As the number of Hindus falls in India and neighboring countries, rank Hinduphobia is now being mainstreamed and celebrated.
Artist and stand up comic Prasad Bhat yesterday shared a image on Instagram which showed a man collecting urine from a cow. The glass carried the logo ‘Starbhakts’, and looked similar to the logo of coffee chain Starbucks. The drawing appeared to reference the racial slur that some Hindus consume cow urine.
Now in the 21st century, most people have moved on from religion based slurs. No Jew is openly called a kike in mainstream media, no Muslim is called a name that references the practice of circumcision in the community, and Christians aren’t called names that refer how they joined the religion through inducements. But such is the growing acceptance of open Hinduphobia that an artist seems to think nothing of creating an image that mocks Hindus based on an aspect of their belief system.
More worryingly, these slurs have had real-world consequences for Hindus — the cow-urine drinker jibe had also been used by the Pulwama bomber. In a video recorded before the attack, he’d warned “Hindustan” and “drinkers of cow urine”, of “further misery” to be unleashed by “Allah’s messengers”. The man had then gone on to blow himself up next to a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, and 40 Indian jawans had lost their lives.
The image has generated some controversy already. Alert netizens spotted it had been liked by Ranveer Allahbadia, who runs the popular Beer Biceps podcast, and after some outrage, Allahbadia appears to have unliked the image — his name no longer appears on the list of people who’ve liked the photo. But the image still remains up, mocking a group of people for their beliefs, and opening Hindus across the world to attacks and oppression.
