Addressing Discrimination And Promoting Inclusivity

ADDRESSING A VEXED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RELIGION

Recently, in February 2021, Rashmi Samant, a graduate student pursuing M.Sc. at Linacre College get elected as the first female Indian President of the Oxford University Student Union.¹ She had received 1966 out of 3708 casted votes in the election held on February 11, 2021, on the basis of her manifesto highlighting the need for greater "decolonization and inclusivity" within the campus. However, after a few days, she was forced to resign from the post just because she belongs to a religion that is more scientific in nature since ancient times. The western narrative that the ones who follow Hinduism are intolerant which's why they are unfit to be the President of the Oxford Student Union also brought into the context. She got cyberbullied as well as she also faced backlash for her views on 'decolonization' and refusal to hold the view that "colonization was a positive experience for the indigenous people of the colonies." This instance clearly puts a question mark on the so-called democratic ideals of the countries of the Western world who secure top ranks in the Economic Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.²

It was just one instance where a Hindu girl got bullied and forced to resign just because of her religion. There are several such instances in western countries where Hindus faced discrimination just because of their religion and beliefs.³ This article, with the help of various such instances, attempts to elucidate in simple terms about Hinduism, its principles, teachings, etc. It also takes into account the reasons behind such discrimination and what is the stand of the Indian government on the same. Furthermore, it talks about how the Indian government can help the victims of such discrimination prevalent in various countries of the world.

REASONS BEHIND DISCRIMINATION

Answering the question asked above, the Hindus face discrimination in the world as they are the minority community who have their own beliefs and tradition that seems unscientific and an act of mockery to the people living in the western world. "Go back to your country!" is one of the most common phrases that a Hindu is subjected to in the US. In modern America, they are seen as weak both physically and mentally,⁴ stereotypically nerdy, and incredibly awkward. This stereotyping gets bolstered with the help of various TV serials and series. For instance,⁵ in Disney Channel's Jessie, Ravi, a Hindu-Indian American, who is portrayed as one who maintains an excessively strong Indian accent, is shown as awkward, weak, and constantly gets bullied by others in the show. Once he wears a traditional Indian sherwani, he faces humiliation by fellow characters in the show, being described as looking like a "nightclub act" and a "traffic cone with hair." There are more such TV series and serials that propagandize the same in the name of 'comedy.'

As it is a proven fact that we are one what we see and eat. Thus, such TV shows and series play a crucial role in deteriorating the mindset not only of adults but children also get accustomed to it and start practicing the same. It is defended as "just a joke" by one who supports it, but when it becomes the reason behind the hate crimes and discrimination, then they become just a mute spectator. Indian-origin people that are mostly Hindu might not face discrimination of such grave nature as Black peoples but they face discrimination based on their color, which is far from an ideal situation.⁶

INDIAN GOVERNMENT REACTION

"Only thing necessary for the victory of evil is that good men remain silent."

~ Edmund Burke

These words of Edmund Burke aptly fit for the government of Indian, which always remained a mute spectator getting entertained by watching such discriminations prevalent not only in Western countries but in various parts of the divided Indian subcontinent also. The Indian media also not finds such instances full of 'masala' to telecast on television and print on newspapers. However, recently government passed a Constitutional Amendment Act to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindu minorities that flew away back to India after facing discrimination in three neighbouring countries of India.⁷ It should be appreciated and termed as a good step that the government woke up after peacefully watching discrimination for this much of long years.

In December 2020, the Indian government hitting a masterstroke stated in UN that the hypocrisy of the world can be realized when violence against Christianity and Islam gets widely noted and condemned, the persecution of Indian-born religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism is not given due acknowledgment.⁸ Further, he stated that:

"this august body fails to acknowledge the rise of hatred and violence against Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. The shattering of the iconic Bamiyan Buddha by fundamentalists, the terrorist bombing of the Sikh gurudwara in Afghanistan where 25 Sikh worshippers were killed and the destruction of Hindu and Buddhist temples, and minority cleansing of these religions by countries, calls for condemning such acts against these religions also. But the current member-states refuse to speak of these religions in the same breath as the first three 'Abrahamic' religions."⁹ Here, the 'three Abrahamic religions' are Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

Further, recently one month ago, addressing the above-mentioned issue where Rashmi Samant, an Indian-origin girl got bullied and forced to resign from the Oxford University Student Union, Dr. S. Jaishankar, the Foreign Minister of India, stated in the Parliament that "as the land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from the racism, particularly when it is a country with which we have such large ties....we will take up such matter with great candor when required we will monitor these developments very closely, and we will win the fight against such intolerance."¹⁰ This speech might give us hope that the Indian government is now getting somewhat vocal in condemning the religious discrimination taking place in various nations. It is need of the hour that such issues get raised again and again in the UN so that double-faced nations might get exposed who become too much vocal about human rights when it comes to 'Abrahamic' religions but not release any single statement when human rights of the members of non-Abrahamic religion get violated.

HOW INDIA CAN ASSIST THE VICTIMS

In Abrahamic majority countries, the atrocities against Hindus hardly get recognized. The estimates state that 95% of the world's Hindus live in India.¹¹ After India, only Nepal is the second country where Hindus reside in the majority. However, there are 126 Christian-majority nations in the world, inclusive of sixteen countries that have officially declared Christianity as the state religion. Furthermore, there are forty-nine Muslim-majority nations. Thus, this data clearly shows that Hindus have no refuge in the world except in India and few other small nations that have a Hindu majority. Whenever Hindus face any discrimination and threat to their lives, they ran towards India regardless of their Indian citizenship. Thus, India must provide them refuge and protect them.

Another thing that the Indian government can do is that it can put up this issue again and again, not only with the countries where Hindus and other India-born religions face discrimination but in the UN as well. It will help in getting the attention of the world attracted towards such human rights violations and might help the persecuted communities. Therefore, the Indian government must look at it as a duty imposed on it to protect the Hindus in the world instead of seeing it as an act done out of generosity and magnanimity.

CONCLUSION

As stated above, India is a home for 95% of the world's Hindus as well as indirectly a home to another only Hindu-majority nation i.e., Nepal. Thus, the Indian government must take cognizance of such discrimination faced by Hindus just because of their religion in different nations. It should be vocally put up in front of the competent authorities so that without affecting international relations, justice shall get served to the victims who face such discrimination.

REFERENCES

1 https://www.firstpost.com/living/resignation-of-rashmi-samant-reveals-toxic-cancel-culture-pervading-academic-institutions-in-the-west-9366821.html

2 https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2020/

3 https://www.firstpost.com/living/resignation-of-rashmi-samant-reveals-toxic-cancel-culture-pervading-academic-institutions-in-the-west-9366821.html

4 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/nris-in-news/indian-americans-in-us-find-themselves-in-an-increasingly-strange-situation/articleshow/58554714.cms?from=mdr

5 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/nris-in-news/indian-americans-in-us-find-themselves-in-an-increasingly-strange-situation/articleshow/58554714.cms?from=mdr

6 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/SilkStalkings/indians-face-racial-stereotyping-too/

7 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/what-is-caa/articleshow/73153785.cms

88 https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/our-un-signal-that-hinduphobia-exists-and-will-be-called-out-too-11607530411516.html

9 https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/our-un-signal-that-hinduphobia-exists-and-will-be-called-out-too-11607530411516.html

10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zHVKi3hNXfo&feature=youtu.be

11 https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/hindu-countries

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.