Hindus unite to counter Hinduphobia on world stage

Hindudvesha: In the wake of rampant cases of violent attacks and vilification campaigns against Hindus across the world, notable faces among Hindu intellectuals, academicians, journalists, and entrepreneurs united on one platform. They deliberated and vowed to raise awareness and develop counters to the smear campaigns targeted against Hinduism.

International Conference to Counter ‘Hindudvesha’

On April 1, 2023, an International Conference on understanding Hindudvesha (Hindumisia or Hinduphobia) in the globalising world was organised in the Speaker Hall of the Constitution Club of India.

The event was jointly organised by the Kashi Foundation, New Delhi, the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), the Hindu University of America, and the Uttamjan Family Trust, Delhi. The event organisers highlighted that the aim of the event was to develop academic churn and understanding towards growing Hindumisia in a global context.

As per the official press release, the theme of the conference was Hindudvesha, more popularly known as Hinduphobia. This refers to a pervasive discourse that denigrates Hindu Dharma by relentlessly demonising it.

This deplorable discourse is generated in academia, which then infiltrates the educational curricula. Later on, it is eagerly peddled by the global media. The unfortunate thing is that these unfounded smear campaigns have been dominating the public discourse. This necessitated these erudite Hindus from all walks of life to unite and churn out important ideas in the service of Dharma.

The press statement noted that it is unfortunate that a large section of Hindu society is still ignorant of and/or apathetic to the obvious and immediate threat that this anti-Hindu sentiment poses to their physical and material well-being. This makes it challenging to engage the Hindu society in developing effective responses to this threat.

Minutes of meetings

The conference hoped to raise awareness among the global Hindu community about the growing threat to Hindu culture and civilization. Additionally, the international conference aims to engage the intellectual community in studying this phenomenon and developing an effective narrative and capacity to counter it.

The event was divided into four sessions: the inaugural session, the first technical session on Hindudvesha in historical and contemporary context, the second technical session on developing counter-narratives: the role of academics, and the last closing session. The full-day event saw participation from 150 professionals and research scholars from DU and JNU. Around 20 eminent speakers expressed their views about the issue.

In the inaugural session, Dr. Jai Bansal, VP of Education at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), introduced the delegates and guests to the theme of the conference. The key note for the conference was delivered by Prof. Bidyut Chakarbarty, the Vice Chancellor of Vishwa Bharti University.

The 1^st Technical Session on Hindudvesha in Historical and Contemporary Context was moderated by Shri Rahul Kaushik. Professors of Delhi University, namely Mr. Avnijesh Awasthi and Mr. Himanshu Roy, Senior Journalist Mr. Ashok Srivastav and Mr. Atul Mishra, Founder and CEO of The Frustrated Indian Pvt. Ltd., shared their valuable insight on Hinduphobia in India and around the world.

.@TheAtulMishra ji, founder @tfiglobal delivering address at the 1st Technical Session: #Hindudvesha in Historical & Contemporary Context. #kashidialogue @StudyAtHUA @VHPANews pic.twitter.com/QehmNkCy0e

— Kashi Foundation (@Kashi_Found) April 1, 2023

With lightening of lamps one day international conference on UNDERSTANDING #HINDUDVESH IN THE GLOBALISING WORLD at Constitution Club of India – Speaker Hall begins. #KashiDialogue @TheAtulMishra pic.twitter.com/qxQZF7awgD

— Kashi Foundation (@Kashi_Found) April 1, 2023

The speakers highlighted that the roots of the Hindudvesha can be traced back to Bharat’s colonial history. Citing historical examples from India, they discussed a variety of actors who attempted to eradicate the physical and cultural existence of Hindu society, from the invading Islamic aggressors and Portuguese Christian missionaries to British Anglicans and European academics, Marxists, and Neo-Capitalists.

The second technical session emphasised how Western academia contributed to the spread of an anti-Hindu narrative. This was aided by Indian-origin scholars who were influenced by leftist or nihilistic ideologies or were attracted by fellowships at prestigious institutions.

The lecture was designed to raise awareness of the negative impacts of such academics and to inspire participants to work together to develop a counter-narrative against Hindudvesha. Prof. Kapil Kapoor, Dr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma, Prof. Rajkumar Bhatia, and Sh. Sankrant Sanu were among the speakers at the last session, which was moderated by Ms. Richa Gautam. Dr. Jai Bansal, the vice president of education at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, spoke at the conclusion (VHPA).

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Atul Mishra, the founder of TFI and a key attendee of the event, has been working tirelessly to spread accurate knowledge about Hinduism through every medium possible. He has been a vocal supporter of building an ecosystem that exposes the subtle propaganda pushed by leftist intellectuals in the garb of art. Besides running numerous websites on key developments in national and international affairs, he has been urging people to reconnect with their Sanatani heritage, whether it be in picking our attire or naming our kids.

However, he always focuses on building institutions rather than blindly following an individual or ideology and becoming hostage to others’ viewpoints, especially those of the intolerant left liberal groups. For this reason, it is important that Hindu professionals from all walks of life brainstorm in such conferences, which have become the need of the hour.

In the recent past, Hindu society has witnessed an outrageous global agenda against Hinduism. These include programmes or needlessly heated debates like Dismantling Global Hindutva, Hinduism vs. Hindutva, Hindu or Saffron Terror, which are nothing more than the creation of evil minds, and nothing can be further from the truth than this.