The United States of America, since 9/11 at the very least, has transformed into the most terrible violator of ‘human rights’. Despite the flagrant abuses, somehow, the USA has managed to avoid culpability for the abuses while lecturing others on alleged human rights violations.
There are good reasons for this, the primary being that they have a set of pliant media which is heavily influenced by the American national security establishment and defense contractors among other things. The other is that western academics appear far too much in love with American imperialism to consider the devastating impact it has had on multiple countries across the world.
Whenever circumstances are opportune for a discussion over the matter, their media and a cultivated set of western academics immediately rush to their defense and start pointing fingers elsewhere. It is in this light that we ought to view the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference.
The claims of ‘Global Hindutva’ itself are ridiculous. There is nothing such as ‘Global Hindutva’. The only truly global political phenomenon in this day and age, apart from Islamic terrorism, is American imperialism. There is no other political ideology that is global.
Even China, for all its totalitarian tendencies, is not exporting its political philosophy abroad. Russia is not exporting its ideology abroad either. But in Kabul, we saw that the Taliban was painting over a mural of George Floyd. Pray tell us, what does George Floyd have anything to do with Afghans? Why should there be a mural of Floyd at Kabul of all places? These are events that western academics do not wish to talk about.
Nonetheless, they are very quick to point fingers at others and claim that there is a global conspiracy afoot. As Tucker Carlson is fond of saying, and I am paraphrasing him here, ‘Whatever they accuse you of, they are guilty of it themselves’.
A certain set of western academics have discovered a new stick to beat India with. While Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, with the USA keen on a partnership with the Jihadist outfit, these academics have decided that now is a good time to target Hindutva. But we are forced to ask at this point, if these people are indeed so concerned about human rights, why don’t they demand accountability from the US national security establishment first? After all, charity begins at home.
US atrocities in Afghanistan
It is a good time to remind ourselves of the atrocities that the USA and US-backed militias committed in Afghanistan. Four successive presidents of the United States of America are guilty of murdering women and children. And yet, somehow western academics are giving Joe Biden a complete free pass.
Anand Gopal wrote in the New Yorker recently, “During one battle, Abdul Salam, an uncle of Shakira’s husband, took refuge in a friend’s home. After the fighting ended, he visited a mosque to offer prayers. A few Taliban were there, too. A coalition air strike killed almost everyone inside. The next day, mourners gathered for funerals; a second strike killed a dozen more people. Among the bodies returned to Pan Killay were those of Abdul Salam, his cousin, and his three nephews, aged six to fifteen.”
At another point, he wrote, “Abdul Rahman, a farmer, was rooting through the refuse with his young son when an Afghan Army gunship appeared on the horizon. It was flying so low, he recalled, that “even Kalashnikovs could fire on it.” But there were no Taliban around, only civilians. The gunship fired, and villagers began falling right and left. It then looped back, continuing to attack. “There were many bodies on the ground, bleeding and moaning,” another witness said. “Many small children.” According to villagers, at least fifty civilians were killed.”
These are not isolated events but the general trend of the American occupation in Afghanistan. US Forces allied with militias which are accused of raping and murdering women and boys. For all their talk of presenting themselves as the ‘saviours’ of Afghan women, US forces and militias they backed killed an unfortunate number of women and children. But somehow, instead of demanding accountability from American leaders for the same, western academics are busy pointing fingers at others.
USA is one of the biggest supporters of Islamic Terrorism
The USA, following the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, has demonstrated enough inclinations to indicate that they are looking to establish a working partnership with the Taliban. While some may be genuinely shocked by the development, there are enough instances where the USA has armed and allied with Jihadist groups to achieve their foreign policy objectives.
It is widely known that the USA supplied Jihadist outfits with weapons to remove Basshar al-Assad from power in Syria. While they claimed in public that they were arming ‘moderate rebel groups’ in the region, they were fully aware that the weapons were falling into the hands of groups affiliated to the Al Qaeda. A lot of these weapons fell into the hands of ISIS as well, enabling them to capture large areas of land.
Despite such gross violations of international norms, American imperialism hardly attracts any criticism from such western academics and their media. In fact, they call for more imperialism and interference in the internal matters of other countries. For instance, they have been begging the Joe Biden administration to take a hardline stance against India for alleged human rights abuses by the Narendra Modi Government.
The current ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference is consistent with the imperial fantasies of such individuals, endorsed by the departments of various western universities. But by what right does the USA lecture India and Hindutvavadis, or anyone else for that matter, on matters of human rights?
Hindutva has not committed a genocide of Muslims, American imperialism has. Hindutva has not murdered Muslim women and children, American imperialism has. Hindutva has not armed and backed Jihadist groups around the world, the United States has. But even so, the organisers of the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference want the world to believe that it is Hindutva the world ought to worry about.
Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference organisers should look to fix things at home first
The Hinduphobia of the organisers of the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference is quite palpable. While they claim that they are against a ‘political ideology’ and not a religion, it has been seen quite often that Hindus in USA are targeted solely because of their faith.
They also claimed that ‘Hinduphobia’ is a “distraction” despite the genocides that Hindus have suffered in the 20th century and the persecution that continues even at this day and age. Thus, they may claim that they are against Hindutva but with every action of theirs, they prove that Hindutva and Hinduism are one and the same.
Before pointing fingers at others, such academics ought to reflect upon the devastating consequences of American imperialism and the havoc it has wreaked across the world. Until they have brought to justice the American perpetrators of war crimes, they ought to shut up about everyone else.
