Most Indian origin people and Indians are often reacting to constant attacks on their culture in recent times. USCIRF report against religious freedom in India during 2018-2020 period often highlights the American State Department view of India. The bonhomie between the PM of India and the President of the United States notwithstanding, these reports are meant to produce a guilt amongst the majority of Hindus that they are not doing enough for religious minorities in India. These reports are biased in nature as anyone with an open mind and free information can understand as well as fact check. If you look at the profile of commissioners of USCIRF, anyone can understand that they are religiously biased against Hindus. They have very little understanding of India, forget about even Indian Americans in the USA. Furthermore, they are partial to American Muslim groups of Middle Eastern origins. These commissioners base their reports on anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist lobbies in USA to create a fake account of Muslim victimhood. Their reports have neither been vetted by Hindu organizations in the USA, nor have they been connected to the reality in India. What does it mean for India and Indian Americans? These reports are propaganda tools of American State Department and Middle Eastern groups to attack the Hindu religion by falsifying information to the US government. It also means that a new phase of systematic persecution of Hindus in the USA is about to begin, which will significantly affect trade between the United States and India.
Indian students contribute roughly $10b annually to American Universities. Indian American taxpayers contribute almost $800b annually to American exchequer. But these numbers have no bearing on the overly partisan organizations such as USCIRF. Not a single Hindu is appointed to these commissioner positions because of strong lobbying efforts of Muslim and Christian groups. Does it affect India? Absolutely not, in the immediate time frame. But will it affect India in the next 10 years? Absolutely, because the US is gradually becoming a very intolerant nation especially against non-Abrahamic faiths. Native Americans were systematically wiped out by Christian missionary organizations over the centuries. The American education system is gradually introducing racial content in their curricula to shame whites for their past colonial excesses. That is giving rise to cases of ‘White Guilt’, which is exploited by American Islamic organizations to attain their religious objectives across the world. It is a very clever strategy by religious American academics who carry biases against Hindus and Buddhists. The ultimate goal is to put Hindus and thereby India on the defensive to extract favorable trade deals by weakening the democracy in India.
The narrative peddled by American universities, American Islamic organizations and USCIRF is that Muslims and Christians are oppressed by Hindus in India. Most Indian Americans were appalled at these allegations against Hindus in the USA and India. The massacre of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan has been conveniently ignored by these fascist American Islamic organizations. The fact is that Hindus are oppressed by the same organizations in the USA. They introduced the politics of caste against Hindu Americans in American campuses to shame the Hindu faith. The European word ‘caste’ is used against Hindus to make them feel guilty. Most Indians fall for their aggression and start defending which makes these fascist American organizations appear victorious in their own minds. Dismantling Hindutva conference was organized by Rutgers University which was supported by many of American Muslim organizations to create a fake narrative against Hindu faith. I did not see any ‘Dismantling Radical Islamism’ conference organized by any Hindu organizations in the USA.
The religious persecution of non-Muslim minorities in Islamic nations is not being taught in American Universities. Many global analysts think that it is Chinese propaganda to destroy investments in India. I differ from them after studying the medieval mindset of many of these American Muslim lobbyists who hide their real religious objectives behind the charade of American progressives. It seems that religious superiority wars are again being waged against the natives in the guise of liberalism and progressivism. The freedom of speech and choice of faith that is guaranteed by the American Constitution has been violated because there is no religious representation of Hindu Americans in USCIRF, American Universities and in key presidential appointments. Successive American administrations have done only lip service to the religious human rights of Hindus, Native Americans and Buddhists in the USA.
Things can only improve for Hindus in America if the Indian government also creates an organization that independently studies religious freedom in the world for the natives of those lands. It is only the Hindu faith that guarantees freedom of thought and practice to all other faiths. Such liberties are not available in Islamism and “Christianism” faith systems. The current state of religious freedom in the USA is alarming with increasing attacks against Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists. The American sanctions diplomacy on fake grounds is the biggest security threat to the world today. As most American institutions are gradually taken over by supremacist narratives of religious fascist organizations, it is becoming increasingly clear that justice for religious minorities in the USA cannot be expected from these institutions. It is the duty of American Justice Department, American Education Department and State Department to ensure that American institutions have fair representation from Hindu Americans to ensure that religious persecution of Hindus doesn’t begin. Otherwise, the world is looking at another Hindu genocide and this will be in the land of free and brave.
Aditya Satsangi is the author of the widely acclaimed book ‘Gold, Glory & God’, which talks about the historical persecution of natives by faith based organizations. Views expressed in this piece are the writer’s personal.