Thread by @IAMCouncil

“ Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy and the exclusion of members of other Indian religious groups from equal participation in society, originally in India and, increasingly, in the United States” ~ @RutgersU’s @AudreyTruschke

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

“For more than 5 years, I have received hate mail from Hindu supremacists every single day. I have been target of so many death and rape threats that I have lost count. Last week a threat was made on a general Rutgers phone number by a man spouting Hindu supremacist rhetoric.”

“My family, too, have been threatened with all manner of violence, including my children who are currently ages 7, 5, and 3. I often require armed security when I speak publicly, whether about modern South Asia or ancient Indian history.”

“I want to emphasize how extraordinary and worrisome it is that I require armed protection – on US soil – to speak about areas of my scholarly expertise” ~ @RutgersU’s @AudreyTruschke

“Hindu nationalist groups have tried to prompt my employer, @RutgersU, to take punitive action against me. Many Hindu supremacists openly discuss trying to influence the New Jersey state government and elected officials in order to silence me, a scholar.”

“​​Some of this harassment has come from overseas, but a certain share comes from the United States. In fact, Hindu supremacists born and raised on US soil have taken over a leadership role in the relentless attacks against me in recent months.”

“Hindu supremacists find much of South Asian history threatening, especially the many parts featuring Muslims. The same folks who attack me for teaching about Muslims in India’s past also demonize Muslims today as their primary enemy.”

“Hindu nationalist largely sat out India’s independence struggle against British colonial rulers in the first half of the 20th century because they—the Hindu nationalists--identified Muslims, rather than the British, as their primary enemy” ~ @RutgersU’s @AudreyTruschke

“Many other scholars of South Asia have been targeted as well – not only by nationalists overseas but also by US citizens who are part of this homegrown form of Hindu supremacist hate.”

“Hindu supremacist attacks against me and other scholars reached a crescendo in March and April of 2021, in a series of coordinated attacks. That experience, plus years of enduring vitriol, prompted me & twenty colleagues to form southasiacollective.org.”

“Our first act as a collective was to author the Hindutva Harassment Field Manual (hindutvaharassmentfieldmanual.org), a freely available online resource that explains how Hindu supremacist hate, also known as Hindutva, is organized.”

“The field manual covers how Hindu supremacists make bad faith claims of bias, trying to hide their bigotry behind the smokescreen of Hinduism. It offers guidance & resources for how to navigate Hindu nationalist assaults, for targets, allies, students.”

“The recent lawsuit against me is the most recent line of attack in a concerted set of pressures that aim to stop scholarly work and to exert Hindu supremacist control over academics. Such goals are, simply put, unacceptable and anti-intellectual.”