Two days after the Labour Party swept the general election in the United Kingdom, ‘journalist’ Shoaib Daniyal on Saturday (6th July) left no stone unturned to fearmonger about the Hindu community in the country.
Daniyal, who works as the political Editor of the leftist propaganda site Scroll, wrote a vicious piece (archive) titled ‘How Hindutva is playing a silent role in British politics.’
The propaganda artist not only downplayed Hinduphobia in the UK as a ‘political construct’ but suggested that organisations with supposed ties to the BJP and RSS were influencing politics in the country through ‘Hindutva.’
At the very onset, Daniyal whitewashed the role of Islamists in the 2022 Leicester violence by shrewdly labelling it as a ‘communal disturbance’ between Hindus and Muslims over an India Vs Pakistan cricket match.
OpIndia had reported in detail how Muslim mobs ran a rampage in Leicester, targeted Hindu temples, and peddled disinformation to justify their onslaught against Hindus as ‘reaction to sustained provocation.’
The Scroll propagandist claimed, “In Leicester, for example, it (INSIGHT UK) had played a key role presenting a Hindutva view on the violence, with its narratives being amplified by the controversial Indian Hindutva website, OpIndia.“
Hindu manifesto rattles Shoaib Daniyal
He lamented that Hindus were becoming a formidable political force in the United Kingdom despite constituting only 1.6% of the population.
The fact that the Hindu community has decided to stand up for itself and not let its vote go to waste has rattled the likes of Shoaib Daniyal.
“The influence of these Hindutva organisations has allowed them to lobby politicians for policies that fit their ideology…” he whined.
As proof of growing ‘Hindutva politics’ in the UK, the Scroll propagandist highlighted how a Hindu manifesto [pdf] released ahead of the general elections in the country sought protective security funding for the community in light of the 2022 anti-Hindu Leicester violence.
Daniyal also seemed surprised that Hindus were demanding recognition of hate directed towards the community as a ‘religious hate crime,’ the absence of which helped Islamists like Mohammed Hijab to threaten Hindus in Leicester.
“Most contentiously, the manifesto calls for recognising “anti-Hindu hate as a religious hate crime”. For British Hindus who do not see eye to eye with Hindutva, this manifesto is controversial,” he wrote.
Reliance on anti-Hindu and anti-India propagandists
Shoaib Daniyal roped in the Director of Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) UK, Rahiv Pandit, to suggest that a law against anti-Hindu hate or Hinduphobia in the UK is an agenda of the BJP and the RSS.
For the unversed, the organisation was formed in 2019 by Islamist outfits ‘Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC)’ and the Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI). Sunita Vishwanath is the co-founder of HfHR.
The organisation endorsed the anti-Hindu event ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference’ in 2021. It also came up with a “special toolkit” to propagate against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his State visit to the US in June 2023.
Sunita Vishwanath, co-founder of Hindus for Human Rights (#HfHR) is co-host of multiple events with IAMC – all ‘concerned’ about India.
— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) April 28, 2022
Her other organization Women for Afghan Women is funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
(5/11) pic.twitter.com/nyBOR1RjUL
In October last year, the X (formerly Twitter) account of HfHR was withheld in India in response to a legal demand.
In February this year, OpIndia reported that the organisation hosted an anti-Hindu event with Dana Bergen as the speaker. Bergen is a member of the ‘Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which received $6,50,000 from far-left billionaire George Soros.
Rajiv Pandit of HfHR (UK) downplayed Hinduphobia in the UK and claimed that a law to punish anti-Hindu crime would be akin to stifling dissent and criticism of PM Modi.
“Hinduphobia is a propaganda project,” he set the perfect stage for extremists to continue targeting the Hindu community in the near future.
Mukulika Banerjee, who has been a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, could have been powering this hate campaign against Karan Kataria at LSE ostensibly for having links with the Hindu right, the RSS in particular. https://t.co/7u6KXoV8HR pic.twitter.com/ZqZEo8Bwbo
— Rashmi Samant (@RashmiDVS) April 4, 2023
In his article, Shoaib Daniyal cited an ‘academic’ by the name of Mukulika Banerjee to allege that discrimination against Hindus was not systematic. “Hinduphobia is a recent, made-up term,” she was quoted as saying.
In April 2023, news outlet FirstPost reported that Mukulika Banerjee was behind a nefarious Hinduphobic campaign that led to the disqualification of an Indian-origin student Karan Kataria from Student Union elections at London of School of Economics (LSE) over alleged ties to RSS and ‘Hindu nationalism’.
She is a close associate of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well. As such, it is no coincidence that Mukulika Banerjee believes that Hinduphobia is a ‘made-up term’.
3. Subir Sinha, Reader in Development Studies, SOAS. Sinha has many times equated Hinduism with Nazis. 4/7 pic.twitter.com/aJ82G3VUxj
— Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) (@HinduHate) June 9, 2023
The Scroll propagandist had also sought the opinion of one ‘academic’ named Subir Sinha from the SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in his article. Sinha went on to claim that ‘Hinduphobia’ was coined to deviate discussion on alleged ‘caste discrimination.’
In the past, Sinha had disseminated lies about the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A by the Modi government.
He had also cast aspersions on the Indian democracy, made vitriolic remarks against Hindus and tried to falsely implicate Hindus in the 2022 Leicester violence. Sinha had also co-authored a dubious report titled ‘Modi Mirage’ in May this year.
#Leicester "Coach Loads of RSS supporters went to Leicester to provoke conflict which can then be used in India to further Islamophobia & strengthening the narrative of Hindu victimisation."UK based author & journo @AmritWilson speaks to @thewire_in
— Sumedhapal (@Sumedhapal4) September 21, 2022
Vid-https://t.co/BiZMNxf03j pic.twitter.com/D0F3S3MmxU
Shoaib Daniyal also roped in UK-based ‘author’ named Amrit Wilson, who suggested that Hinduphobia is being ‘re-defined’ along the lines of anti-semitism to silence criticism.
“In 2018, Bob Blackman said at a meeting organised by the Hindu Forum of Britain that there was a need to learn how a new definition of antisemitism, regarded as controversial since it is seen as a means of silencing criticism of Israel, was adopted by institutions in Britain in order to do something similar for Hinduphobia,” she was quoted as saying.
For the unversed, Wilson made baseless claims about RSS provoking violence in Leicester in 2022 to deviate public discourse from the mayhem unleashed by the Islamists. She had amplified the conspiracy theory, originally peddled by Muslims, that a bus ferried RSS supporters to Leicester to stir violence on the behest of a Hindu temple.
The Scroll Editor whines about Hindus being vocal about their rights in UK
In its article, Shoaib Daniyal lamented how Hindus in the United Kingdom were being vocal about their rights and the atrocities committed against them to the policymakers.
“The sharpest example of Hindutva’s success can be seen on the ground in Leicester, in the charged post-riot environment. When Scroll visited Leicester it found that Insight was working on the ground, with some success, to persuade Hindus to boycott the (SOAS) inquiry,” he added.
The propaganda artist noted that Labour Party MP and UK’s new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, had made it clear that Hinduphobia (a term that he and his coterie has been trying to negate) has no place in the country.
“In spite of the ideological diversity within British Hindus, it is clear that Hindutva organisations have largely been able to successfully represent themselves as the sole spokespersons of the community to policy makers,” he further whined.
While the Scroll Editor was busy fearmongering about Hindus, he forgot to mention how 4 Muslims were elected in the UK general election solely based on their pro-Gaza and anti-Israeli stance. OpIndia had reported about one such controversial MP Shockat Adam.
Shoaib Daniyal and his past controversies
The innate ability of Shoaib Daniyal to peddle the dubious narrative of ‘Muslim victimhood’ and paint a doomsday image of religious minorities in India under the Narendra Modi government has drawn attention from across the border.
Several of his vicious pieces have been ‘reproduced with permission’ in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn between 2015 and 2020.
As early as 2016, OpIndia reported how Daniyal whined about naming a blood bank after late politician Balasaheb Thackeray but rationalised the naming of an actor’s son after tyrant and invader, Taimur.
When women’s rights activist Trupti Desai announced that she would enter the inner section of Haji Ali in 2016, Shoaib Daniyal (who otherwise masquerades as liberal) defended the prohibition of women in Dargah.
The Scroll propagandist was also seen resorting to mental gymnastics and glaring hypocrisy in a 2018 article, titled ‘Celebrating Bhima Koregaon is unpatriotic? So why not other British victories in India too?’
Celebrating Bhima Koregaon is unpatriotic? So why not other British victories in India too? https://t.co/PKe60erFJu | @shoaibdaniyal
— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) January 11, 2018
How Hindutva nationalism is trying to erase the multiple narratives of India's past.
He had argued, “Holding multiple perspectives of the past is quite normal. The Indian peoples are a variegated lot and so are their histories. It is, therefore, possible to both mourn Bhima Koregaon as a victory for British colonialism and celebrate it for helping destroy a terrible system of caste apartheid.“
OpIndia had exposed how Shoaib Daniyal suggested the almost opposite thing in a 2017 piece titled ‘From Haifa to Jallianwallah Bagh: Celebrating the Raj’s military history will open a can of worms.’
At that time, he had claimed that celebrating memories of colonial wars and pride over the exploits of the British Indian Army was a case of ‘Commemorating Colonialism’. “It is then a curious act of historical masochism that Indians, as the victims of this very army of colonial occupation, now want to celebrate its exploits in service of the British Empire,” Daniyal selectively claimed in the case of Haifa but not Bhima Koregaon.
Terrifying story of how the Hindutva website, OpIndia attacked the Muslim principal of one of Mumbai's most prestigious schools — leading to her being fired.
— shoaib daniyal (@ShoaibDaniyal) May 1, 2024
https://t.co/StI3QKd0Oo
In June 2019, he courted controversy for suggesting that people were ‘not unhappy’ during the draconian Emergency period (1975-1977) imposed by the Indira Gandhi government. The Scroll propagandist left no stone unturned to justify the darkest chapter of Indian democracy.
“Voters don’t always punish authoritarianism. A lesson from the 1977 general election that is doubly relevant today.#replug,” he claimed in a now-deleted tweet.
True to his religious ideology, Shoaib Daniyal has recently extended his support to Parveen Shaikh, the pro-Hamas, ex-principal of The Somaiya School.
Shaikh was ousted from the educational institute after OpIndia exposed her divisive, intolerant and dangerous views. Daniyal was seen peddling his usual ‘Muslim victimhood’ trump card.
