A substantial increase in ‘Hate Speech’ or bigotry against the Hindu Community has been witnessed across social-media platforms, fueling an outburst of real-world violence.
Given the rising religious tensions, dozens of Indian Hindu organizations based in the United Kingdom (UK) staged a demonstration outside the BBC headquarters in London against ‘Religious Phobia and Xenophobia.’
Citing biased coverage by the BBC, the Indian Hindu organizations claimed that the international broadcaster has been running ‘anti-Hindu and anti-India bias’ stories over the last 18 years.
The protesters also handed over a memorandum to BBC Director-General Tim Davie, alleging strong resentment against the dehumanization of Hindus globally.
“The BBC’s coverage of the violent attacks on Indian Hindus of Leicester was the worst reporting so far and has contributed to the concealment of an attempt to ethnically cleanse Leicester of Hindus,” – informed the organizers.
Some of the organizers of the ‘BBC Protest’ include well-known people like Dr Vivek Kaul, Dr Sneh S. Kathuria, Pt Satish K. Sharma, Nitin Mehta MBE, and Darshan Singh Nagi.
Mentioning an article, ‘Beaten and humiliated by Hindu mobs for being a Muslim in India’, the organizers alleged that the headline intends to incite violence and disorder, adding that the BBC is routinely producing hateful content.
“It is irresponsible identitarian, ‘divide and run’ cheap, gutter journalism. It is self-evident that reports of this nature cause further inter-communal tension and stigmatize Hindus,” – asserted the organizers.
It pointed out that the BBC’s limited vocabulary to describe Hindus comprises “Fear, Hate, Violence, Hindu-Muslim, Kashmir, Cow, Mob, and Protest”.
Meanwhile, the Indian Hindu organizations warned of a rise in hate crimes against the community following a string of attacks involving communal and physical abuse.
It is worth noting that the Indian Government earlier appealed to the United Nations (UN) to recognize “Hinduphobia” and “Indiaphobia”, and other crimes of religious prejudice against Buddhism and Sikhism.
During a virtual meeting hosted by the Global Counter-Terrorism Centre (GCTC) in Delhi, India’s ambassador to the UN – TS Tirumurti, urged the international organization to recognize threats against Jews, Sikhs, and Hindus.
She further noted that the emergence of contemporary varieties of religiophobia, especially anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist, and anti-Sikh phobias stood as a cause of concern.
