Is this your first time hearing about Hinduphobia? Learn more about what it actually means:
Hinduphobia is a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviors towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as prejudice, fear, or hatred.
Hinduphobic rhetoric reduces the entirety of Sanatana Dharma to a rigid, oppressive, and regressive tradition. Prosocial and reflexive aspects of Hindu traditions are ignored or attributed to outside, non-Hindu influences. This discourse actively erases and denies the persecution of Hindus while disproportionately painting Hindus as violent. These stereotypes are used to justify the dissolution, external reformation, and demonization of the range of indigenous Indic knowledge traditions known as Sanatana Dharma.
The complete range of Hinduphobic acts extends from microaggressions to genocide. Hinduphobic projects include the destruction and desecration of Hindu sacred spaces; aggressive and forced proselytization of Hindu populations; targeted violence towards Hindu people, community institutions, and organizations; and, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Some Examples
References
Adluri, V. P. (2011). Pride and prejudice: Orientalism and German Indology. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 15(3), 253—292.
Adluri, V., & Bagchee, J. (2015). The nay science: A history of German Indology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Adluri, V., & Bagchee, J. (2019). Cry Hindutva: How rhetoric trumps intellect in South Asian studies. Academia. Retrieved February 6, 2021 from https://www.academia.edu/40082617/Cry_Hindutva_How_Rhetoric_Trumps_ Intellect_in_South_Asian_Studies
Jain, M. (2016). Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist missionaries, and the changing colonial discourse. New Delhi: Aryan Books International.
Jain, M. (2019). “Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Episodes from Indian history”. Aryan Books International.
Juluri, V. (2015). Rearming Hinduism: Nature, Hinduphobia, and the return of Indian intelligence. Chennai: Westland.
Juluri, V. (2020). “Hindu nationalism” or “Hinduphobia”? Ethnocentrism, errors, and bias in media and media studies. In Sharma, D. (Ed.), Ethics, Ethnocentrism and Social Science Research, (1st Edition, pp. 147-173). Routledge.
Long, J. D. (2017). Reflections on Hinduphobia : A perspective from a scholar-practitioner. Prabuddha Bharata, 122(12), 797–804.
Sharma, A. (2012). Problematizing religious freedom. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Sharma, A. (2018). The ruler’s gaze: A study of British rule over India from a Saidian perspective. India: HarperCollins.
Sharma, A. (2018). Dharma and the Academy: A Hindu Academic’s View. American Journal of Indic Studies, 1(1), 1-16.