Religious Hatred Dividing Indians in the USA
India has seen a sharp rise in religious politics and intercommunal hatred in recent years. A new study suggests that this divisive mindset may have spread abroad as well, alienating indian Americans. According to a study by ReThink media and the indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), more than 90% of indian Muslims believe that Hindu nationalism poses a threat to their community in the United States.
Of these, eighty percent said they were subjected to prejudice by Hindu nationalists, attributing it to the “environment of intolerance” that is promoted both inside and outside of India. The participants described a variety of forms of discrimination, including harassment from classmates who were Islamophobic, online hate speech, anti-Muslim comments, and prejudiced treatment from Hindu coworkers.
However, as with most surveys, these figures should be interpreted with caution because the sample data-size was much smaller than the total population. Only 950 indian Muslims in the USA—less than 1% of the entire population—were surveyed for this study out of over 200,000 Muslims in general.
However, the purpose of a survey is to identify trends that may be widespread rather than to establish credibility. If nothing more, this is a pioneering example of India's hate-driven sectarian politics crossing national lines and impacting our compatriots throughout the globe.