Thank you for taking action!

Please consider sharing this page with your networks and donating to CoHNA at https://cohna.org/donate!


  • Action icon email
  • email advocacy

Your University Must Condemn Sponsorship of Bigotry Against Hindus

Dear University Administrators,

I had recently written to you on behalf of the Coalition of Hindus of North America (COHNA) expressing serious concerns around your university’s sponsorship/support of the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” Conference, which was held over the weekend of September 11th. In my earlier letter, I had clearly laid out our concerns and accompanying rationale that the conference is a thinly veiled attack on Hinduism in the name of “academic freedom” and can endanger Hindus on your campus while falsely portraying them as purveyors of violence and bigotry. A letter signed by over 150 Hindu and non-Hindu organizations was also sent to your university emphasizing the gravity of the impact on Hindus. Unfortunately, our fears and concerns have come true-- the conference organizers, along with their chosen speakers, openly attacked Hinduism and Hindus using blatantly false information and exaggerated statements-- going as far as saying that Hinduism inspired Nazism and is a danger to democracy, equality and brotherhood, as well as singling out Hindu last names and labeling them as advocates of violence.

Below is a sample of hate speech and calls for violence against Hinduism and Hindus as espoused by the conference and the speakers. There are many more such speeches and tweets, calling out Hindu women, and groups that ally with Hindus, including the Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities.

Deplorably, your university did not take these concerns seriously, choosing to treat such speech as falling under the umbrella of "academic freedom," which fails to recognize that institutional sponsorship/ support for a conference carries the responsibility for an institution to ensure that the event actually conforms to its values and mission. Your university also defended its position by saying that the conference was about “Hindutva” (which it interpreted as a political ideology) and not about “Hinduism” per se, and that the university supports engagement on socio-political topics.

Contradicting your assertions that the conference distinguishes between Hinduism and "Hindutva," they have categorically stated that the two are the same-- and thus are for a dismantling of Hinduism itself.

By supporting this conference in any capacity, you have put Hindus in harm's way and gaslighted our lived experiences, silenced our religious expression, and caused us mental trauma. Consider the impact on Hindu students on your campus, many of whom are not going to report the trauma and abuse, since they are here on non-immigrant visas and do not understand the system or feel safe voicing concerns.

Please consider, for instance, both the effect the following speech-- reproduced verbatim from the "Dismantling Global Hindutva" conference-- has on your Hindu campus population and whether it is in line with your university's mission to provide a safe, enriching space for students of diverse backgrounds, including Hindus.

 

  • Day 1, Session 3 - Dr. Gajendran Ayyathurai of Gottinghen University called Hindus “violent, malignant Brahmins” and singled out five Hindu last names: Iyer, Kompella, Trivedi, Sharma and Mukherji (Mukherjee) as those with a history of extreme violence, quoting that they are “violent advocates of...malignant Brahmanism.” Not only is this patently false, it puts a target on all Hindu students with these last names while endangering their civil rights.
  • Showcasing their agreement with such Hinduphoic attacks, the conference organizers tweeted a statement from the same speaker, where he dangerously declared that “Brahminism played a very crucial role in the creation of Nazism itself.” While there is absolutely no proof for such a statement, these falsehoods ensure that Hindus are equated with Nazis and opens them up for further targeting and hate.
  • Dr. Ayyathurai’s hateful words were openly endorsed by Dr. Audrey Truschke of Rutgers University, thus amplifying the bigotry even further.
  • Day 2, Session 1 - Activist P. Sivakami declared at one point of her speech that Hinduism is “a danger to independence, equality and brotherhood.” In another instance, she stated that Hinduism is against democratic values, concluding that “...harboring the idea that Hinduism is per se harmless and only Hindutva is the culprit will not do any good to the observance of lofty democratic ideals.” This directly contributes to the existing corpus of xenophobia directed at non-Christian religions as "un-American," or "incompatible with democracy" and/or "the Constitution." 

Furthermore, as recounted below, several speakers openly state that Hinduism and “Hindutva” are one and the same and essentially call for dismantling of Hinduism. Thus, an academic department at your University has officially supported a conference aimed at dismantling and erasing a minority, indigenous faith practiced largely by people of color and/or immigrants.

 

  • Day 1, Session 3 - Dr. Meena Dhanda, of the University of Wolverhampton clearly stated that Hinduism and “Hindutva” are inextricably linked and disparaged some of the most iconic Hindu leaders such as Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi as “Hindutva ideologues.” To quote her words: “I take Hindutva as political Hinduism, not a distortion of some inherently benign religion, but a historical expression of it, with continuities in the works of Dayananda Saraswati, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Savarkar,...even Gandhi…”
  • Day 3, Session 2 - Dr. Shana Sippy of Carleton College and other panelists openly called for dismantling Hinduism by declaring “...there is no Hindutva without Hinduism...Hindutva is inextricably linked to and is a form of Hinduism...and we do not think there is any way to understand Hindutva if you disaggregate it from [Hinduism]...and there is absolutely no way to dismantle it..if you are going to...ignore the Hinduism of it.”
  • Day 2, Session 1 - Dr. Akanksha Mehta of Goldsmiths, University of London, declared that “...without hesitation, that Hindutva is indeed inseparable from Hinduism, and arguments of Hindutva is not Hinduism are deeply dangerous, Brahminical and laced with erasure and violence. They will not take us to the future we aspire…”
  • Day 3, Session 2 - Dr. Balmurli Natrajan of William Paterson University, stated that “I did not atleast hear anyone, definitely myself, deny the fact that Hinduism is deeply imbricated with Hindutva...nobody on this panel has been denying it...” 

These are just a few examples of the vitriol that was spewed at the conference and by the organizers. They clearly illustrate an overt agenda to dismantle Hinduism and not Hindutva as the conference organizers and the academics who supported them originally alleged. Students and the broader Hindu community watched with horror as speaker after speaker launched a vicious diatribe against Hinduism and Hindu practices - uniformly without any basis.

But, more importantly, the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference accused the entire American and Canadian Hindu community as being complicit in violent extremism and bigotry. 

Let me remind you of the special obligations of a professor or an academic as laid out by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) (AAUP, Policy Documents & Reports 3-4 (9th ed. 2001) ("Redbook"):

"College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution. [emphasis added]." 

Clearly, the organizers, speakers and their academic supporters used their privileged positions to falsify information about Hinduism and Hindus, failed to exercise the appropriate restraint and openly violated the ethical spirit of academic integrity and robust dialogue. In doing so, they have endangered practicing Hindus on college campuses across the United States, Canada and the world. Most disappointing, these attacks on a micro-minority happened with your support and in defiance of your stated goal to make your campus a welcoming space for all, including international students and those from minority faiths, who rely on the University for their sense of safety and belonging.

As a practicing Hindu, I ask your university to deeply reflect upon your sponsorship and endorsement of such a bigoted platform in any way - even if an individual department was involved in that sponsorship. Given the clear and unambiguously hateful speech voiced at the conference, I ask that you immediately put out a statement distancing yourself from such hate and unscholarly behavior and hold your university departments liable for targeting Hindus in the name of "academic freedom." 

You have a moral obligation to vehemently denounce such bigotry, protect the civil rights of your Hindu students and faculty members and ensure that they feel safe and included on campus. 

Send me occasional emails about this issue