Vandals broke into the Carapo Shiv Mandira mandir in Trinidad on May 7, 2022 and destroyed the inner structure, stole some items, and cooked and ate beef in the mandir. Beef is prohibited in Hindu life.
This crime has been termed a hate crime. The desecration of mandirs and Roman Catholic churches happens from time to time in Trinidad.
Hate crimes emanate from cultures and ideologies (like religion) that hate diversity and want all people to believe and worship in one way, to look like them, have the same skin colour, and so on. The Europeans and Abrahamic religions engaged in centuries of wars because of religion. Islamic and European imperialism saw Governments expanding their geographical space through invasions and colonisation. Then the European race theory evolved to justify the superiority of the white race and the inferiority of those who were not white (as in Africa, India, China, and so on).
We in the Caribbean have been colonised by European countries like Spain, England, Holland, France, Portugal, Sweden, and Denmark, which ruled us and exploited our resources like sugar, cocoa, and so on for their benefit. Today, more powerful countries exploit the weaker ones for their oil and skilled labour.
Enslaved peoples were said to have no “soul”, and were not fully “human beings”, and so were not entitled to human rights. America is still unable to overcome that hurdle in its churches, politics, economy, etc. The most common hate crime is against African-Americans. However, America leads by having legislation against most forms of racism and discrimination, and acting on them — even if not to our satisfaction — most times.
Recently, a US citizen of Peruvian origin ended up with lifelong injuries because a “hater” threw acid on his face in Milwaukee. The “hater” got a ten-year sentence, and the judge noted, “We’re all different from one another. When we let those differences cloud our judgment, that’s bias or prejudice or discrimination; and in this instance, it is hate.”
Hatred is part of our history – of how the ones with power treated us, and how the oppressed, in turn, treated others when they come to political power. The cycle continues. The Gita teaches that three gates destroy the atman: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one should abandon all three (BG 16.21).
Every religion claims to be peaceful and to have a love for all, yet the world is in turmoil by these very “religious adherents.”
In recent years, there have been renewed attacks on Hindus in the western world, no doubt taking inspiration from similar attacks in India and the kinds of anti-Hindu narratives that are being manufactured in American universities. Guyana, in 2004, saw a furore over a virulently racist anti-Hindu book, “Sacred Duty: Hinduism and Violence in Guyana”, written by a professor of the University of the West Indies, Dr Kean Gibson. Again we see the complicity of academia in concocting hateful and false narratives against groups that do not fit their political ideologies.
Today, Hindus in American universities are afraid to attend some classes, because their teachers teach them horrible things about Hindu civilisation, and how their ancestors were bad, violent people who oppressed others, and all of this was because of their dharma. Many end up with low self-esteem and feel ashamed to call themselves Hindus. We in the Caribbean have had this same experience for most of our lives.
The term “progressive” is seductively used to suggest to Hindus that “progressive Hinduism” is about being modern and not old-fashioned and ritualistic. This is the Marxist ideology that the first political leaders of independent India used to guide the development of India, where Hindus are a majority. The modern anti-Hindu rhetoric, however, began with a British person called James Mill (1773–1836) who NEVER visited India, but wrote texts about India and its peoples that became the authoritative text for learning about India.
Now this epistemic violence to our civilisational values is at odds with the reality of an India that welcomed oppressed peoples like the Jews, Sufis, Shiite Muslims, Parsis, and more. There are a lot of people in India who love to hate Hindus. The universities in America lead in the construction of anti-Hindu narratives.
American Hindus are leading in the pushback against distortions of Sanatana Dharma. They note that Hinduphobia, or anti-Hindu hatred, has a tragically long history which continues to this day across the globe. It is fuelled by a range of factors, including religious intolerance; religious exclusivism; a lack of religious literacy; misrepresentation in the media; academic bias still rooted in oftentimes racist, colonial-era misportrayals; and, in the diaspora, generalised anti-immigrant xenophobia and hatred (see Hindu American Foundation website for more).
In 2021, some American universities got together to host an anti-Hindu conference termed “Dismantling Hindutva” at Rutgers University. Hindus around the world rose in one voice against the hate and epistemic violence that emanated. A conference hosted by Hindu students at Rutgers University was then held, and the following working definition of Hinduphobia was a result.
Hinduphobia is a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.
Hinduphobic rhetoric reduces the entirety of Sanatana Dharma to a rigid, oppressive, and regressive tradition. Prosocial and reflexive aspects of Hindu traditions are ignored or attributed to outside, non-Hindu influences. This discourse actively erases and denies the persecution of Hindus, while disproportionately painting Hindus as violent. These stereotypes are used to justify the dissolution, external reformation, and demonisation of the range of indigenous Indic knowledge traditions known as Sanatana Dharma.
The complete range of Hinduphobic acts extends from microaggressions to attempts at genocide. Hinduphobic projects include the destruction and desecration of Hindu sacred spaces; aggressive and forced proselytisation of Hindu populations; targeted violence towards Hindu people, community institutions, and organisations; and ethnic cleansing and genocide.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that it is very possible to love yourself without hating the other, and we need to live in mutual respect of each, once we are not advocating violence. The Hindu American Foundation reminds us that Sanatana Dharma is the world’s oldest living religion. It is a natural religion, meaning its philosophies and practices are considered universally accessible through sincere study, reason, and experience, apart from special revelation. Hinduism is also an indigenous religion made up of a diverse family of philosophies and traditions that have been practised primarily throughout Asia for thousands of years. Today, Hinduism is a global religion with adherents representing virtually every racial, ethnic and national background, living on every continent, and comprising majorities in three countries: India, Nepal, and Mauritius.
For more peaceful and respectful living, Vedic knowledge advises: Let your aims be common, and your hearts of one accord, and all of you be of one mind, so you may live well together (Rig Veda 10.191:4).
Strong One, make me strong. May all beings look at me with the eye of a friend! May I look at all beings with the eye of a friend! May we look at one another with the eye of a friend! (Yajur Veda 36: 18).
