#BREAKING: HAF's Executive Director @SuhagAShukla writes to presidents of 41 universities reportedly co-sponsoring the controversial Dismantling Global Hindutva event.
The partisan political event targets Hindu students and puts their safety at risk. 1/
hinduamerican.org/press/universi…
“The DGH organizers trade on the prestige of your institution’s name to host, not an academic conference, but a partisan event related to politics in India. The event platforms activists...[that amplify].. Hinduphobic discourse even while denying the existence of Hinduphobia." 2/
The DGH website mentions no academic organizers & specifically defines the event as nakedly political with an intention to "dismantle" the current government of India.
Universities have clear political neutrality statements that oppose sponsorship of partisan political events.3/
Hindutva is not Hinduism, anonymous organizers assert. So what is Hinduism for them? 👇
"heterodox, continuously under contestation, and often contradictory"
"Hinduism has rightly been critiqued for the deep inequities in Indian society, most importantly for the caste system"4/
DGH #Hinduphobia:
-Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation" "contradictory.”
-conflate Hinduism with caste.
-erase Hinduism's inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!
Speaker list includes activists who:
-equate Hinduism with caste bigotry
-deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia
-support the violent Kashmir militancy
-deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir)
6/
We demand that the safety of Hindu students be ensured leading up to the DGH event. @SuhagAShukla:
“Hindu students are targeted and report feeling under attack for opposing Hinduphobic depictions of their religion in the classroom and for opposing anti-Hindu hate on campus.” 7/
Today, @HinduAmerican announced that it will launch a grassroots campaign to enable students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university ostensibly co-sponsoring the DGH event. Details released shortly. Please join @HinduAmerican & take action!
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