The attack on Dr. Truschke is not because she wrote in support of Aurangzeb, it is because she dares to offer a narrative that is different, rational, and objective, thereby puncturing the rightwing Hindu narrative that only centers around vilifying Muslims.
Md Asif Khan, TwoCircles.net
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” ~ Marcus Garvey
These words of Garvey were, at least theoretically, meant for African-Americans. Yet, they would not be out of context when talking about modern-day India. The attack on an eminent scholar, academician, and historian Audrey Truschke, the Associate Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University, by the Hindu rightwing, shows us how hard the people in power try to silence voices that dissent against their narratives and versions.
It would be fair to say that the attacks on Dr. Truschke are neither new nor novel in their approach: ever since she took on Hindu right-wing while maintaining academic standards, many fringe groups based both in India and the US have tried incessantly to harm her career, reputation, and even made threats of violence against Dr. Truschke and her family.
Yet, undeterred, she remains steadfast in her views. History is never black and white, and this is the principle which eminent historians have used time and again to explain complex and complicated pasts. A country like India, with its rich history and narratives, will never have one definitive history. This is an anathema to the Hindu right-wing, who believe every positive aspect and influence of India has its origins in Hinduism, and that every negative aspect or incident must always be blamed on Muslims, especially the Muslim rulers. Naturally, then, they target the greatest dynasty that the sub-continent has seen: the Mughals.
Take, for example, the recent issue at the helm: the ongoing vilification of Dr. Truschke is another instance in the long and blemished history of the Hindu right-wing. The attack on scholar AK Ramanjunam, the author of Three Hundred Ramayanas, comes to mind. For a society that claims to “celebrate” pluralism and diversity, the works of Ramanujam would not just be important, it would be considered invaluable. Yet, nearly a decade ago, not only was his work attacked, but even teachers who defended him were attacked by right-wing goons.
A decade later, they stand emboldened by a government that not only promotes hatred against minorities through its IT cells on social media platforms but also on the ground as visible in the 2020 Delhi pogrom and the huge surge in violence against Muslims, Christians and other marginalized communities over the past few years. The discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act is only an extension of the same. So, when a scholar like Dr. Truschke challenges the norms that all Muslim rulers were bad and all its victims were Hindus, the Hindu rightwing has no recourse but to stoop to online bullying, threats and running vicious hate campaigns.
The role of social media, and especially the right-wing ecosystem, is extremely important in such an event.
I did a digital analysis of the vicious Twitter campaign against Rutgers University and Dr. Truschke over the last two weeks and found that it is part of a well-planned smear campaign led by the members of far-right groups both in India and the US.
I analyzed comments on two statements put out by Rutgers’s @Rutgers_Newark Twitter handle on March 4th and 12th. Out of 481 accounts that commented on these tweets, only 79 accounts were real, the rest were all fake with some created only for the purpose of targeting Dr. Truschke. Most of the accounts that made announcements of withdrawing admission from Rutgers or sought boycott of the school for extending support to Dr. Truschke were fake.
The tirade on Twitter was amplified by some prominent figures within the right-wing ecosystem including the senior members of Mr. Modi’s party.
Kapil Mishra, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India is one of the leading figure who has been spearheading the vicious Twitter campaign against Dr. Truschke. He is best known for making inflammatory speeches that led to anti-Muslim riots in Delhi last year, resulting in the killing of nearly 50 people mostly Muslims. Over the years, he has gone on a violent anti-Muslim tirade that has helped him gain access to the mainstream media and nationwide popularity. Recently he founded Hindu Ecosystem, a network of over 20,000 people, who use Twitter as a primary tool to spread anti-minority hate and bigotry. The same network has been extensively used to target activists, journalists and scholars including Dr. Truschke.
The attack on Dr. Truschke is not because she wrote in support of Aurangzeb, it is because she dares to offer a narrative that is different, rational, and objective, thereby puncturing the rightwing Hindu narrative that only centers around vilifying Muslims.
Shefali Vaidya, who leaves no stone unturned to paint a negative image of Muslims is another popular right-wing influencer, amplifying the smear campaign against Dr.Truschke on Twitter. Vaidya, recently, called the farmer protests fake because the farmers were eating pizzas. The rightwing believes that everyone dissenting voice must not only be trolled, but it must also be silenced or discredited.
Rajiv Malhotra and Vivek Agnihotri are two other far-right figures who have been consistently targeting Dr. Truske for her scholarly work on India and played a prominent role in the recent hateful campaign. An Indian American, Malhotra is a rightwing author and CEO of Infinity Foundation, an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a 95-year-old paramilitary Hindu nationalist outfit that wants to convert India into a Hindu nation where non-Hindu minorities are subjugated and relegated to the status of second-class citizens. In 2015, Richard Fox Young of Princeton Theological Seminary and Andrew J.Nicholson who authored Unifying Hinduism accused Malhotra of plagiarizing their work.
Agnihotri is a conspiracy theory filmmaker, who spends more time swearing at dissenting voices than film making. His achievements include making abusive, bigoted tweets and cracking rape jokes.
It is only logical that the Hindu right-wing has found sympathizers in American right-wing personalities like Mike Cernovich and Robert Spencer. Both these took to Twitter to foul-mouth Dr. Truschke. But why? For this, you only need to see the collusion between the Hindu nationalist front organizations in the US and Trump supporters.
Krishna Gudipati an active member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (America), an organization labeled as a religious militant organization by CIA for its violence against Muslims and Christians was one of the participants during the violent Capitol Hill insurrection. Gudipati is an associate of the infamous Member of India’s Parliament, Subramanian Swamy, who heads the Virat Hindustan Sangam of which Gudipati is a member. Dr. Swamy wants Muslims denied voting rights, a view that prompted Harvard University to drop his course.
The link between the Hindu right-wing and the American right-wing, at least when it comes to Muslims, shows the global nature of Islamophobia. The term may have western origins, but it finds its natural home among Hindus who believe India belongs first and foremost (or only) to the Hindus, especially the upper-caste Hindus.
There is no room for logic, or rationality, in their arguments. And Dr. Truschke challenges that at every level, whether it is through academic works or articles. Every rational and peace-loving person must respect and support Dr. Truschke through these tough times.
Md Asif Khan is a social activist. He tweets at @imMAK02