In a counter to a virtual conference titled “Dismantling Global Hindutva”, scheduled to be held from September 10–12, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has written to all 41 universities listed as event co-sponsors urging them to distance themselves from the politically motivated Hinduphobic event.
Launching a grassroots campaign, the HAF has called for students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university sponsoring the aforementioned event.
Today, @HinduAmerican announced that it will launch a grassroots campaign to enable students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university ostensibly co-sponsoring the DGH event. Details released shortly. Please join @HinduAmerican & take action! pic.twitter.com/b783DgbRGi
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
The Foundation has also expressed concerns over potential attacks on Hindu students for opposing Hinduphobic content and has demanded security.
We demand that the safety of Hindu students be ensured leading up to the DGH event. @SuhagAShukla:
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
“Hindu students are targeted and report feeling under attack for opposing Hinduphobic depictions of their religion in the classroom and for opposing anti-Hindu hate on campus.” 7/ pic.twitter.com/OEEy2KACUK
The HAF in its letter to the universities also highlighted the potential threat to the reputation of the institution for hosting a highly partisan event. “The DGH organizers trade on the prestige of your institution’s name to host, not an academic conference, but a partisan event related to politics in India. The event platforms activists with extensive histories of amplifying Hinduphobic discourse even while denying the existence of Hinduphobia.” reads the letter.
“Many of these activists equate the whole of Hinduism with caste bigotry and other social ills; deny the subcontinental indigeneity of Hindus and Hinduism; and support or minimize violent extremist and separatists movements and deny the resulting genocides and ethnic cleansings of Hindus,” the letter states further.
In a series of Tweets, the HAF also brought out the problematic content of the Hinduphobic event. “-Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation” “contradictory.” -conflate Hinduism with caste. -erase Hinduism’s inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!” it said in a Tweet highlighting the objective of the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” event.
DGH #Hinduphobia:
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
-Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation” “contradictory.”
-conflate Hinduism with caste.
-erase Hinduism’s inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!
The HAF further elaborated on the ‘esteemed speakers’ and their background of Hindu hate. Attaching screenshots of ‘speakers’ known to peddle misinformation and Hinduphobia, the HAF Tweeted, “Speaker list includes activists who: -equate Hinduism with caste bigotry -deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia -support the violent Kashmir militancy -deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir).”
Speaker list includes activists who:
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
-equate Hinduism with caste bigotry
-deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia
-support the violent Kashmir militancy
-deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir)
6/ pic.twitter.com/Rh5h9bGGvc
Concluding the letter the organization said that it promotes free speech and ‘while academics at institutions may choose to engage in political partisan activism concerning India, we hope you would agree that your institution should not.’
The Foundation has also asked for the removal of the university’s branding saying, “The use of your university’s name and logo, in this regard, implies overt institutional partisanship and endorsement of the event’s political and discriminatory motive.”
