Thread by @IAMCouncil

“My great grandfather H. R. Guruva Reddy was part of the national liberation struggle against British colonial occupation of India. My grand-uncle K C Reddy was a leading figure in the struggle for independence in the state of Karnataka.” ~ @RutgersU’s @ProfessorKumar.

https://twitter.com/IAMCouncil/status/1435634292835577856

“I grew up from a young age learning about how India was formed as Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. And we took democracy, free speech, secularism and other such values seriously.”

“There has been an alarming move away from secularism and democratic values over the last three decades thanks to the advances of the forces that promote Hindutva. I want to be very clear that Hindutva and Hinduism are not the same” ~ @RutgersU professor @ProfessorKumar.

“Hindutva is a political philosophy that draws on European-style fascism of the early twentieth century. Its goal is to create a Hindu nation. Hindutva is deeply casteist and racist towards all religious minorities, particularly Muslims.”

“Let me also state clearly that criticizing Hindutva is not anti-Hindu or “Hinduphobic,” a baseless term that is used to silence critics of the BJP, the ruling party, and its various affiliates” ~ @RutgersU’s @ProfessorKumar.

“While South Asians do face discrimination in the US and elsewhere, this is not because they are Hindu. I say this as a scholar of race who has spent considerable time studying race and racism” ~ @RutgersU professor @ProfessorKumar

“Fringe groups have placed immense pressure upon universities to back out of the @dghconference. Their line of attack has been to falsely characterize the conference as anti-Hindu, even though conference organizers have made clear its about fascist-inspired Hindutva ideology.”

“Hindu supremacists have bombarded university servers with this disinformation, sending close to one million emails to the Presidents, Provosts, and other officials at cosponsoring universities" ~ @ProfessorKumar

“That their disinformation had no effect can be seen in fact that not a single cosponsor has backed out of the conference. Professors and administrators across the world recognized the bullying for what it was, were informed about the facts and rejected the pressure.”

“Electronic attacks on the conference have included attempts to shut down the Eventbrite registration page; the Facebook page was shut down but conference organizers are working to reinstate it.”

“I am here to emphasize the alarming and serious threat that Hindu supremacists pose to scholars in the US. This is not only a threat to free speech and academic freedom but also a threat to the safety and security of these scholars” ~ @RutgersU professor @ProfessorKumar

“I urge the US Congress to take seriously these threats to academic freedom and to protect scholars who have been threatened and intimidated by Hindu supremacists” ~ @RutgersU professor @ProfessorKumar