Thread by @CoHNAOfficial

#Hinduphobia. What’s wrong with this picture? The fact that a university department of @Columbia decides to use sacred Hindu imagery to advertise a politically charged and controversial conference filled with a list of Hinduphobic professors. 1/n

Could @Columbia have used a different picture? Sure, but, instead, the South Asia Institute deliberately targeted Hinduism, Shri Rama for their biased narrative. Academic Freedom not an excuse to target a religion without expecting a response. Let’s also review the speakers. 2/n

Rohit Chopra, Dheepa Sundaram, Thomas Blom Hansen - of last year’s Dismantling Global Hindutva conf which openly targeted Hinduism, singled out five Hindu last names as supporters of violence, called Hinduism a danger to democracy. cohna.org/wp-content/upl… 3/n

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd considers Hinduism a “spiritual fascism” where Hindu gods are killers, and states that Hinduism must be destroyed. michigandaily.com/campus-life/sy… 4/n

Audrey Truschke - called Shri Rama a “misogynistic pig,” maintains that the Mahabharata endorses rape culture and misogyny and the Bhagavad Gita endorses “mass slaughter.”cohna.org/wp-content/upl… 5/n

Truschke and Manan Ahmed of @Columbia are part of SASAC, which continues to deny #Hinduphobia, endorses those who openly hate Hinduism, denies Kashmiri Hindu genocide and gags the rights of Hindus to express themselves. cohna.org/cryinghindutva 6/n

Anand Patwardhan - spoke at last year’s DGH Conf. Also famous for his short movie which targets the Ramayana using false racial and casteist arguments depicting the army of Hanuman and Sugriva as “dark skinned” indigenous people and Rama as a “white skinned” Aryan. 7/n

Irfan Habib - well known Marxist historian in India. Noted archaeologist KK Muhammad has called out Habib & other Marxist historians for misleading the public on Ayodhya/Babri Masjid in spite of clear archaeological evidence. 8/n zeenews.india.com/news/india/hin…

Such gatherings are an exercise in political activism rather than academic conferences - they shun rational debates or alternate views and shut down anyone raising concerns about the misuse of Hindu imagery as “Hindu nationalists” all the while crying “academic freedom.”9/n