The myth of ‘British Hinduvta’:
The myth of ‘British Hinduvta’: lessons from Leicester
This time last year Hindu homes and vehicles were systematically attacked in Leicester. Walk in the worst affected areas today and you will see shadows of Hindu symbols scratched off doors and cars, removed for fear their presence would attract attack. False narratives of “Hindutva terrorists” created a target out of the Hindu community in Leicester, leading to families assembling extra locks and placing cctv cameras in their driveways. Some families even temporarily relocated.
“Cow piss drinkers”, “violent vegetarians”, “BJP terrorists”, were but a few of the slurs that came to be associated with the unrest. The slurs denigrated the Hindu faith and attached British Hindus to political affairs in India. Indeed, what we saw in Leicester comes straight from the anti-Semitism playbook.
