Time to Stop Hinduphobia in America
Hindus in the United States have faced discrimination, commercialization, and misuse in public discourse. This needs to be stopped as the United States of America which portrays itself as the flag bearer of secularism and human rights
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi becomes the fourth head of government to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in his first month in office, the latter, should be reminded of his promise during the electioneering that anti-Hindu campaigns and activities all over the world, including America, must stop. “ I love Hindus”, he had said.
Unfortunately, however, his own team members like Kash Patel, who is his nominee for becoming the FBI Chief , and Vivek Ramaswamy are now being hounded out by the Democratic senators and some of Trump’s MAGA activists, , essentially for being Hindus.
Hindus make up the fourth-largest religious group in the United States. Most American Hindus are immigrants from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Caribbean.
The Hindu population in the United States is concentrated in urban areas. The states with the largest Hindu populations are New Jersey, California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. There are over 1,000 Hindu temples and religious centres.
Hindus in the United States have faced discrimination, commercialization, and misuse in public discourse. This needs to be stopped as the United States of America which portrays itself as the flag bearer of secularism and human rights.
The rise of Hinduphobia in the U.S. is an alarming trend, but it rarely finds its appropriate space, whether in media or in the political circles in America. No wonder why ahead of the presidential elections on November 5, Hindus for America First, a newly created grassroots organisation, had announced its support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his ‘Pro-India’ policy and pledge to erase Hinduphobia.
Several examples have been cited to highlight how Hindu Americans often face harassment and prejudice in public life, including during political campaigns and even in the educational sphere. According to them, many Hindu American students feel socially isolated due to their religious identity, with significant numbers reporting negative experiences related to discussions about Hinduism in schools, and they highlight that this is largely due to the “bias against Hindus in educational institutions starting from schools”.
Professor Kundan Singh, who teaches at Sofia University in California has written a book named ‘Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children’ in which he argues how the colonial mindset portrays Hindus and Hinduism in a negative light in school textbooks, which psychologically impacts the Hindu American children, instilling in them inferiority and shame regarding their culture and civilisation.
He states, “In American academia, Hindus are shown in a bad light, as texts on them portray them as hierarchical and oppressive. Even in the sixth standard school textbooks, Hindus are shown in such a narrow sense. The rampant conflation of Hinduism with caste and by default, with hierarchy and oppression causes shame which ultimately impacts the healthy identity formation of the Hindu American children.”
And all this at a time when the Indian Hindus contribute the most to the American economy, because of their higher earnings and higher education. They pay over 5 percent of the taxes in America.
