Hinduphobia in North American Contexts

“Hinduphobia” is a recently coined term that has been popularized by the Hindu right, particularly within diaspora spaces in North America. We also see the term "Hindumisia" within India which is a term that draws on the Greek term "misia" which means "hatred". Such accusations appropriate the language of antiracism and seek to model anti-Hindu hate as a systemic issue both within and outside of India. The Hindu right has been effective in promoting concepts such as “Hinduphobia” which asks the public to view the radicalization and racial discrimination that Hindus and South Asians often face, particularly within the west as a broad-based structural discriminatory framework such as Islamophobia, ignoring the fact that Hindus rarely face discrimination based on their religious affiliation or practice. The promotion of Hinduphobia as a decolonial or anti-racist framework obscures the ways in which anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, caste oppression, and other forms of bias continue to proliferate in Hindu communities as they seek a position of vulnerability. In particular, as we see in India where colonial-era laws against communalism have been increasingly weaponized against marginalized communities such as caste-oppressed groups, Muslims, and other critics of Indian government policy, diasporic Hindu communities see such interventions by the current government of India as necessary while decrying their minoritization abroad. This tension-diaspora Hindus who often experience racism as well as instances of anti-Hindu hate vs. how Hindus in these communities traffic in anti-Black and anti-Muslim tropes and discoures-offers the foundation for the how the term Hinduphobia has gained purchase. Moreover, Hindu majoritarian groups in North America see value in couching Hinduphobia in the language of anti-racism and decoloniality; these terms are touchstones in US politics and can be useful to the Hindu right in promoting the idea that Hindutva is necessary to defend Hinduism. Such framing also promotes a vision of Hindu fragility, placing Hindus as perennial victims. While it is certainly true that Hindus are a minority in the US (both racial and religious), such a disingenuous use of these terms allows the Hindu right to characterize an authoritarian ideology such as Hindutva as a social justice movement. It also shields Hindus from interrogating internal positionalities and biases. However, individual cases of discrimination, no matter how painful, do not amount to “Hinduphobia.” Scholars of South Asia overall consider the term “Hinduphobia” problematic for several reasons. It is deployed to stifle academic inquiry into Hinduism as well as criticism of Hindutva. As a recent report on disinformation among Asian American communities points out, “Hinduphobia” is frequently weaponized by far-right groups to “silence and gaslight Dalit organizers and caste-oppressed communities.” “Hinduphobia” rests on the false notion that Hindus have faced systematic oppression throughout history and in present times. “Hinduphobia” relies on flawed analogies with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, though these are very different. The anti-Semitic ideology of Nazism led to the Holocaust. Islamophobic foreign policies over time resulted in the killing of Muslims across the world, including in South Asia, as well as the recent anti-Muslim ban of the Trump administration. Anti-Hindu bias, on the other hand, cannot be easily linked to casualties on such horrific scales. We see this roundtable as a platform for a conversation that has implications for scholars, activists, students, and stakeholders within South Asian communities in North America. To that end: the panelists will offer brief 7-10 minute reflections that explore North American-specific case studies, Hindu(tva) organizations and influencers and how they leverage this term when promoting policies related to Hindu communities, how Hinduphobia has become a clarion call for Hindutva futurism, and how Hinduphobia discourses seek to silence criticism of India, and stymie academic freedom, particularly the freedom to critically by marginalized and caste-oppressed scholars of South Asia.