Conference: Hindu Dharma, Hindutva and Hindudvesha

Session 1 – Day 1

Virtual conference : Featuring panel discussions and lectures, and a galaxy of Hindu Intellectuals and Scholars

“Dismantling Global Hindutva” is a new phrase that is designed to galvanize and unify the forces of Hindudvesha, while gaslighting and confusing the Hindus worldwide. It is a clarion call for a sustained program of action, with violent undertones, not just a forum for seemingly innocuous intellectual discussion. It is Hindudvesha in the raw, i.e., a settled and ideologically driven, institutionalized hatred for Hindu Dharma and the Hindu people, bold, unvarnished, and unembarrassed. As this phrase gains momentum through sheer repetition – it should be recognized as a call for violence, an ethnocide i.e., a cultural erasure that has the potential for the legitimation of violence against the Hindus on a global scale.
What is the relationship between Hindu Dharma and Hindutva? Are they simply different names for one and the same phenomenon? When someone is seeking to ‘Dismantle Global Hindutva,’ are they merely problematizing a phenomenon called Hindutva that they define on their own terms – or are they really targeting Hindus as a whole, in the guise of dismantling Hindutva? Are they naming some subsection of the Hindu community who are allegedly ‘Hindutva’, and seeking to divide the Hindu community into “Good Hindus” and “Bad Hindus”, or are they reserving the right to label any Hindu as ‘Hindutva’ at their own moment of choosing, with all the consequences thereof?
What is Hindutva anyway? Who owns the definition of the term ‘Hindutva’? Do the enemies of Hindu Dharma get to define what Hindutva is? Does it refer to the ‘essence of being’ a Hindu i.e., the ‘Hindu Tattva’? Or does it refer to a specific historical movement that came into being in the 1920’s in India to protect Hindu Dharma? Do we need a contemporary clarification of what this term ‘Hindutva’ really means – today – for our generation?
What is Hindudvesha? Is it the same as Hinduphobia or Hindumisia or a form of Hindu-baiting or Anti-Hindu rhetoric? Where does it emanate from, and to what purpose? Is it a new phenomenon or has it been around for a long time? What are the characteristics of Hindudvesha? How should the Hindu community respond to this rising drumbeat of global Hindudvesha, wearing this garb of ‘dismantling Hindutva’? Is being silent an option? Does it not fulfill the very mission of Hindudvesha i.e., to silence the Hindu voice? How do we protect, preserve, and transmit our Dharma for our future generations, without speaking up?
“Hindu Dharma, Hindutva and Hindudvesha” is a virtual conference which will attempt to address many of these pressing questions that one billion Hindus around the world are facing today. This conference, to be held in October 2021 as part of the Hindu Heritage Month, is a platform for a variety of voices, and a variety of perspectives. It will showcase the diversity of views within the Hindu world, and feature friends of the Hindu community from other adjacent traditions. It will clarify, define, and hopefully set out a charter for unified action, in the future.