Thread by @TheEmissaryCo

Thread #2 Deux: Why Hindu-Americans Don't Stand Up For Hindus 🕉️

I did "field reporting" this weekend with my Hindu-American friends, asking them:

"Why do you stand up for Black/Hispanic/Muslim people for the injustices they face, but not for Hindus?"

Let's see what happened:

The most common responses were along the lines of-

"What injustices faced by Hindus are you talking about?"
"I honestly don't know what type of issues we face, besides normal 'brown' discrimination here."
"I've never seen any from the media I consume"

A general theme of genuine innocent unawareness was what I saw.

So I prodded further and mentioned the atrocities Hindus face in Pakistan 🇵🇰, Bangladesh 🇧🇩, and even parts of India 🇮🇳🍁.

Still, the answer was "I literally never heard this before."

Then came a visible sense of discomfort. And I know why.

My question then silently morphed to "Why don't you stand up for your own people" in their minds. I didn't need to spell it out, but it turned into those very cutting words.

Why don't you stand up for your own...

The rapes, the forcible conversions, the killings, the discrimination, the demographic collapse all signaling horrors that didn't have any similar magnitude of rivals in India...

The initial response was denial or wishing away the numbers I gave them...

"Oh how do you know all that happened to them?!"
"Maybe they converted willingly!"

I mentioned CAA and the refugees begging for it.

Denial then became equivalating.

"Well, this all probably happens in India too!"

theemissary.co/the-cab-battle…

I kept unpacking this. I ask them "why they think this way?" (note I tried to avoid a confrontational tone as much as possible, just neutral questioning.) They talked about their parents' hysteria over Pakistan, their WhatsApp forward fueled hatred, etc...

I tried to explain to them that that equivalence wasn't there. That the magnitude of what happens to Hindu minorities in 🇵🇰🇧🇩 is much worse presently and historically than what happens in 🇮🇳 to minorities.

They weren't having it.

"I don't believe you. India is just as bad"

Now India is of course not perfect, now or historically. But it is a work in progress. It is diversity in action in a way very few countries (🇺🇸 & 🇧🇷 only ones that come to mind) can compete with. India IS pluralism, both its virtues and flaws.

theemissary.co/india-where-pl…

By this point, we linked up with a few other friends & the convo dropped. But I'll keep going with other explanations of this phenomenon that I've seen speaking with my 🕉️🇺🇸 friends

Note - religiousness didn't really correlate strongly with a propensity to speak up vs atrocities

A common thread I've seen to wish away/deny atrocities done to Hindus in the subcontinent:

Modi=Trump

A very simple notion that has a number of externalities.

Hindu-Americans are pretty woke from my personal experience. Standard diatribes against "45" are common when talking politics with my 🕉️🇺🇸 friends. I don't really care as I don't support him, but the TDS gets tiring after a while.

And the comparisons with Modi are stupid AF.

As I've said before: Modi has done more socialism in 1 term than Bernie Sanders will ever do in his lifetime.

Periodt.

Modi comes from an extremely underprivileged background. His demeanor is diff. He holds a number of US LW positions, etc...

theemissary.co/the-special-on…

Right Wing, Left Wing, "nationalism", "conservative" and other meaningless labels are even more meaningless when thrown into the ocean of Indian politics. They sink into nothingness. They're irrelevant.

But to Hindu-Americans - "Right-Wing", "Nationalist", "conservative"= RACIST

I don't care about your 14 syllable ideology. People see things through simple lenses. It doesn't matter what Modi and Trump actually do to a lot of people. It matters how they are characterized.

See virtualism in Bruno Macaes' new book

amzn.to/3oGa8hU

No ifs, ands, or buts.

Fuck your nuance.
Damn it to hell.

Hassan Minhaj told me what I need to know in a 12 minute 37 second segment on a now canceled Netflix show. I read the NYT headline of the article where they complain why more Indian people don't die of coronavirus.

Additionally, it's quite clear that "South Asian" organizations in the US have explicitly blacked out mentioning these atrocities as it would hurt their respective lobbies (oh you can guess them come on 😉).

With community orgs, media, & celebrities silent - how can 🇺🇸 be aware?

Now let's talk about religiousness. Note - I don't care about others' religiousness. It's not my business. But I'll bring my 3rd person POV.

Be butthurt as you please or agree as you please 😊

Hindu-Americans have some of the highest retention rates of religious identification in the US.

religionwriter.com/reviews/survey…

I can't judge others' religiosity, but from what I've anecdotally seen. Hinduism is many times a more aesthetic/background thing than practice for 🕉️🇺🇸

Random rituals factor in too, but overall 🕉️🇺🇸 just aren't as "self-aware"

Another thing-explicit politics is pretty far removed at Hindu temples vs other religions.

Khalistan & Kashmir-like rhetoric isn't a mainstay in Mandirs

& honestly, I am glad this is the case personally

Religion to me is more about immediate community and individual practice.

I've seen firsthand how the ugliness of politics warps American religious communities where identity realpolitik replaces spirituality for many of these "religious adherents."

Where insulting the "Other" is more important than praising the Omniscient.

Ideally, religion would be separate from politics. But we can't deny a battlefield once we're on it. Hopefully, temples stay out of the fray of such rhetoric, but 🕉️🇺🇸 orgs outside of it strengthen.

So in conclusion, the answer to the question:

1. Genuine unawareness of 🕉️ injustices driven by media, community/political org blackout
2. RW/LW notions don't translate well across 🇮🇳/🇺🇸 politics. Many 🕉️🇺🇸 see red once RW is mentioned.
3. Religion/politics don't mix at 🇺🇸🛕