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“Hinduphobia comes from Left and Right not just in US but anywhere in the West; an achievement in itself, for there is probably no other issue on which Left and Right agree in Western discourse except on bashing Hinduism and Hindus. Academia in the West is one such place where Hinduphobia is prevalent, Tier-1 and top notch institutions are no exception in this matter. Every once in a while such involving Hinduphobia comes to fore and is clearly on its way of becoming institutionalized marginalizing and maligning Hindus. One such incident came to lime light recently at none other than Oxford in United Kingdom. The incident involves a Rashmi Samant a hindu women student who got elected as president of Student association at Oxford and is forced to resign as a president of a students union. Because she is a Hindu.
Rashmi hails from Coastal region of Karnataka, a graduate student studying MSc at Oxford Campus. She recently made headlines when she got elected as the first female Indian president at the oxford university student union. She received a majority of the votes over 1960 votes compared to the 3708 needed and she had highlighted the need for greater decolonization and inclusivity on campus in her manifesto at the oxford student union leadership election. A few days later Rashmi was forced to resign from her post, she terminated her social media presence and essentially she was targeted because she is a Hindu.
The hounding reached another level when a fellow Indian who is a post-doctoral scholar at Oxford made vociferous comments about Rashmi and her parents being Hindus and for a social media post praising " Ram" who is one of the main gods in the Hinduism.
It was essentially an Indian Hindu-hating campaign framed according to European sentiments because the location happened to be Britain. Canvassing only Samant’s Hindu roots and pro-Modi parents would not have succeeded in Britain. So, ridiculous charges were brought against her to depose her.
To Indian Hindu haters, whether Hindu-born or otherwise, it is not enough for a Hindu to be politically correct. A Hindu has to hate his/her root and origin, and the hatred has to be overtly expressed and proved in public. Not wearing it on the sleeve is a sign of complicity in the crime. The only good Hindu is the one who is anti-Hindu.
Professor Dr Sarkar paid his dues in the past by smashing Saraswati idols, and he thinks it is only fair that every Hindu does something of that nature to be deemed fit. Otherwise, no amount of apology or clarification of intent will do, as amply evidenced in Samant’s case. The more earnest her apologies and pleas for understanding grew, louder the calls grew for her resignation. Finally, in despair and undergoing psychological trauma , she resigned.
The CRAE and other student bodies, including the Oxford University Hindu Society (that called for her resignation along with the resignation of the Indian history faculty who said Oxford is not ready for a Sanatani president, though without effect), became front organizations to stage a coup of essentially Indian origin.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. "India as the land of Mahatma Gandhi and said it can never turn its eyes away from racism". He also said "what was the treatment meted out to her?" he asked. "Shouldn't this diversity been celebrated?" "Instead of that, she was cyberbullied to the point that she had to resign. Even the Hindu religious belief of her parents was publicly attacked by a faculty member, which went unpunished. If this happens at an institute like Oxford what is the message that goes out to the world,"
Author: Kiran Kishore Gandikota
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