As Hindu students we feel unsafe after Rutgers Newark’s on Hinduphobia remarks, say Hindus on Campus group

Hindu religion is considered as the oldest religion in the world. The world over many Hindu practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma, which means the Eternal Way, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as it is clearly mentioned in the Hindu texts.

But these days, Hindu students are tormented for carrying their identity as a staunch Hindu. Hindus on Campus, an organisation that battles the oppression of Hindus, Hinduphobia and hostile ambience for Hindus prevalent in college campuses, today took to Twitter to respond to the statement put out by Rutgers Newark over the questions posed over the anti-Hindu prejudice of notorious historian Audrey Truschke.

In a series of tweets, the Hindu party championing the cause of Hindu students at universities abroad expressed their rejection of the rationalization of Audrey Truschke by Rutgers Newark University.

THREAD on statement by Rutgers Newark: https://t.co/R9a92D9gfw

— Hindu On Campus (@hinduoncampus) March 9, 2021

We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers – a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion – continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter,” the group tweeted.

The party said intellectual independence and the achievement of a scholarship can’t be used as a cover to peddle anti-Hindu bigotry. It said professors like Truschke, who has a history of offending Hindu gods, calling them ‘misogynistic pigs,’ said that Hindu texts advocated abuse and that Hindu organizations supported the attack on the US Capitol were not accepted.

The party also said that the statement released by Rutgers showed their lack of loyalty to Hindu students when supporting Audrey Truschke’s baseless statements under the umbrella of “free expression.”

While Rutgers University has shown unparalleled passion to support Truschke’s right and to take a stand to shield her from trolls, the same treatment is not extended to Hindu students, who are at the end of receiving vicious and intimidating messages from Truschke-enabled citizens, the group argued.

“As Hindu scholars, we cannot learn and live in an atmosphere where we feel insecure. How are we supposed to feel protected, when a professor can block us (a student-run handle) with no previous involvement – but he can keep tweeting to us and energizing his supporters who call us “dotheads,” the community tweeted.

The party argues that Rutgers leads to a “rigorous” scholarship, but turns a blind eye to non-academic OpEd and Twitter posts where Audrey Truschke spews venom toward Hindus.

“Why won’t Rutgers take a stand against the endless instances of the mustache and dangerous insinuations that Truschke makes on-line, with which she is posing a threat to Hindu students?” The Hindu party called for it.

The response from the Hindu community came after Rutgers Newark had heeded the questions posed by the Hindu students about their relationship with the Hindu ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke.

Defending Truschke, the statement said, “Rutgers strongly supports Professor Truschke’s intellectual freedom in seeking her scholarship, abhors the vil messages and attacks against her, and calls for an urgent end to them.”

“Schooling is often problematic, perhaps particularly when it comes to the interface between history and religion, but the right to seek such a scholarship, as Professor Truschke does rigorously, is at the core of the undertaking,” the declaration also said in defence of the control.

Earlier on Sunday, the Hindu group who goes by Twitter handle @hinduoncampus had posted another thread on the microblogging platform, enlisting various instances when Audrey Truschke had made problematic statements against Hinduism and indulged in casual racism against Hindus.

At the time of US Capitol riots, Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene to imply it to be the handiwork of Hindu Right.

Truschke had misinterpreted the sacred Hindu religious text of Bhagwad Gita and accused it of rationalising mass slaughter.

1/ During the Capitol Riots, Prof Truschke spread misinformation.

Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene and immediately declared it to be the work of "The Hindu Right," even though various media outlets showed that the perpetrator was not a Hindu. pic.twitter.com/ZdwxkcUShz

— Hindu On Campus (@hinduoncampus) March 6, 2021

The Hindu party also shed light on the occurrence of Truschke’s assimilation of a gangrape event in India to an event in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, effectively suggesting that the Hindu community endorses the ‘rape culture’ and the misogy.

Truschke also named the Hindu Gods “misogynistic pigs.” When faced with her highly hypocritical joke, she handed the buck to the professor, who she said had originally said so, and she had merely translated his edition. However, the professor later explained that Truschke’s comments had little to do with his translation and commented that his words were “very inappropriate” and “very surprising.”

The group also accused Truschke of endorsing controversial burning of sacred Hindu religious texts, portraying Hindu Society as “Sex Obsessed” and “lustful”.

And last but not the least, the group also highlighted how Audrey Truschke continues to remain smitten with the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and in being so, she has brushed under the carpet the trauma inflicted by the bigoted ruler on the people of India, contending that his persecution of Hindus is often exaggerated.

“Her deep-rooted prejudice against the Hindus and continued misinterpretation of sacred Hindu texts and religious figures are becoming increasingly manifest in her statements and the use of her authority to project Hindus as oppressors, violent and bigoted,” the group tweeted.