Religious polarization in India seeps into US diaspora

In Edison, New Jersey, a bulldozer that has become a symbol of oppression of India’s Muslim minority rolled down the street during a parade marking that country’s Independence Day. At an event in Anaheim, California, a shouting match broke out between people celebrating the holiday and those who showed up to protest violence against Muslims in India.

Indian-Americans of various faith backgrounds have coexisted peacefully in the state for decades. But these recent events in the US — and violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims last month in Leicester, England — have raised concerns that India’s fierce political and religious polarization is seeping into diaspora communities.

In India, Hindu nationalism has grown under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in 2014 and won a landslide election in 2019. The ruling party has faced fierce criticism for rising attacks on Muslims. in recent years, from the Muslim community and other religious minorities, as well as some Hindus who say Modi’s silence emboldens right-wing groups and threatens national unity.

Hindu nationalism has divided the Indian immigrant community just as Donald Trump’s presidency polarized the US, said Varun Soni, dean of religious life at the University of Southern California. It has about 2,000 students from India, among the highest in the country.

Soni has yet to see these tensions on campus. But he said USC took hits because it was one of more than 50 American universities that co-sponsored an online conference called “Dismantling Global Hindutva.”

The 2021 event was aimed at spreading awareness of Hindutva, Sanskrit for the essence of being a Hindu, a political ideology that claims India as a predominantly Hindu nation, plus some minority faiths rooted in the country such as Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. Critics say this excludes other minority religious groups such as Muslims and Christians. Hindutva is different from Hinduism, an ancient religion practiced by about 1 billion people worldwide that emphasizes the oneness and divine nature of all creation.

Soni said it’s important that universities remain places where “we’re able to talk about facts-based issues in a civil way,” but, as USC’s chancellor, Soni worries about how polarization over Hindu nationalism will affect health spirituality of students.

“If someone is attacked for their identity, ridiculed or punished because they are Hindu or Muslim, I am more concerned about their well-being, not about who is right or wrong,” he said.

Anantanand Rambachan, a retired college religion professor and a practicing Hindu born in Trinidad and Tobago to a family of Indian origin, said his opposition to Hindu nationalism and association with anti-ideology groups drew complaints from some at a Minnesota temple where he held religion classes. He said opposing Hindu nationalism sometimes results in accusations of being “anti-Hindu” or “anti-India”, labels he rejects.

In turn, many Hindu Americans feel scorned and targeted for their views, said Samir Kalra, managing director of the American Hindu Foundation in Washington, DC.

“The space for free expression is shrinking for Hindus,” he said, adding that even agreeing with Indian government policies unrelated to religion could result in being labeled a Hindu nationalist.

Pushpita Prasad, a spokeswoman for the Coalition of North American Hindus, said her group has counseled young Hindu Americans who have lost friends because they refuse to “take sides in these struggles that originate in India.”

“If they don’t take sides or have an opinion, it’s automatically assumed they’re Hindu nationalists,” she said. “Their country of origin and their religion are held against them.”

Both organizations opposed the Global Hindutva Dismantling conference criticizing it as “Hinduphobic” and not presenting diverse perspectives. Supporters of the conference say they reject equating the Hindutva appeal with being anti-Hindu.

Some Hindu Americans, like 25-year-old Sravya Tadepalli, believe it is their duty to speak out. Tadepalli, a Massachusetts resident who is a board member of Hindus for Human Rights, said her activism against Hindu nationalism is based on her faith.

“If this is the fundamental tenet of Hinduism, that God is in everyone, that everyone is divine, then I think we have a moral obligation as Hindus to talk about the equality of all human beings,” she said. “If any human being is treated less than or as if their rights have been violated, then it is our duty to work to remedy that.”

Tadepalli said her organization also works to correct misinformation on social media that travels across continents fueling hatred and polarization.

Tensions in India peaked in June after police in the city of Udaipur arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting the throat of a Hindu tailor and posting a video of her on social media. The slain man, 48-year-old Kanhaiya Lal, was said to have shared an online post supporting a ruling party official who was suspended for insulting statements against the Prophet Muhammad.

Hindu nationalist groups have attacked minority groups, particularly Muslims, over issues ranging from food and headscarves to interfaith marriages. Muslim homes have also been demolished using heavy machinery in some states, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bulldozer justice”.

Such reports have American Muslims fearing for the safety of family members in India. Shakeel Syed, executive director of the South Asia Network, a social justice organization based in Artesia, California, said he regularly hears from his sisters and feels a “widespread fear, not knowing what tomorrow will be like.” “.

Syed grew up in the Indian city of Hyderabad in the 1960s and 1970s in “a more pluralistic and inclusive culture”.

“My Hindu friends would come to our Eid celebrations and we would go to their Diwali celebrations,” he said. “When my family went on summer vacation, we would leave the house keys with our Hindu neighbor and they would do the same when they had to leave town.”

Syed believes that violence against Muslims is now widespread in India. He has heard of girls in his family who are considering removing hijabs or headscarves out of fear.

In the US, he finds his Hindu friends reluctant to publicly engage in dialogue because they fear reprisals.

“A conversation is still happening, but it’s happening in pockets behind closed doors with like-minded people,” he said. “It’s certainly not happening between people who hold opposing views.”

Rajiv Varma, a Houston-based Hindu activist, takes a diametrically opposed view. Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the West, he said, are not a reflection of events in India, but stem from a deliberate effort by “religious and ideological groups who are waging a war against Hindus.”

Varma believes that India is “a Hindu country” and the term “Hindu nationalism” simply refers to love for one’s country and religion. He sees India as a country ravaged by conquerors and colonists, and Hindus as a religious group that does not seek to be converted or colonized.

“We have the right to recover our civilization,” he said.

Rasheed Ahmed, co-founder and executive director of the Washington, DC-based Indian American Muslim Council, said he is saddened “to see even educated Hindu-Americans not taking Hindu nationalism seriously.” He believes that Hindu Americans must make “a fundamental decision about how India and Hinduism should be seen in the US and around the world.”

“The decision whether to return Hinduism to whoever kidnapped it is theirs.”

Zafar Siddiqui, a Minnesota resident, hopes to “undo some of that mistrust, polarization” and build understanding through education, personal connections and interfaith assemblies. Siddiqui, a Muslim, has helped bring together a group of Minnesotans of Indian descent — including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and atheists — who meet for a monthly income.

“When people sit down, say, over lunch or dinner or coffee, and have a direct dialogue, instead of listening to all these leaders and spewing all this hate, it changes a lot of things,” Siddiqui said.

But during a recent meeting, some debated a draft proposal to seek at some point dialogue with people who hold different views. Those who disagreed explained that they did not support the achievement of Hindu nationalists and that they feared harassment.

Siddiqui said that for now, future plans include focusing on education and interfaith events that highlight India’s various traditions and religions.

“Just being silent is not an option,” Siddiqui said. “We needed a platform to bring together people who believe in the peaceful coexistence of all communities.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.