
Following his comment, Truschke responded by calling an ‘alt-right male supremacist’. And said that it was evidence of the ‘nexus’ ‘Hindu nationalist’ groups in the US were ‘enmeshed’ in.
She also claimed that Cernovich was Suhag Shukla’s ‘most prominent backer’. Shukla heads the Hindu American Foundation.
Thus, we can make a safe guess with regards to the narrative that will be peddled in the ‘Hindutva and White Supremacy’ segment. The speakers will make an attempt to claim there is a nexus between Hindu organisations in the USA and White Supremacist groups.
Of course, this does not make any sense but that is the claim that will be made, regardless of the fact that Hindus are a micro-minority in the United States and hold no discernible political power. The ramifications of such allegations are not hard to guess.
It will paint a target on the back of Hindu Americans, serving as a justification for left-leaning extremist associations to target Hindus in the country. This is the obvious next step in the long-drawn attempt by the liberal ‘intellectual’ establishment to draw an equivalence between Hindutva and White Supremacy.
Attempts by media to equate Hindutva to White Supremacy
For quite some time now, there have been attempts by those in the media to equate Hindutva to White Supremacy. Numerous articles have been penned to invent a narrative to that effect.
Al Jazeera published an article drawing equivalence between the two.
BBC claimed that the alt-right in the West was resurrecting the legacy of one ‘Savitri Devi’.
Bu 2021, perhaps hit with the realisation that no one is buying their claims, efforts are being made to not only claim that the two ideologies are alike but also that there is a nexus between Hindutva and White Supremacy. Instead of rectifying their folly, they are doubling-down on their agenda.
How ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ works out in the real world
To combat allegations of Hinduphobia, such ‘intellectuals’ fall back to their claim that they are only against Hindutva, not Hinduism. They say that they are against a political ideology, not a religion or its adherents.
But unfortunately, that is not what transpires in reality. In reality, ordinary Hindus are attacked for their faith and efforts are made to ruin their careers. Take Tulsi Gabbard for example.
There’s no point denying that Tulsi Gabbard is greatly liked by people of India. Part of the reason is that she is Hindu, the first Hindu Congresswoman in the United States. But that is not the only reason.
Gabbard has said that she shares a warm relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she has time and again raised her voice for closer ties between the USA and India. At the same time, she has been vocal against Pakistani atrocities and remains one of the few politicians in the United States to have condemned the genocide of Bengali Hindus by the Pakistani Army.
All of this makes her much more popular among Indians on the internet than even Kamala Harris. But throughout her presidential campaign, she had to contend allegations of being a closet ‘Hindu fascist’ and people demanded that she answer for Prime Minister Modi’s transgressions, whether real or imagined.
Claims were made that she has ties to ‘Hindu nationalist’ groups, without any evidence merely because she was Hindu and had a warm relationship with Prime Minister Modi. Even Barack Obama and Donald Trump have claimed that they shared a good relationship with Narendra Modi but they did not have to deal with such allegations.
But since Gabbard is a Hindu, she became a target for such allegations. In the end, this is what ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ boils down to: Targeting Hindus living elsewhere solely due to their faith. Tulsi Gabbard herself called out the campaign against her and there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the campaign against her was orchestrated by elements with links to Pakistan’s ISI.
But Gabbard is not the only one to have suffered because of such allegations. Amit Jani, a staffer in Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, became the target of left-oriented groups that claimed he has links to ‘Hindu Nationalism’. Sonal Shah, another Biden campaign staffer, faced similar allegations.
The most unfortunate victim, however, was a Christian man of Indian origin from Kerala. During the Capitol Hill riots, he was spotted with an Indian flag during the protests that ensued following Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential elections of 2020.
Vincent Xavier insisted that he was part of a peaceful protest in support of Donald Trump and there is no evidence to suggest that he was involved in any form of violence. Before his identity became known, he was branded a ‘Hindu Supremacist’ by left-oriented individuals on social media.
Unfortunately for them, their ‘Hindu Supremacist’ was not even a Hindu, he was Christian. And even more so, he was an ordinary supporter of Donald Trump who was only exercising his democratic right. Nonetheless, due to the morbid hatred festers in their heart, they wanted to force him into the gallows.
Thus, we have four such targets of the campaign against Hindutva. Three of them are Democrats and one of them is not even Hindu. And yet, all of them were made to suffer based on fictitious allegations that they were somehow furthering the interests of Hindutva in the United States of America.
The End-Goal of ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’
Powerful elements in the United States have declared war on all Trump supporters. There is grave fear that the national security establishment in the US will begin a new ‘domestic war on terrorism’. Such fears have not been expressed by only fringe elements but prominent journalists such as Glenn Greenwald and Tucker Carlson.
Under such circumstances, the objective of the conference appears quite obvious. The organisers of the event want to create an atmosphere where every Hindu in influential circles is viewed through a lens of suspicion.
Their attempt is to brand Hindus, remotely sympathetic to Indian interests or with a favourable opinion of Narendra Modi, an ally of White Supremacists. Eventually, they hope that the entire might of the American national security establishment will be unleashed against them.
They want Hindu groups surveilled and censored, and eventually raise the costs of associating themselves with such groups so high that Hindu refrain from doing so entirely. Also, they want to brand every Hindu who does not hate Narendra Modi as a potential domestic terrorist.
All of this is only domestic politics being played out on the global stage. There is every reason to suspect that the agenda is being orchestrated and fueled by associations inimical to Indian national interests, given that we know for a fact that ISI linked groups are very active in the US.
The victim of this witch-hunt, that the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference seeks to incite, will inevitably end up being ordinary Hindu Americans, who care about their faith and its interests, for absolutely no fault of their own.
We have seen this play out with respect to Hindus living in the Middle East for professional reasons. Islamists targeted them based on their posts on social media, accusing the individuals of endorsing ‘Hindutva’. Many lost their jobs, some were even arrested.
Only recently, Harish Bangera returned to India after spending 20 months in prison in Saudi Arabia on charges of blasphemy. He was eventually released after it was discovered that he was framed by individuals who wanted him to suffer due to personal enmity.
So they made a fake profile of him and made posts they knew would attract blasphemy charges. He was fired from his job and arrested and thus an innocent man was made to suffer. It seems a similar fate is being planned for Hindus living in the United States. It might not lead to arrest since the US has free speech rights but they are likely to suffer persecution with regards to their professional and personal life.
