Indian activism in the US has been shaped by the discrimination the community has faced in the country. The discrimination has essentialized all desis as Hindus for more than a century now. So the responses to it often swing to a place where the Hindu community in America volunteers—they don’t necessarily need to be recruited— for a project to defend anything Hindu. And they are also willing to buy into, and in fact add to, the narrative that equates being Indian with being Hindu and being Hindu with being Indian. If anything happens in India, be it communal riots, lynchings in the name of cow protection or caste violence, the reflex and default response of most Indian Americans is to defend India’s reputation. Quite often, this leads to defending activities of the Hindutva brigade; conversely criticism of the Hindutva agenda gets attacked as anti-India or Hindu- phobia, or defamation of India, Hinduism or both.
Such campaigns quite often and successfully benefit from the hypocrisy of American policy, the Christian origins of America’s own principle of religious freedom and the strategic importance of India–US ties. American advocacy of religious freedoms abroad is inspired by two political factors at home—the first, primarily on the Republican side, are the Christian evangelical and charity organizations that want to operate in other countries; the second, primarily on the Democrat side, is the human rights and values camp. Both streams have their own hypocrisies, and the Hindu groups, speaking and campaigning as American citizens, question them. Often, their advocacy benefits Hindutva groups in India. The campaign by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) to lift the visa ban on Modi is a case in point. The decision to deny a US visa to Modi, as we will see later, was by no means a transparent decision.
There are many organizations in America that are affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, but we are focusing on the HAF because it is not allied to Hindutva nationalistic groups or organizations in India in any formal or technical way. The attempt, hence, is to examine how and why the Hindu–India equivalence becomes almost axiomatic for a large mainstream of Indian Americans, who do not find anything contradictory about championing minority rights in America while overlooking or even promoting the rise of majoritarianism in India.
Also read: Indian Americans disillusioned with Hindutva can still give moral oxygen to CAA protesters
Negative essentialization of India as Hindu is based primarily on stereotypes about caste and gender in India. The HAF’s campaign has been about contesting such stereotypes with a humane interpretation of textual Hinduism, which often leads to decontextualizing it from the actual practice of the religion on a daily basis and sanitizing it. It argues that caste or gender violence is only as relevant to the teachings of Hinduism as the Crusades are for the teachings of Christianity. The HAF has pushed back against the negative stereotyping of India as backward. It has alternatively proposed a positive essentialization of India as a Hindu spiritual place of virtue where democracy, pluralism and market economy exist in an eternal yogic union with the cosmos—a formulation that sounds very pleasing to the mainstream American self-perception. The HAF operates in the minority, civil rights activism space in the US—not as a conservative religious group—and consequently gets easily aligned with the Democrats. The overall Indian-American alignment with the Democrats is against their economic interests, argue Kapur and others in their study, and is a reaction to the preponderance of Christian evangelicals in the Republican Party.
The HAF is at the forefront of many campaigns for minority rights in America, including those of Muslims. It denounced the Trump administration’s move to impose a travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. ‘We are not only a Hindu organization, but also a civil rights group,’ Samir Kalra, a second-generation Indian American and a key functionary of the HAF, told me. The organization sees India as the ‘spiritual homeland of the Hindus’ and hence its ties with India are more pronounced, but it does not feel obligated to champion Indian causes in America.
The HAF’s focus is on fighting prejudices against Hindus and Hinduism widely prevalent in America. Kalra said that their organization tried to ‘contextualize’ reports on Hindus and their faith. For instance, regarding the often violent, Hindutva-promoted cow protection movement in India, the stand it takes is this:
Throughout the world, laws are often formulated based on the moral and cultural norms or judgments of a country’s population. It is illegal to sell dog or cat meat in the U.S. [ . . . ] Similarly, in India, Hindus view the cow as a generous, ever-giving source [ . . . ] Hindus treat the cow with the same respect accorded to the mother, as the cow is a vital sustainer of life, providing milk and a means of ploughing the earth to grow crops.
Without going into the merits of these assertions—for instance, a large number of Hindus in India actually eat cow meat (unless one wants to count anyone who eats cow meat as non-Hindu), and the argument against the violent cow protection movement has not been that it is against the religious beliefs of Muslims—suffice it to say that this could be an appealing explanation for the American audience—the cow protection movement in India is not contrary to the principles of a democratic, multireligious society. The HAF also defends anti-conversion laws enacted by Hindutva governments in India that target minority religions as it opposes conversion from Hinduism, but supports conversion to Hinduism, echoing the Hindutva view on the topic. It also has a widespread campaign for the propagation of Hinduism in America, but opposes Christian missionary activities in India, curiously making the argument that poor, uneducated people in India are gullible to the machinations of evangelists.
Also read: Vote for America or vote for India-US ties — Why Indian Americans and their funding matter
The Indian-American community is still divided along caste and linguistic differences and is often debilitated by the humongous egos of its numerous self-styled leaders. Modi’s engagement has helped cement some of these divisions and build an Indian identity, difficult to distinguish from Hindu identity though it may be. Even so, it is quite a long way from achieving the success of the Jewish American community. The Jewish model is what politically active Indian Americans aspire towards. It is curious that the election that brought Trump to power also resulted in the highest representation of Indian Americans in the US Congress.
Jason Isaacson, director of international affairs at the American Jewish Council (AJC), is a great supporter of India–Israel–America triangular ties. At the 110-year-old organization’s headquarters in Washington, he spoke about their attempts to coordinate with Indian Americans, ‘We will work together, to demonstrate the benefits of what is really a trilateral relationship, between India, Israel, and the U.S.’
About the ambition of several Indian-American initiatives that try with limited success to emulate the Jewish model of intervention in American politics, Isaacson said, ‘The way you can be effective in this society is—gather people together, make an agenda, raise funds, hire staff. If you are going to have a community that has a political voice, it has to be treated as a business. America is welcoming to that kind of political activity. But you will have to take that job seriously.’
This excerpt from Open Embrace: India-US Ties in the Age of Modi and Trump by Varghese K. George has been published with permission from Penguin Random House India.
Christians trying to Divide Hindus in America. Remember the convert is the worst. In Fiji Christian indians throw Hindu and Muslims to the wolves. Same is true of Christian Convert agenda in South Africa or Guyana. Hindus must unite and simply tell Varghese’s that they are half breeds and not one of us.
Since Modi has come to power and his open admission of being a proud hindu unlike other PM we have seen, missionaries and communist are jealous and irritated , can’t digest that fact that how can a hindu be proud of his religion. This is impossible, these people are rubbing their eyes. I don’t know why they hate hindus so much , what we have done to them in last 100 years or so.These guys spread lies in early 1900s that kerala hindus throw their babies under chariot wheel as sacrifice , the swami Vivekanand asked them why you hate us so much what we have done. These guys are afraid that their ideologies are collapsing now. These guys are afraid that asians religions are not personality based religions they are idea based religions, even if you remove Krishna , buddha out of the picture their religion still stand high but if you remove resurrection of Jesus and Prophet having met angel Gabriel it falls like a pack of cards.
Mr Gazzali: In your pathetic response to Harry, you bray:
“.. Why you want to interfere with Muslims’ matters when it does not matter to you. We will fix our house ..”
Harry, noxious Hindutvaist and online Babu Bajrangi though he very likely is, has nonetheless every bloody right to write about what he likes. If he wishes to write about Islam, Einstein’s Theories of Relativity, the pleasures of inhaling Arnab Goswami’s hot air, the orgasms he derives from drinking gomutra or whatever else he fancies, well, it is his prerogative to write about those topics.
You Sir, may not agree with Harry. But it is also your right to counter him. But you cannot question his right to talk about Islam. Indeed, your attitude lies at the root of the problems that Muslims face in many countries – the rules of Islam cannot be subservient to the rules and laws made by democratically elected Parliaments. France is the latest example of this clash between the values of a staunchly secular, modern, democratic country and the atavistic ideas your ilk brings to the table.
You go on to say:
“.. The General Muslim Mass did not authorize the actions of Those who slit throats in France ..”
Well, I have news for you Mr Gazzali. Whilst there are a lot of public expressions of condemnation of this barbaric act by Muslim community leaders in France, in private, are Muslims truly sad at what happened? And most people in France are aware of the fact that many of these tears being shed by Muslim community leaders are probably crocodile tears. More so when the bulk of the Islamic world, idiots like Turkey’s Erdogan and so on call for a boycott of French products.
And your attempt to relate and indirectly rationalise this gory act by referring to President Truman’s use of the atom bomb in 1945 or other grievances is utterly ir-relevant. President Truman’s actions, US military engagements in Afghanistan, Iraq etc. have no bearing whatsoever to this crime. Samuel Paty (RIP) was murdered for no reason whatsoever in 2020 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in France for doing what he was expected to do as a teacher in France.
But the despicable attitude that you project will perhaps become clearer to you if you had listened to French journalist Caroline Fourest who said:
“This Chechen family was persecuted in Russia because they were Muslims. They fled Russia. France opened its doors, gave them sanctuary and the possibility of a fresh start. They were free to practise Islam and be Muslim in France. And what do we get in return? “
Clearly Mr Gazzali, a great chunk of the Islamic world has not “fixed its house”
@ Harry
Why you want to interfere with Muslims’ matters when it does not matter to you. We will fix our house. Let Live and live yourself.
The General Muslim Mass did not authorize the actions of Those who slit throats in France. However it was *HARRY TRUMAN* authorized the FIRST & ONLY NUCLEAR ATTACK in the History. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. US / Britain destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria Civilians and made them Refugees, destroyed the Nationhood etc. Those ISIS guys were trained and received Pay checks from Uncle Sam’s club destroying the Islam & Muslim’s Public Relations. Uncle Sam’s Friends MISCALCULATED that ISIS will eventually capture other Arabian gulf countries but thanks to the awakening of the gulf countries & Mr. Putin’s Russia destroyed & thwarted the plans of Uncle Sam’s club.
Be patoent lets wait for the Return of Prophet Jesus the son of MARY the Virgin Mother (عليهما السلام Peace be upon BOTH)
LOL
Satan [ Saitan } tried to bring Jesus Christ to his sense by telling him that his father is not omnipotent or omnipresent but one of many of more than 330 million Deva and equal number of Asura, Yaksha and other Supernatural. If he had listened to Satan, he would not have died on Cross. He was innocent victim of his father’s lust for power. You guys promote the nonsense that Christ did not die on Cross to cover up sacrifice of innocent.
Only true about Christians is Jesus was son of their god and in case of Muslim prophet Mohammed was messenger of Allah. So both of these faith are half truths. Allah, the God [ i.e Christian god], Jehovah are just among billions of supernatural.
You guys went to Mecca and threw stones at Satan, why are you complaining when you are hit with weapons? . You are getting payback in your own coin.
Gaurakshak Harry saab: When you bray:
“.. India does have to learn from Pakistan & Afghanistan .. The way they deal with their Harsh Mander, Ram Puniyani .. Varghese George ..”
one notes that the wheel has come full circle with India’s saffron, Hindu Taliban speaking and wanting the same things as AfPak’s Muslim Taliban.
You forget that in Afghanistan and Pakistan, kangaroo courts run by mullahs and the Taliban dispense, barbaric mediaeval “justice”. Adultery and blasphemy get you killed by stoning; the weightage given to a woman’s testimony in court is half a man’s; there is no democracy and human rights are non-existent and of course, there is no such thing as dissent or free speech.
When you say that prominent writers and human rights activists like Harsh Mander, Varghese George etc. should be dealt with in the manner they do in Pakistan, well, it is a chilling thing to say. Clearly, you want these people to suffer the same fate as the late Gauri Lankesh (RIP) who was shot dead by your Hindu Taliban friends. Not to speak of other intellectuals and writers like Sri M.M. Kalburgi (RIP) and Sri Govind Pansare (RIP) who were also killed in cold blood by your thuggish, saffron Taliban friends. Not to speak of the lynchings of innocent, marginalised Muslim men like Mohammad Akhlaq (RIP), Pehlu Khan (RIP), Junaid Khan (RIP) and many others like them. Your saffron gaurakshak friends were behind all these murders Harry saab.
If this is the “democracy” that educated people like you want to bring to India well, you sure have the right forces headed by the right men at the helm of affairs in Delhi. And we have seen a foretaste of what they are capable of delivering to “termites” – starting with Godhra in 2002 to the concentration camps in Assam.
Maybe I should start addressing you as Taliban Gaurakshak Harry, in recognition of the fact that you have double the bigotry of any one of these thugs.
Pathetic Taliban Gaurakshak Harry sabb. Pathetic indeed.
What you have written about Harry is true. He will not deny it. He is a Hindu fascist, that does not trouble him.
But you come across as a confused Hindu with one foot in the liberal camp, and the other in the ‘defending Hindus against any non-Hindu criticism’ brigade. A bit like SG.
Vajpayee used to pose as a Hindu liberal. But the moment a Muslim or Pakistan criticised him, he reverted back to his small minded Hindu ways, and responded like a cheap Hindu. You are like that.
Your effort to call me Taliban, Ajmal Kasab Osmaetc. will not work. I have never referred to them or Pakistan, or expressed them as models. I have criticised the damage Hindu fascism and indeed Hinduism has done to India with the caste system. You have to refute me like you do with Harry – in most cases you do not, because what I say cannot be refuted.
You react to me in Hindutva style, with whataboutery . You remind me of the RSS apparatchik Ram Madhav when he was cornered by Mehdi Hassan on RSS’s Hitler ideology – Madhav asked Mehdi ‘What about your ISIs?’!! Mehdi trashed him more.
Madhav is a pathetic Hindutva Hindu. You are scarcely better when you respond to me with Ajmal Kasab.
In the final analysis, you are a ‘sub-prime grade Hindu’, lacking in true quality. It will be better if you decided which camp you are in, and improved your mentality, controlled your emotions, and did not lash out wildly. It is better you remained focused on what is going to break up India – it will be Harry type Hindus, not Kasab or Taliban.
Rasgolla your comment to Kil iJolsiyar ” You have to refute me like you do with Harry – in most cases you do not, because what I say cannot be refuted.”
First of all he is not that well read to understand Islam or Muslims.
The second reason is he is Keralite, Keralites in general are good as yes men or clerks. They readily betray their talented fellow Keralite Hindus out of jealousy or petty benefits. Good example is Sukumar, who framed S Nambi Narayanan, cryogenic scientist.
The whole Nambi Narayanan episode was absurd. To assume that that such high positioned person would fall for such ghastly women is ridiculous. If the woman was like Mehr Tarar, for whom Shashi Tharoor fell for or Ishrat Jahan for whom Pranesh Pillai fall for, enough to convert, is believable, but not these Maldiva women. Only Rasgolla would fall for such women because they might carry his jihad plus he can keep multiple wives.
Your writing is a series of unconnected passages jumping from Kili, Keralans, Islam and myself.
Kili can refute you, but not me. He responds to me even more pathetically than you do. Even you can do better than call for my ban ! Bur he is certainly better read than you, but like you, he cannot digest criticism of Hindus.
I do not know what Keralans have to do with the discussion on why American Hindus think ‘India is Hindu, Hindu is India’. I have heard Kerala is the most advanced state in all indicators : education, healthcare, governance. They even seem to have international recognition like it is a separate country from India. They got international respect for the way they handled the 2018 flood. And also how they have handled Covid; they did not even turn out the migrants. I saw a BBC interview with the Kerala health minister Shailaja where the interviewer asked what she could teach Britain. WHO and World Bank reached out to Kerala govt. to learn how they handled Covid.
The worst state people in India are Gujaratis. They are corrupt and communal. 99% of loan defaulters are Gujaratis. It is now the centre of Hindu Nazism.
Gujarati, Marwari are smartest people. They can not be swindled by you guys. It is too bad that Gujaratis were not ruling India directly in 194, otherwise mistakes like Kashmir ,China would have been avoided. Kerala is kept afloat by Keralites working in gulf.
Killi is not better read otherwise he would have ask you about child abuse by forcing girls less than 10 years to marry old men and all these vices we know of both Muslims as well as Islam, because many of these vice come from book itself, like sex with adopted son’s wife and so on. Islam has nothing to offer to cultured noble Arya.
Arya is best example of humanity, while Muslim is worst.
Wrong again rasgolla !
I never called for a blanket ban on you, but of individual comments from you where you misuse the commenting platform of The Print to air your visceral hatred of Hindus and Hinduism. And I stand by my request to have such vile comments banned.
And again, you are no better than Gaurakshak Harry. Harry regards all Muslims as extremists and Indian Muslims as some sort of a 5th column; you regard all Hindus as supporters of Hindutva and Hinduism itself as something obnoxious and all Hindus as infidels in dire need of being civilised.
You and Gaurakshak Harry are different sides of the same debased coin that only hurl invective at each other and at your respective faiths instead of arguments. Indeed, neither of you make arguments that are worthy of being refuted – there is nothing to refute in abuse and hate speech.
Of course, you rasgolla (or the team that writes under that name) write better English than Gaurakshak Harry. Gaurakshak Harry is probably a volunteer for the BJP IT cell and he espouses Hindutva fascism unabashedly. You rasgolla perhaps volunteer for some similar Islamist outfit, vomiting your equally crude Islamo-fascism. What you both have in common is that you peddle hate – as simple as that. And ensure that Hindus and Muslims diverge more and more from each other.
Now refute that.
Thanks for the response – your usual mixture of fiction, fibs and flawed analysis. Albeit sprinkled with a few shards of facts. And then some unasked for advice to top it all.
But let me start with and re-affirm something we both can agree on – Gaurakshak Harry saab is an unabashed, unapologetic Hindutva fascist. His hatred for Christians, Muslims and now Keralites is unhealthy and dangerous whilst at the same time so ludicrous that one cannot suppress a chuckle and laugh at this pathetic inhaler of Adityanath’s hot air !!
But back to more dangerous peddlers of hate – the Vajpayees, Ram Madhavs, rasgollas and their ilk.
You are wrong about Vajpayee. The man, like his more thuggish Gujarati successor is a product of the RSS and certainly no liberal by any yardstick. True, he may have spewed his prejudices and Islamophobia in Sanskritised Hindi that nobody understood and in a less abrasive tone – but an RSS alumnus he certainly was. Of course, like his Gujarati successor, the responsibilities of the office of the PM and the need to be taken seriously on the global stage necessitated the need to eschew unpolished Golwalkarian talk – something both these men do. But Vajpayee was, like every pracharak, steeped in the ideology of the RSS and its Hitler worship. Indeed, before a trip outside India, he had to be coached on the fact that professing admiration for Hitler outside India was not exactly kosher.
Regarding damage to India from the Hindu caste system. Yes, Hinduism’s caste system has held back development to large sections of the people, in addition to the physical and structural violence it has engendered over eons. Worse still, it has followed converts from Hinduism to other religions as well. Being a Dalit Muslim or Dalit Christian means still getting discriminated in an even more vicous manner by a Muslim or Christian higher up the caste ladder. And here in Europe you see the same phenomenon at work with Turkish Muslims regarding themselves as European and looking down upon Arabs who in turn look down upon Pakistani and Indian Muslims and who in turn look down upon the dark-skinned Somali Muslims. De facto caste systems are there all over the world and I certainly do not justify discrimination in India merely because it is universal. I re-iterate, I do not justify the structural violence of caste in India merely because structural violence occurs in other forms elsewhere. We have agreement on that.
But, given where India is today with regard to caste, your singling out Hinduism for its caste flaws (and all Hindus) using the language that you use is wrong and utterly counter-productive. Your hateful diatribes win nobody over – not even the Muslims and Christians on whose behalf you ostensibly argue and insult Hindus. Your line of debate is reminiscent of Malcolm X in the US who during the US Civil Rights struggle hated all white people and talked of segregation. Although he mellowed later, Malcom X was never able to mobilise people of all races in demanding equality – something Dr Martin Luther King achieved.
On Ram Madhav: Another pathetic RSS apparatchik from South India who probably does not realise that his North colleagues are probably calling him “kaala madrasi” behind his back. Ram Madhav is a useful idiot in the cause of fascism that I won’t waste time on.
As regards your description of my traits and abilities, well, I never asked for a diagnosis. After all, the Ajmal Kasabs, Babu Bajrangis and Gauraskhak Harrys should stick to what they excel at – spewing hatred instead of assessing the competences and skills of others.
PS: I attack your ideology and you, rasgolla. I do not attack the vast majority of tolerant Muslims who would have been ashamed of an Ajmal Kasab
Because of previous govt lenience, number of conversions by evangalists have already on high side. The external funds received from anti Indian forces have give sufficient fodder to the evangelists to carry on their nefarious activities
The RSS is also getting funds from HAF for nefarious activities. Does it bother you ? Probably not, because it is criminality of your tribe.
Mr Brahma,
How do you explain the very recent conversions of about 250 persons from Valmiki samaaj to Boddh dharm? Do you count them in Hindus or not? If yes, then shouldn’t you be worried about this occurrence more than what you have mentioned in your comment.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism are not exclusive religions. They do acknowledge gods rom other faiths. They have no objection to Image worship. when people convert from one of these religion to other they do not give up their pre-conversion deities.. People from these religions have moved back & forth not only in India, but South-East Asia too.
Problem with evangelists & Muslim preachers is they do not acknowledge gods of other faiths and insist their’s is THE ONLY TRUTH and other’s is false faith.
it is the for the same reason Christian sects like Jehovah’s witness are unpopular in west among both practicing & non-practicing Christians. As these guys come uninvited door to door salesmen to preach their version of faith and waste busy people’s valuable time.
They claim Buddhists are Hindus. So it does not worry them. Ambedkar opted for Buddhism. It was a wrong decision – because in India, Hindus will claim it is part of Hinduism, and caste will come through the back door.
That is why they are not disturbed by Dalits converting to Buddhism. They only fear if they convert to Christianity and Islam, because that will end the caste system which they are so devoted to.
Caste system is still much humane than slavery sanctioned by Koran. Slave woman can be forced to provide fun to master.
Mr Ram G: In your infinite wisdom, you pontificate:
“.. The liberal left has their own network .. they regualarly make it a point to highligh only negative aspects of Hinduism and India ..”
And in so doing, you conflate Hindutva, a fascist political ideology created by a few upper caste Maharashtrian bigots with Hinduism, the religion of more than a billion people. Increasingly, and very sadly, many Indians in foreign countries too believe that the flawed, Nazi, fascist ideology of Hindutva is the same as Hinduism. And evidently, you are no different.
Hindutva ideology was created by early RSS ideologue B.S. Moonje (1872-1948) who was an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Moonje’s RSS was based on his study of Italian youth organisations Balilla and Avanguardisti. These organisations recruited boys from 6 to 18 and put them through various drills, paramilitary training and political indoctrination. The RSS still follows the template of these fascist Italian youth organisations with its drills, marches, propaganda and vigilantism.
After Moonje’s period, RSS ideologues such as Hedgewar, Savarkar, Golwalkar, Mohan Bhagwat and so on Indianised Nazism and adapted it Indian circumstances. Thus, whilst Adolf Hitler declared Jews, Roma (often called gypsies and actually migrants from India), Serbs, homosexuals, the handicapped etc. as vermin and had them interned in his concentration camps and exterminated them in his gas chambers, the RSS has its eyes on Indian minorities. As RSS Führer Golwalkar said:
“Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for use in Hindusthan to learn and profit by”
The BJP, which has taken upon itself to further the RSS ideology of Hindutva appears to have taken a leaf out of Hitler’s playbook with its own “detention centres” in Assam where Muslims will be confined. Of course, there is no talk of gas chambers for these Muslims, whom Amit Shah affectionately calls termites to be thrown into the sea. And your friend and mentor Adityanath has come up with more repugnant ways of treating Muslims – he wants the corpses of Muslim women to be dug out and raped.
The strange thing for people like you Mr Ram G is that whilst you firmly endorse and espouse Hindutva, you do not wish the world at large to know about your diabolical project. And that is simply impossible in this day and age. Human rights issues, democracy and respect for minorities of all hues and stripes is a firmly entrenched component of most mature Western democracies – admittedly with many imperfections and violations. In that context, the fascism that Hindutva represents cannot be swept under the carpet.
Sadly, today, India is slowly becoming a Hindu Pakistan. And where Pakistan has its Islamist radicals who have brought shame upon that country and Islam. India has its Hindutva elements who seem to unabashedly copy Pakistan. And in the process squander all the goodwill and soft power that the country has had as a relatively tolerant democracy. And people like you are enablers of this descent into authoritarianism under the aegis of the RSS and its Nazi philosophy called Hindutva. It is this Frankenstein called Hindutva you should be worried of.
As the American lawyer Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) wisely said:
True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
This George fellows are dangerous as they hate Hindu and they are pure anti national and mainly from Kerala
Mr Dhraohr: Which state are you from ? Do you hate Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jain, Parsis, Buddhists ?
whatever state Dhraohr may be from, but Kili Jolsiyar You are definitely from cesspool,
Yes Kerala with it’s women in past going topless in cities, not on beaches, with it’s sambandham and meat eating culture is back-woods of India. That is the reason minority population is so high. Minorities thrive in backward area because there it is easy to convert people.
Kerala is least safe state for women in South India. Kerala like Bengal and Delhi are not safe for women venturing alone after dark. They can not venture without facing lewd remarks and other type of harassment, with street Romeos everywhere, not to mention love-jihadis. Even Christians there are not immune from Love jihad. I think that kind of uncivil behavior is part of their culture and so they don’t even realize that. We can see that even on line. Keraalite like you can not stop name calling , when you realize your argument will not be bought by anybody but only by already convert.
For the record, HAF had nothing to do with overturning the visa ban on PM Modi, despite what the subhead says. It was not an issue HAF ever addressed. The author’s assertion is factually false.
Will you admit that the HAF is a front for the RSS, that is Hindu Nazis ?
Mr George is dying of jealousy and nefarious in his omissions of facts and the predatory behaviour of evangelism in India and the social strife it has caused. Failing to note this, and casually dismissing these is disingenuous. Further, sermonizing on the “practise” of caste in India he fails to recognise that Muslims, Christians also discriminate in their communities through a pseudo caste system.
This “book” seems like an exercise in providing fodder for American pseudo liberals and Evangelical organisations to justify their ongoing hypocrisy and predatory behaviour in India. Cow slaughter is inherently repulsive to the Indian character, despite exceptions and trying to justify it by pointing to some minority communities is an intellectual farce that needs to be called out.
Cow slaughter is inherently repulsive to the Indian character – All Keralans, Bengalis, NE and Dalits eat beef. I presume there are no Hindus in Kerala, Bengal, NE…
‘Mr George is dying of jealousy….’
Hindu vanity knows no bounds. What is there to be jealous about mobsters, rioters, thugees, dacoits and rapists ?
MODERATORS:
Please rein in this bigoted Nazi Rasgolla.
About time you woke up and put an end to this Ajmal Kasab clone.
Judging from your reaction . do you feel I referred to you when I mentioned mobsters, rioters, thugees, dacoits and rapists ?
Ajmal Kasab clone. – you speak like a Hindutva thug !
rasgolla: Sometimes, the followers of Osama bin Laden, Ajmal Kasab, Babu Bajrangi, Praveen Togadia, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and their ilk are better addressed in the only language they seem to understand.
I have no regrets in calling you by the name that you deserve.
“All Keralans, Bengalis, NE and Dalits eat beef. I presume there are no Hindus in Kerala, Bengal, NE… ”
You are generalizing based on few examples . Based on your logic one can say all old Muslims marry women of age younger then 10.
What is there to be jealous about mobsters, rioters, thugees, dacoits and rapists ?
Of course not for Muslims. Muslims are professional in these areas. They just laugh at Hindus for their soft hearts. .
You know from your own experience. How good you are and then pretending to be innocent victims.
INNOCENT LIKE WOLVES.
Mr Raj: When you resort to your usual braying:
“.. Cow slaughter is inherently repulsive to the Indian character, despite exceptions and trying to justify it by pointing to some minority communities .. “
raises a number of questions which I hope you can clarify.
1: What traits define the Indian character Mr Raj? Is it defined by diet and diet alone as you assert? Well Mr Raj, that is truly preposterous ! For, contrary to what the Hindutva crowd says, 70% of Indians eat meat. Additionally, Hindus in states such as Kerala, W. Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim consume beef. Indeed, beef is a cheap and important source of protein for the poor, particularly Dalits. And then you have Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs who can consume beef – although many upper caste Muslims, Christians and Sikhs do not consume beef.
So tell me Mr Raj: Do these communities that eat beef lack “Indian character” ?
2: Most Indians and I guess you too Mr Raj would be using leather products such as shoes, wallets, belts and so on. These attest to the presence of a large, lucrative and labour intensive leather industry in India. Indeed, even the mad cow disease suffering BJP party promotes the leather sector through its Make in India initiatives. In the webpage of Make in India, one reads that the leather sector employs 4.4 million workers, is the 10th largest earner of foreign exchange in the country and so on.
So tell me Mr Raj: Since the leather industry necessarily entails cow slaughter, how do you reconcile the much ballyhooed “Indian character” with the presence of this industry? Should it be shut down Mr Raj?
Of course, since you ostensibly happen to be a man who has this “Indian character”, I assume that you are not a hypocrite and do not use leather at all.
I await your answers Sir.
This man is a Commie left wing kerala Christian. What else do you expect from him.
Any counter-arguments Mr Shashi? Or is it so that in your local RSS shaka, they didn’t teach you how to debate but only how to abuse ? Perhaps you should stick to the company of your itchy-groined BIMARU belt friends and start commenting when you have read a few more books than Golwalkar’s “Bunch of Thoughts” or Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”.
The main point of focus has been missed by George. The enthusiasm among the Hindu Americans to defend the Cow2w urine good for health does not find any buyer among the people in the general and elite class of Hindus in particular. The activists of this theory find themselves failing to sell this story.
India is going through a period of awakening.
Hindu was word given to people, it does not define a religion. The idea of these people having multiple faiths and belief system has been going on since the beginning of the civilisation.
By historical standards, India has been the most accepting of this fact. Abrahamic faiths have seen the highest level of violence if you read even one page of the history book.
No matter how much people will try and tarnish that logic and word ‘Hindu’ especially the western liberals, this fact will never disappear.
‘India is going through a period of awakening.’
Yes, India is becoming a Hindu Nazi state. And the world is also becoming aware. Do you think Nazism in 2020 is new as it was in the 1930s, and people will not realise what it is ?
India likes Jews.. In contrast Hitler like Islam, he wanted Germans to be Muslims to be tougher. SS had Muslim troops. So there is no Nazism among Hindus, but it can not be said about Muslims they hate Jews as much as Nazis did.
Nonsense Gaurakshak Harry !
The RSS has modelled itself on Nazism and fascism, movements that were very popular in Europe in the 1930s. Charismatic demagogues like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were the role models for B.S.Moonje, one of the earliest ideologues of the RSS. Moonje visited Mussolini and copied the tactics and imagery of the Italian fascists for the physical drills and the paramilitary structure of the RSS. Another RSS führer Golwalkar imbued Hitler’s ideologies, particularly those pertaining to treatment of what both regarded as people who polluted and inferior races and peoples. And just as Hitler had his concentration camps for his undesirables, you see the BJP and the RSS spearheading the construction of the eerily similar detention centres in Assam.
Facts is Gaurakshak Harry, Hitler and Nazism are popular in India and indeed even in South Asia. Hitler’s biography Mein Kampf is openly sold in bookshops; Bal Thackeray extolled Hitler’s virtues; PM Vajpayee, an RSS man had to be advised that it was not a good idea to praise Hitler and Nazism whilst outside India and even in casual conversation with my extended family and friends, one hears admiration for his violent methods.
So Gaurakshak Harry saab, a morbid fascination for Nazism is increasingly prevalent in India. And with RSS ideologies becoming mainstream, expect a diluted, desi version of Nazism to gain currency.
Mahatma Gandhi also visited Italy and was given state reception by Mussolini.
People like you & Rasgolla are paid by number of words you write. So I will only give brief response. Then you guys can write the whole book with nonsense to justify you pay.
Gaurakshak Harry: Mahatma Gandhi may have paid a visit to Mussolini but he did not import Mussolini’s fascism to India did he? That was left to your friends in the RSS wasn’t it ?
Many Hindus think Hindu first, and Indian second. But they think Hindu is Indian. They have the cheek to demand that minorities should think as Indian first, and religion second. They will send Whats App messages on Modi to me, and expect me to see it with their eyes. I have to think and Indian and agree with them.
This is nothing new. The Congress had such Hindus like Patel, Lala Lajpat Rai and Tilak. That is why Jinnah left Congress and started seeing them as a Hindu party. Since many Hindus equate Hindu with India, partition took place.
On why Hindus settled in America want equal rights there, but want to support reactionary Hindu anti-democrats in India who persecute minorities , it is because they want to have the best of both worlds. They want to live in a comfortable foreign land and feel India is rising. They may have jobs and money but they are conscious their religion and practices are seen as merely pagan. They try to sell a bogus spirituality, but you can only go so far with it. Thus Hindus settled in the west have a lower self esteem than Hindus in India.
To give an example, I read an article in an Indian newspaper on an interfaith conference in Canada. It was written by a BJP type Hindu who went to bat for Hinduism. His complaint was that Hindus were not given an equal platform or taken seriously in the conference. His further bitterness was those terrorist Muslims were given an equal footing as Christians and Jews !
These US settled Hindus and HAF are funders of Hindutva fascism in India. However, people are now catching up on them. Minorities and anti fascists have got organised against them in the US. Peter Friedrich exposed Tulsi Gabbard’s links with HAF and that scuppered her. They had some hopes about Kamala Harris but now have given up. The activities of the RSS in Gulf countries came under the scanner when Hindus started tweeting abuse against Arabs after the outbreak of corona. The Arabs did not know about RSS and Hindus, but they have woken up. Likewise in Europe and UK, people are getting organised to contest the HAF. The BBC and Al Jazeera have raised the RSS admiration of Hitler and his policies for minorities.
As the author says, the Hindus can go so far, but they can never have the same influence as the Jews in the US. Firstly, no one can understand their religion. Second, they are divided by caste. They have brought caste discrimination to the US (Cisco case). They have even taken their cow fetish abroad. People might tolerate them, but nobody will respect.
Seems so biased, put some burnol in your ass that is so burnt by hindu religion
Cite the bias.
Mrs swagata Singh
Please go back to your homeland
First of all you don’t belong to this great country of ours.
You only pollute the air and soil of this great country by not learning to understand a proper argument.
Bloated egos that’s all you are
Live on the mercy of the religion (christianity) whom your motherland tries to destroy.
Nonsense Ms Swagata Singh !
The thrust of this article by Mr Varghese George is about the bigotry of some Hindus who live in the US and believe that the fascist, Nazi ideology called Hindutva should be defended at all costs. And that men like Modi who facilitate pogroms on behalf of this Hindutva ideology ought to be idolised as opposed to being punished for the crimes.
What these Hindutva espousing bigots forget in the meantime is that the same logic can be used against them by Americans, i.e. that America is white, Christian country and these brown nutcases have no place in it.
The article has nothing to do with pride about Hindu religious identity. Nobody needs be apologetic about Hinduism. But the violent ideology of Hindutva is something all Indians need to be ashamed of.
Kili Jolsiyar..u are a bigot spewing venom against Hindus and trying to tarnish their image overlooking the intolerance of other faiths/countries…but there’ll be no takes for your bullshit…u are one of those coward Librandus .
There is no one tarnishing your image other than the cheddis and their followers.
Vindy: Well, you are clearly full of hot air and little else ! And in a spectacular display of intellectual impotence and gross inability to understand simple English, you hurl invectives and little else. Indeed, like most of your itchy groined gaurakshak friends and mentors, you conflate Hindutva, a Nazi ideology with Hinduism, an ancient religion. My post attacks Hindutva, the vile ideology that has resulted in murders, pogroms and tarnished India’s image. More so with the advent of pogromwala Narendra Modi.
Alas Vindy, the Viagra you have been prescribed for the impotence of the termite between your legs cannot cure the same problem afflicting your intellect ! So go back to your gaurakshak buddies and play with them – these columns are clearly not your happy hunting grounds.
Vindy , Just tried to understand secus. You have to understand their panic. They have been riding two horse chariot. The problem they have is that double yoke that keep horses together is broken and both horses are pulling in different direction. but because of their intellect level comparable to that of ape they don’t know that to do and so spewing venom at Hindus like stuck snake.
According to Charles Darwin man evolved from monkey and according to theory of Atavism a creature may oddly exhibit it’s pre-evolutionary traits. good example was Alexander the great’s Horse Bucephalus, whose toes were pre-evolutionary type.
I believe that man kind evolved from monkeys in India. The secularist Hindus are living example of that sample of creature exhibiting pre-evolutionary traits. Their brain functions like monkey. Since there are so many in India it indicates that India, rather than Africa, where human evolved from monkey.
Therefore I like secularist Hindus, as they are living examples proving Darwin’s & Atavism theory.
The liberal left has their own network and they regualarly make it a point to highligh only negative aspects of Hinduism and India. They have been doing this for the past many decades, their hegemony to define India in foreign land , is being challenged by the new organizations and thoughts.
And what are the positive aspects of Hinduism that you would like to project ? RSS and its admiration of Hitler ? Beating up minorities ? Hindu mob rule ? Gang rape ?
Hindutva had a free run under the carpet for some 20 years, but now westerners are being made aware of their Hitlerian ideology. See articles in The Guardian, NY Times etc. That causes revulsion in the west. See the articles of Peter Friedrich.
Without going into the merits of these assertions—for instance, a large number of Hindus in India actually eat cow meat (unless one wants to count anyone who eats cow meat as non-Hindu), and the argument against the violent cow protection movement has not been that it is against the religious beliefs of Muslims
WTH is this ??? he says Large number of hindu eat cow meat…. ARE YOU HIGH ???
then about conversion … there is no way of converting to hinduism ….. there is no way written in any of our vedas . SO STFU …
“It also has a widespread campaign for the propagation of Hinduism in America, but opposes Christian missionary activities in India,”
There is nothing wrong in propagation among educated people, who want to expand their horizon. Hindus in West are not trying to convert them. In contrast missionaries are deliberately converting poor, illiterate people. Their goal is not to enlighten the convert. Once a person from poor, illiterate community converts to any of these judaic faiths he looks down upon the beliefs of his forefathers.
I had met a Nigerian woman, whose grand mother was Shaman. Then she said they were heathens. this is how missionaries destroy indigenous cultures by encouraging converts to turn their back on these thousands of years old cultures. This is cultural genocide.. Many of these indigenous cultures have lot to offer to world, if world is ready to listen and understand their concept. while convert has nothing to offer. If you have seen one, you have seen all.
Varghese should get off his missionary mentality and convince his fellow Christians to respect local faith every where and learn from it and become better Christian rather than becoming a soul harvesters and leave tribal alone.
‘In contrast missionaries are deliberately converting poor, illiterate people.’
You gave away your upper caste thinking. Your anger is about educating poor, illiterate people; you don’t want to do that, but you do not want others to do it.
Can you tell us why Hindus called half the people low castes and did not educate them ? Those who want should convert. What is your objection, you don’t want them.
In India education is offered to everybody.
India should close down Madressa, and force Muslims to learn Modern way of drinking and throwing Hijab, Niqab into firepit.
‘In India education is offered to everybody.’
Then why does it have the largest population of illiterates in the world ? The largest collection of rapists, child molestors and rioters ? We know which community shines in this.
‘Many of these indigenous cultures have lot to offer to world, if world is ready to listen and understand their concept.
You have nothing to offer apart from the caste system, untouchability and cow fetish. There is nothing to understand in your concept. Your concept gives your privileges and you would like to maintain it. Why did Ambedkar ask people to convert ?
One can only educate person who has brains. One can not educate a monkey.
This is what you guys are, low bred south Asian Muslims. No wonder Arabs & other Muslim treat you guys not as their own but as low caste and never give you citizenship.
Ambedkar never ask people to become Muslims. He wanted to raise people, not bring down to level of animals. which you guys just exhibited by sliting the throat of that teacher in France. you guys are also ungrateful. You stab any country that lets you stay. India learnt that hard way.
India does have to learn from Pakistan & Afghanistan. The way they deal with their Harsh Mander, Ram Puniyani, Aakar Patel and minorities id effective. We don’t see any any Varghese George from Pakistan writing against Pakistan.
You hate Muslims, but you want to learn from them ! You are confused Hindu with a burning inferiority complex.
Rasgolla: Inasmuch as gaurakshak Harry saab belongs to the Hindu Taliban, you belong to the Islamic Taliban.
The only difference between the real Taliban and the Rasgollas and Harrys of the world is the fact that you both take to the digital world to vent your hate whilst your more grassroots friends do the actual killing. One kills in the name of Hinduism, the other in the name of Islam.
But the great similarity between you both is the hate that is the metastasing cancer in you: Harry hates Muslims and you hate Hindus. Your bigotry is your bond.
India could do without you both.
I don’t hate Muslims .As a matter fact my lawyer, my tenants former land lord were all Muslims. I is just that I would not let assorted secus and Muslim take Hindu community for ride.
The problem Hindus have is lot of times they childlike innocence, as Indira Gandhi described, and allow Muslims and assorted secus for ride. this how they disappeared from Afghanistan, Pakistan and mostly from Bangladesh. It is ridiculous that Muslims living in India can drive out Taslima Nasrin from Kolkatta, while secus tacitly support them. We have not seen Harsh Mander, RamPuniyani, Teesta Setalvad, mamata etc fight for her rights. So we can see clearly that these are wolves and sheep’s clothing.
We have no desire to disappear from India. To give you Islamic perspective I believe I prefer Hindu jihad to Hindu Tazia. Let seus do Tazia and bleed themselves to death.
Neither do we care to win your affection. We consider ourselves hard-nosed and don’t take nonsense. Neither are we biased. Just because of jihadi type of attitude of people like you does not mean we will not employ Muslims if he has necessary skillset and aptitude. But if they show any of your attitude of believing that Islam is better than Hinduism or for that matter any religion, we would not hesitate to drop them of them.
“India could do without you both.”
India could do even better without you Kili Jolsiyar.
There is nothing special about you. You lack independent thinking. you don’t seem to understand that lots of water has flown in Godavri river. Technology has moved by leaps and bounds.
Indians of 2020 are not Indians of 1947, when literacy rate was abysmal and so bulk of Hindus were ignorant. Therefore they were taken for ride by Muslims and Hindus like Nehru, whose families had benefited from Muslim rule.
Hindus have now awakened. Comparable example is Africa where old elite composed of people who were selling off fellow Black Africans as slaves to white slave traders.
Only thing you seem to do is parrot something you read before and do even better is name calling like an angry uncultured man.
Mr. George seems rather envious that Indian Americans assert their Hindu religious identity. He sure would be pleased if they were apologetic about their religious identity.
The whole world is envious of Hindus and their assertion of their identity. The Hindu superpower is on the world stage. Pity it comes out as an inferiority complex.