Online Responses to Hinduphobia Legislation and the Challenges of Community Advocacy
Hold the Applause…
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) are stirring up more anti-Indian hate on line by pushing their “Anti-Hinduphobia” legislations.
At a time when on-line hate against everything Indian is surging, pursual by HAF and CoHNA of legislations againt “Hinduphobia” in Georgia and in the US congress represent a serious lapse of judgement, which are eliciting visceral reactions from our fellow Americans. It would be unwise to dismiss them all as just racist trolls, as they are sending some important messages to the Indian American community, which we ignore only to our peril.
Broadly speaking, objections to Hinduphobia legislations come from several perspectives: singling out a particular faith for special protections by the state; potential chilling effect on freedom of speech; hypocrisy of the Hindu community seeking special protections in the US, while it widely supports severe abridgement of religious rights of minorities in India; anger against Republican sponsorship of the legislations; accusation that Hindus have been spreading a false, benign image of Hinduism, e.g. regarding the caste system; current laws already protect all religions (this is the exact mirror image of the argument used by HAF to scuttle the CA caste discrimination bill SB 403); and finally, there is no evidence of violence against Hindus in GA (FBI’s Hate Crimes data in GA for the last 12 months show only one anti-Hindu incident (vandalism) vs. 9 anti-Sikh, 13 anti-White, 32 anti-Black hate crimes.)
HAF and CoHNA need to understand that unlike in the past, when they thought they could curate/filter narratives on Hinduism, they now have no control over the information that Americans are seeing on their devices. Many of the strange images from India that they are seeing, especially Hindu rituals practiced in rural India, are drawing disgust and visceral reactions on line, which Hindutva groups are likely to label as evidence of Hinduphobia!
Here's a sampling of over 700 reactions to the GA Hinduphobia resolution passed three years back (HR701) and GA’s consideration of a legislation to criminalize Hinduphobia (SR375). Sources: NDTV; MarioNawfal; MyUnveiledTruth
[Disclaimer: I do not endorse the contents of the links above or the selected comments below. I present them only in the interest of understanding the primary causes of on-line hate against the Indian American community.]
Selected comments from the links above:
Nah man, I have freedom of speech in this country, and I can do what I want.
HR 701 was all Republican sponsorship. Mostly symbolic.
Shame on you. Hinduphobia? Senate 375 looks like fake news but the bill is real. GOP Shawn Still and Clint Dixon disgraced themselves on this one.
Phobia means an irrational fear. We don't fear Indians,
How about protecting Whites from hate speech ? This is some real unconstitutional nonsense lol
I’m totally confused. Are all Indians HINDUS?? Why would it be “Hinduphobia”? Is it an anti-religion issue or is it an anti-ethnicity issue they want to control here?
So when an upper caste Hindu discriminates a lower caste Hindu, does that law still apply?
Wonder how this got passed ??? No law for black Americans who experience the most racism . Crazy.
So Hindu Nationalism is the norm in India, but Christian Nationalism in the U.S. is illegal?
Wait a minute... I ain't never heard of Hindo Indians hanging from Georgia Pines... So where DAFUK !! is the Anti-Black Hate Crime Bill for us ???
They’ve been able to spread a false picture of what Hinduism is to the west, and they’re terrified that westerners and New Agers will figure out the truth.
Existing laws already prohibit religious discrimination. The real question is why the state is choosing to codify protections around a specific faith rather than applying a neutral standard equally to all.
Before internet we were told Hinduism was such a divine mystic mythology based on myths. Internet exposed everything https://x.com/MyUnveiledTruth/status/2071049658013565339?s=20
I don’t see the need for this. There hasn’t been any incidents of violence towards them. [I agree – see latest FBI hate crime stats for Georgia]
I’m so confused by the specific religious laws. I was told freedom of religion was already protected, how come we have sub laws?
This is some real unconstitutional nonsense lol.
It's only going to bring more focus on to the Hindus and the blatant frauds in the H1B visa.
GA just made it a CRIME to criticize Indians.
The rapid demographic shifts we’re witnessing in our communities are the visible evidence that America’s future is being stolen.
A sign of total defeat. America is being conquered bit by bit.
Harsh truth: Americans who fought, died, and paid taxes for 250 years have become second-class citizens in their own country in some states. Wake up.
I didn't realize Georgia was turning into the UK and EU making it illegal to criticize third world countries and religions.
Any law that provides special protection to a specific class or religion is inherently prejudiced.
What about minorities in India facing daily harassment by the bjp?
Bjp is literally the dehumanising every minority community in India
People keep telling Black Americans that the Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill covered us, and, since Indians are Asian, wouldn't it cover them too?
Congratulations to Americans for adding another "sacred cow" class to their list, in addition to the untouchable "anti-Semitism".
The 2nd reason of hate toward Indians are the scam culture .. All the Indians are not scammers but all scammers been caught are Indians
The same Indians fund attacks against Christians in India while claiming victimhood in America
Total BS. India has enforced a rigid caste system for centuries, a deeply entrenched form of discrimination that still affects millions today. America is foolish to import large numbers from such backward, hierarchical cultures and then let them lecture us on what constitutes “hate speech.” Speaking out against the H-1B program isn’t hatred, it’s facts.
by Raju Rajagopal
The views expressed in this essay are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or endorsements of Hindus for Human Rights. Some quoted material includes offensive, prejudiced, or inflammatory public comments. These comments are included only for purposes of analysis and documentation of online reactions; their inclusion does not constitute endorsement by the author or by Hindus for Human Rights.