HfHR's Australia-New Zealand Chapter Expresses Concern over Attacks Directed at Prof. Mohan Dutta

15 September 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Expressing our concerns over attacks directed at Prof Mohan Dutta

We are writing to you on behalf of Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), an advocacy organisation that provides a platform for progressive Hindus to speak out in support of democratic freedoms and pluralism.

Hindus for Human Rights - Australia and New Zealand expresses deep concern over the vicious and abusive attacks, using multiple platforms, directed at Professor Mohan Dutta, Dean’s Chair Professor Director at the Centre for Culture-centred Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE), Massey University, New Zealand. The attacks falsely accuse Prof Dutta, who has recently presented a paper titled ‘Cultural Hindutva and Islamophobia’ (ATTACHED), of promoting Hinduphobia and putting the “Hindu community in Aotearoa at risk of hate crimes”.

The aforementioned attacks on Prof Dutta, which falsely accuse his work as ‘Hinduphobic’, follow a familiar pattern of attacks by Hindu extremist groups on academics and human rights activists who have spoken out against the rise of Hindutva, an extremist political ideology that advocated for Hindu supremacy and considers India’s religious minorities, especially India’s 250 million Muslims and Christians, as second-class citizens. 

Extremist Hindu groups have a history of accusing the critics of Hindutva of ‘Hinduphobia’ to stifle criticism of their ideology and actions, which have seen a sharp rise in acts of violence against India’s religious minorities since a Hindu nationalist government came to power in 2014. In its 2021 report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that the US designate India as a Country of Particular Concern for “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations,” alongside the likes of China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar.

Another example of the pattern of vicious trolling and threats that academics, who critically examine Hindutva, face was when the organisers and participants of the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference held recently across a number of universities in the USA were falsely attacked by several Hindu groups in India and the US as being ‘Hinduphobic’ and ‘promoting genocide of Hindus’. Many participants received threats of violence and some even death threats. 

We unequivocally reject the accusations against Prof Dutta and urge the governments of Aotearoa and Australia to examine the rise in religious extremism among the Hindutva groups in the two countries which, we believe, poses a serious threat to social cohesion within the Indian diaspora. 

We also ask the government and Massey University to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of Prof Dutta, his family and his colleagues; and to take the necessary legal action against the individuals and organisations involved in the aforementioned acts of threat and intimidation. We also ask that the right circumstances be created to reinstate the CARE social media handles and Prof Dutta’s webinar.

Hindus for Human Rights - Australia and New Zealand (HfHR-ANZ) is the Australian and Aotearoa branch of  Hindus for Human Rights USA, which was founded in 2019. We advocate for pluralism and human rights in South Asia and beyond, rooted in the values of our Hindu faith: shanti (peace), nyaya (justice) and satya (truth). We provide a Hindu voice of resistance to caste, Hindutva (Hindu majoritarianism), and all forms of bigotry and oppression. We work with a broad coalition of partners to educate elected officials and the public in Australasia about human rights issues in South Asia. Our advocacy takes many forms, including government briefings, peaceful protests, op-eds, webinars, conferences, and social media mobilisation.