Right Word | From Harrow To Harvard: Confronting The Many Faces Of Hinduphobia In The West

To address Hinduphobia, it is important that global academic, media, and policy discourses approach Hindus and their faith with fairness, intellectual honesty, and sensitivity

A series of disturbing events in the Western world have once again brought the issue of Hinduphobia to the fore. The latest incident is an attack on a Holi celebration in Harrow in the United Kingdom.

An X post by UK Insight, a well-known public advocacy group in the UK, gave details of this incident. It said: “Local Hindu families, including women and children, gathered to celebrate peacefully. What should have been a happy occasion was disrupted when a group of Muslim youths reportedly came from a nearby mosque and attacked the event, pushing over speakers and attempting to intimidate those celebrating. After initially leaving, they returned with around 20 others and began attacking members of the gathering. Police were called and arrived approximately an hour later, taking statements from those present."

“After All These Years, I’m Still You”: Anupam Kher Writes Note To 16-Year-Old Self

8th Pay Commission: How Much Will Central Govt Employees' Salaries Rise? What We Know So Far

Shivam Dube's Last Over 22, 3 Wickets In T20 Decider: Fans Dig Up Star's Clutch Moments

Misty Copeland Says Timothée Chalamet ‘Owes’ His Craft To Ballet And Opera

The UK Insight group flagged this incident, emphasising: “No one celebrating a religious festival in Britain should face intimidation or violence. The right to celebrate our faith peacefully is fundamental and must be protected equally for all communities. We demand that the authorities investigate this incident thoroughly and ensure accountability. Community harmony cannot be built on silence when one group is targeted. Hindus in the UK deserve the same safety, dignity and protection as everyone else."

It may be recalled that the UK witnessed riots in Leicester in September 2022, where Muslim mobs went on the rampage targeting Hindus after an India-Pakistan cricket match.

Incidentally, a recent report that emerged from the United Kingdom made wide-ranging allegations against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its ideology of Hindutva in the context of these riots, while brushing the role of Muslim mobs under the carpet. Hindus, who were the victims of these riots, have been mischievously projected as the perpetrators. The report titled “Understanding the 2022 Violence in Leicester" was funded by known Hindu and India baiter George Soros through his notorious Open Society Foundation.

The report was jointly authored by the School of Oriental and African Studies, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and The Monitoring Group. The fact of the matter is that the RSS functions only in India, and yet Hindus and their philosophy were targeted in this report by dragging in the name of the RSS without any evidence.

According to the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies, “A central analytical weakness of the report lies in the disconnect between what it descriptively documents and what it prescriptively recommends: it records intimidation, property damage, temple-targeting, and anti-Hindu harm, yet its principal recommendations are directed towards identifying, isolating, and confronting Hindu ideological formations."

It further adds: “By elevating ‘Hindutva extremism’ into the core policy category, the report risks institutionalising a framework in which Hindus are acknowledged as having suffered harm but are nevertheless rendered the primary object of institutional suspicion, monitoring, and civic management.

The report itself acknowledges verification limits in relation to some of its most politically consequential claims, including alleged involvement of Hindutva-associated actors in the 17 September march and unsupported attributions such as references to ‘Hindutva RSS thugs’. These admissions materially weaken any strong causal inference linking Leicester’s violence to organised Hindutva structures."

Read as a whole, the report does not merely analyse Leicester; it helps construct an official-sounding interpretive framework in which anti-Hindu harms are acknowledged but subordinated to a broader narrative of Hindu ideological risk. The result is a form of institutionalised asymmetry with implications for safeguarding, equality recognition, media discourse, and the public understanding of Hinduphobia in Britain, says the CIHS’ detailed analysis of this report.

In another incident, the Harvard University’s South Asian Studies Department used derogatory images to promote the department’s Elementary Sanskrit course.

After the Coalition of Hindus of North America (COHNA) objected to these images, the department apologised and withdrew them. According to a report in Harvard’s student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, the official statement from the department read: “The South Asian Studies Department deeply regrets the posting of an insensitive image in relation to our Sanskrit programme… As a department, we have a long and celebrated history of teaching Sanskrit, and we remain committed to teaching the language and the great intellectual and cultural tradition it carries."

The Harvard Crimson quoted Pushpita Prasad, chief of communications at the Coalition of Hindus of North America, as saying: “It is very rare for practising Hindus and mainstream Hindu organisations to be consulted on Hinduism."

These incidents point to a pattern where Hindus in the West continue to face hostility, misrepresentation, and institutional indifference. They also raise serious questions about the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion in many Western societies. In contrast, reality often reveals a gap between principle and practice. To address Hinduphobia, it is important that global academic, media, and policy discourses approach Hindus and their faith with fairness, intellectual honesty, and sensitivity.

The writer is an author and columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.

© News18