Manufactured Chaos and the Struggle for Truth: Hindus for Human Rights at FORSEA on Resisting Global Authoritarianism
Hindus for Human Rights is part of a global effort to expose how this chaos machine is being manufactured
We at Hindus for Human Rights are speaking today as part of a broader global effort to analyze, resist, and expose how this chaos is being manufactured, how it is strategic, and how it is meant to disorient us—to leave us questioning what is real, what is trolling, and what is sheer horror.
Speech by Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights & FORSEA Board Member
Namaste Friends, we are gathered today—each of us speaking from different national perspectives—because what is happening in the United States is not contained within its borders. The authoritarianism rising here is reshaping the world in dangerous ways.
We at Hindus for Human Rights are speaking today as part of a broader global effort to analyze, resist, and expose how this chaos is being manufactured, how it is strategic, and how it is meant to disorient us—to leave us questioning what is real, what is trolling, and what is sheer horror.
I keep reminding myself that this sense of overwhelm is not accidental. It is a tactic. The Trump-Vance-Musk machine is a study in controlled chaos. They flood the world with authoritarian impulses: targeting immigrants, dismantling social safety nets, attacking trans communities, slashing education, and—most violently—backing Israel’s total devastation of Gaza.
This is what happens when you hand the levers of power to men who see the world as a business deal, rather than a set of human lives. But here’s the thing: it’s not just reckless. It’s calculated.
As a Hindu American, I must also speak to the role some members of our community are playing in this administration. Figures like Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel now hold influence at the highest levels of U.S. politics. Representation matters, but representation in service of what?
If these leaders are using their positions to greenlight genocide in Gaza, to criminalize dissent, to deepen authoritarian rule—then we must distinguish between “Hindu representation” and Hindus for Human Rights. Being Hindu does not mean standing with Hindutva, or with reactionary nationalism, or with the forces of repression.
We refuse to let our faith be weaponized for cruelty.
I know I’m speaking to a group of people who have been witnessing these patterns long before they were made so brutally manifest in Washington. We know that what’s unfolding in the United States isn’t an isolated phenomenon or some perverse display of “American exceptionalism.” On the contrary: this administration has borrowed liberally from the playbooks of Orbán’s Hungary, Modi’s India, Putin’s Russia and Erdoğan’s Turkey—governments that systematically degrade democratic institutions and sow fear to consolidate power.
What’s notable is the speed and brazenness with which these lessons are now being applied in the U.S., magnified by America’s global reach. Even the most egregious violations—once unimaginable—are being normalized. The result is that far-right movements across Europe feel emboldened, and policies on Palestine have taken a catastrophic turn, effectively granting license for unchecked aggression against civilians in Gaza. The chilling irony is that none of these tactics are entirely new; they’ve just found an unprecedented stage in Washington, where every action resonates worldwide
And what’s even more terrifying? The descent into absurdity.
Let’s talk about Gaza for a moment. The genocide is real. The suffering is real. And yet, amid this horror, the Trump faction is floating the idea of turning Gaza into a beachfront resort—the so-called “Riviera of the Middle East.” Let that sink in.
This is a man whose business empire consists of failing casinos and overpriced golf courses, who has a track record of tanking entire real estate markets. In the U.S., we’ve seen this play before—Trump crashed casino after casino in Atlantic City, then galloped away with tax benefits and personal wealth while everyone else was left picking up the wreckage.
Now, they want to apply this same playbook to Gaza. They erase the Palestinian people from the equation, treating the land itself as an asset to be flipped, its history and its bloodshed just numbers in a ledger.
Make no mistake—this kind of absurdity isn’t just about distraction. It’s about fracturing reality itself.
Authoritarian regimes thrive on unpredictability. When people don’t know what’s real, what’s a joke, and what’s a nightmare, they become paralyzed. They lose their footing. And in that state of disorientation, power can move unchecked.
Again, this isn’t new. It’s a tactic used by fascists throughout history:
Flood the public with so many contradictions that truth becomes meaningless.
Make people exhausted by the sheer chaos of it all.
Redraw reality so quickly that resistance feels impossible.
And the while people are still catching their breath, new laws are passed, new atrocities are committed, and new power structures take root.
This is why we can’t afford to laugh off absurdity. We must speak about it, analyze it, and expose how it operates.
Grassroots Organizing is one of our bases
We’re expanding our local chapters and nurturing relationships across communities, because we know that, amongst all these grand conversations and concepts, what is important in ensuring that people on the ground feel supported, informed, and empowered to stand up against injustice.
Policy Advocacy is another pillar.
We continue to push back against reactionary Hindu nationalist agendas both in the United States and abroad. Even modest efforts have impact when we align with other civic groups that share our vision of equity and pluralism.
And Global Solidarity.
We understand that oppression is never confined to one region. Whether it’s Palestine, India, Sudan, Bangladesh, or Myanmar, we refuse to look away. By linking our efforts to those of partners around the world, we amplify voices calling for dignity and human rights for everyone.
Ultimately, we remain committed to staying grounded in reality. One step at a time, one coalition at a time, we know that what may begin as small actions will, together, become a powerful force for justice.
And most importantly, we are keeping our focus on the real.
This is about a global movement toward authoritarianism, toward manufactured chaos, toward a world where human lives are bargaining chips in real estate deals.
We refuse to let that happen.
We refuse to let the absurd become normalized.
We refuse to let history be erased in real time.
We must all continue to fight—not just for the abstract of a better future, but for the clarity and courage to see the present for what it truly is. We believe this moment demands more than hope or good intentions—it demands an unflinching commitment to speak the truth, to stand with those who have been silenced, and to hold power to account wherever it tramples on human dignity.
Silence is complicity, and our future depends on the choices we make today.
Thank you and may we always remember ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’—the world is one family.
“Our lesson of oneness has been lost to mainstream Hindu society, but it is not lost to history”
Speech by Rajiv Sinha, Director of Hindus for Human Rights UK
It has been strange to watch the reactions of British people to our prime minister Keir Starmer and his approach to President Trump over the last couple of weeks. One of those reactions has been sympathy that our prime minister, who has been complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza just like our last prime minister, has been put in the impossible situation of trying to soothe an implacable imperialist in the White House. Another reaction has been disgust at the PM’s spineless sycophancy, and his commitment of many more billions of taxpayer pounds towards death and destruction, after telling us that we didn’t have money to feed our children or keep our elderly warm.
Whichever way you look at it, the humanitarian currents rippling out of Washington DC, reaching every corner of the world, are bleak. The US president seems to be bringing out, not only the worst in American aggression, but also the worst rapacious instincts of the British elite to secure its interests militarily at the expense of the domestic population. This is not a partisan point. We have been told for years, now by parties across the aisle, that there is no money in the public purse, that we have to grit our teeth and suffer for the sake of fiscal propriety. We have been told to accept deadly cuts to our hospitals, our schools, and our homes, all the while prices have risen, corruption has swelled, minorities have been vilified, and white supremacists have unleashed pogroms on our streets.
But, all of a sudden, there is somehow enough money to pump into a war that our government has no strategy to end. All because Trump and Vance waved their fingers and Starmer followed their direction dutifully, as is the predetermined role of British leaders in relation to American leaders. Many can settle on the fact that they don’t want austerity. But then some of those people still want war, failing to realise that war is part of the reason why we get austerity. We say no to both. We don’t want our elites getting us into wars that we – not them – pay for, and that innocent people – also not them – die in. Again, austerity is not a party political matter, as some would have you think in order to shut down discussion. It is a humanitarian matter. University College London published research in 2017 saying austerity had been linked to 170,000 extra deaths. That was eight years ago. It is terrifying to imagine an updated figure for 2025. And now, because Trump says so, the British state is doubling down.
How does this relate to what we do? Hindus for Human Rights UK has been at the forefront of highlighting and campaigning against the collaboration between Hindu supremacists and white supremacists, especially over the last year. And this goes all the way back to the White House. Elon Musk, in something of an unofficial job-share with Vance, is a big fan of a thug by the name of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who more often goes by the moniker Tommy Robinson and is probably the UK’s most well-known white supremacist. Musk called for Robinson to be freed from prison. Robinson, who has many criminal convictions, is in prison this time for defying a High Court order and repeating false allegations, i.e. racist disinformation, about a Syrian refugee. Whilst Robinson is yet to cut through to the US in a big way, perhaps this is just a matter of time. American billionaire and Trump supporter Robert Shillman has purportedly contributed to paying Robinson a salary; and a Trump aide has said that Robinson is ‘now regarded as the “British Proud Boy”’. We have been joining these dots and paving the way to addressing them together. We cannot dismantle Hindu supremacy, white supremacy, patriarchy, casteism, and global authoritarianism without seeing these movements as part of a complex network that needs to be brought down in unison.
The landscape of the UK is uniquely troubled now, in contrast to the previous centuries of affluence and stability that this country enjoyed at the expense of much of the rest of the world. Our economy never recovered from the financial crash, our society never recovered from austerity, and our politics never recovered from Brexit. Now our deficiencies on all of those fronts and more are, not only coming to the foreground, but are being exploited by the US, whom we are desperately trying to remind of our special relationship. But this is futile, a fool’s errand. Because nothing has changed in that relationship. The relationship was always based on the US pursuing its interests. What has changed is that the US leadership has now decided that it is no longer in its interests to maintain the status quo of this special relationship.
Whilst all of this sounds gloomy, and I won’t pretend otherwise, it presents in particular two opportunities that I welcome and that give me hope for the long term. One is that this might accelerate the fall of an international alliance that is, as far as I am concerned, guilty, not complicit, of genocide in Gaza and in countless other places. This alliance is responsible for many of recent history’s worst crimes and assaults on humanity.
It is worth remembering that whilst Trump brings uncertainty, his politics are not as based in insanity as many think. There is a reason why a lot of this is happening. The system he inhabits contains various incentives that are encouraging this naked imperialism. The other opportunity I see now amongst this open criminality is for us to reaffirm to people that it is our links and bonds of community that we ought to rely on and strengthen, rather than relying on state institutions that intentionally divide and attack us, especially minorities. We very much agree with Penny Green, who spoke earlier about the significance and power of civil society.
For British Hindus this means uniting in what we have always known to be perhaps the greatest philosophical and spiritual offering of our great heritage – the lesson that we are all one, non-duality, we are all one family. However you want to say it – this has always been the most revered, awe-inspiring aspect of our thinking and practice. Along the way, this has been lost to mainstream Hindu society, but it is not lost to history. We Hindus that believe in oneness still exist, we still love all, and we are here to reassert the truth of our ancient wisdom.
In Ahmedabad, India a few weeks ago I met up with the incredible dissident Mallika Sarabhai. I knowingly asked her a naive question, hoping that she would give me an inspiring response. I asked: why don’t you leave the country to flee this authoritarian government’s intimidation and surveillance of you, as you have the means to do. She said, without a second to think, “I’m not ceding any territory”. I like to think that this is the attitude baked into Hindus for Human Rights and the countless movements, groups, and people across the world resisting in their own way, many of whom are in this grou
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