India: controversy around a symposium on Hindu extremism in the United States
For many supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this colloquium was actually a way of discriminating against Hindus.
Prakash SINGH AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Controversy in India when a symposium on Hindu extremism took place this weekend in the United States.
Many supporters of the ruling BJP party saw it as an attack on the country.
Several Indian speakers had to give up attending the conference after receiving death threats.
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With our correspondent in Bangalore
,
Côme Bastin
Even though the event took place across the Atlantic, it divided the Indians a little more.
His code of conduct ?
Deconstruct Hindutva, that is, Hindu extremism.
In partnership with numerous universities, this series of conferences brought together world specialists in this nationalist and religious ideology, including Frenchman Christophe Jaffrelot.
But several weeks before the conference, the web ignited.
For many supporters of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
, it was really about discriminating against Hindus.
The Minister of Labor called it an "
open declaration of hatred against India
".
The #DismantlingGlobalHindutva Conference is an open declaration of hate against India.
A strong India, set firmly on the path of atmanirbharta, has rattled her detractors.
The knowledge of oneness defines Hindutva.
Many tried to dismantle it.
None succeeded.
- Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) September 11, 2021
Hindutva calls non-believers the worst of creatures.
forbids marrying them.
Hindutva recommends conditional wife-beating.
Believers of Hindutva blew up Bamiyan Buddhas.
Hindutva is responsible for 31,221 major terror attacks in the last 20 years.
Come, let us dismantle Hindutva.
- Anand Ranganathan (@ ARanganathan72) September 11, 2021
The freedom of retreating researchers
As a result, hundreds of thousands of emails were sent to universities calling for the event to be canceled, even crashing the servers at Drew University in New Jersey.
More worryingly, some speakers based in India gave up participating in the discussions after receiving death threats.
In recent years, the freedom of researchers has declined in India,
as the BJP party
has placed relatives at the helm of many universities.
This intimidation campaign now raises the question of freedom of expression internationally.
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To read
: 75 years after independence, what future for Indian democracy?
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