Hinduphobia Is A Fancy Name For Hindu Hate

The PM of Pakistan raised the issue of Islamophobia(as he always does) at the recently concluded 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

I agree with him. Islamophobia is real and has risen since 9/11. Particularly in the western world- women in burqas, people with Muslim names, men in Islamic attire — are viewed with skepticism. If you hear Allah Hoo Akbar in a crowded place, you will start running frantically. People have even refused to board flights seeing Muslim passengers on the plane.

There is a fear of Muslims that still reminds people of 9/11.

No one can deny that Islamophobia exists.

Hinduphobia

Along the lines of Islamophobia, I see the term Hinduphobia being used repeatedly on social media in the last few weeks. Hinduphobia is a fancy name given to Hindu Hatred. People using it are doing a disservice to their fellow victim Hindus by diluting the real reason behind their being picked out and attacked.With all due respect to the people speaking up about Hinduphobia, however noble your intentions are, you need to stop using this term.The definition of Hinduphobia is broad and also includes fear of Hindus — which does not exist.

Rising Hindu Hatred in South Asia

In the last 40 days:

1. In the Islamic Republic of Bangladesh — 60 Hindu homes vandalized, 20 torched, 120 temples desecrated, and some Bangladeshis on social media revealed the barbarity of the recent attacks on Hindus in their country — women and minor girls in the households brutally gang-raped by mobs of religious fanatics.

This happened during the Hindu festival of Navratra, when Hindus worship the nine forms of feminine divinity.

There were conflicting reports on how it started — originally, a Facebook post by a Hindu disrespecting the Quran was said to be the instigator.

Later, the story changed to the Quran being placed on the lap of a Hindu God idol during one of the celebrations in a Mandap ( makeshift structure built to house Hindu idols) that sparked the riots.

Fanatic Mobs descended upon Hindu temples and residences — no one cared to know if the story was authentic.

A few days later, a Muslim man named Iqbal Hossain was arrested by police for placing the copy of the Quran on the lap of the idol at puja mandap in Cumilla on October 13.

No one torched his house, and no one broke into his house to harm his family.

The hate was reserved only for the Hindus.

2. Pakistan beat India in the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup. It was a well-deserved victory — they outplayed India in every department of the game.

What followed was a series of remarks highlighting the rising Hindu hatred in South Asia — some expected, some shocking.

• A serving Pakistan Minister called it a Victory of Islam and Muslims all over the world. Not surprising — it’s always a victory of Islam when Pakistan wins and just a cricket match when it loses.
• In a post-match presentation ceremony, Bazir Khan(ex-Pakistani Cricketer) greeted the Pakistan Cricket Captain with the phrase, “Lekin Kufr to toot Gaya”, to which Babar Azam(the captain) replied- “All because of Allah.”

KUFR is Arabic for “disbeliever.”

Disbeliever of what?

- The Quran and its message.

It is a derogatory term used to denote non — Muslims

Kufr toot gaya means the disbelievers have been destroyed.

• Pakistan fast bowling legend Waqar Younis, who is much revered in India as well, claimed on a TV channel, “the best moment of the match was when Mohammad Rizwan( Pakistani player) read the Namaz ( Muslim prayer) on the Cricket ground amidst the Hindu’s.”

3. Senior Congress leader and former Law Minister of India, Salman Khurshid, released his book Sunrise Over Ayodhya a few days ago.

Congress is the main opposition party in India at the moment.

In the book, he compares Hindutva to terrorist organizations ISIS and Boko Haram.

What is Hindutva?

Hindutva means “Being Hindu” or “Hinduness.”

To tackle the growing clout of Modi, Hindutva has been re-defined as a violent politico-religious ideology by the Left and Congress in India.

The current ruling party, BJP(Bharatiya Janta Party), does rely on Hindus as its vote bank.

But how well has its Hindutva ideology worked for it?

The BJP was founded in 1980. Before that, it functioned as BSP from 1951 to 1980.

Since 1947, BJP has only been in power 3 times — once from 2000 to 2004 and twice from 2014 till 2024. Only 14 years out of the 74 years of independent India.

If people in India voted based on religion, the BJP would have ruled India for a much larger time frame.

Hindutva is only an idealogy — one does not have to agree with it — but even in its worst form, all it has ever achieved is demolition of a disputed structure which Muslims claimed was a mosque, and Hindus claimed was a temple converted into a mosque.

A senior BJP leader led a procession that went out of control and desecrated the structure.

(The Bombay riots and bomb blasts took place after this incident)

Although converting temples into mosques was standard practice under Islamic rule in India, this structure held much religious significance for the Hindus because they believe it marked the birthplace of the Hindu God, Ram.

The demolishing of the structure was an unwanted event in Indian history, but no one died that day. And, no, the 80% population of India did not reward the BJP for this act with a thumping victory in the next elections.

That was the worst of the Hindutva ideology that supposedly deserves comparison with 2 notorious terror organizations that have killed thousands all over the world.

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This Hindu hatred is also being fueled by the Western Media houses that continue to attack Hindus in an attempt to target the Modi Government.

I have no idea who funds them, but their target is clear: A Muslim lynching is “Hindu Genocide of Muslims in India”, while a massacre of Hindus is “Communal Tension Leaves 50 dead in India.”

I want to tell them — Stop pushing for a Hindu holocaust only to fill your pockets.

There are only 2 Hindu majority countries in the world — Nepal and India.

Hindus have already faced extinction in the past — India is the only country that managed to retain its original culture despite 1000 years of Islamic rule.

BJP is a Hindu nationalist party, but religion is not the reason people vote for it. Continuously demonizing Hindus will not make Modi lose elections, attack him on his policies and his failures.

And just like this Hindutva comparison to ISIS and Boko Haram, the Congress and its eco-system is the one that uses religion to divide the country, only to blame Modi for it.