Why is Hinduphobia Under-Reported?
There are a lot of reasons why Hinduphobia is underreported, including:
The Hindu American community is mostly first- and second-generation immigrants. There can be a tendency to want to acculturate and not ruffle any feathers. Immigrant parents may advise their children to ignore or try and laugh it off so that they can make the dominant Abrahamic people around them feel at ease.
Immigrant Hindus may be concerned that they will antagonize someone in power who can influence their immigration status. (We encourage you to consult the section on Immigration Concerns for more technical information on this.)
Hindu Americans often want to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially because the general American public has so little knowledge about our tradition.
Fear of retaliation, often after hearing about other Hindus’ negative experiences with reporting.
A fear – often based on one’s own or others’ experience – that nothing will come of reporting it.
Hindu Americans are advised not to report it by their peers.
Hinduphobia is poorly understood, even by many Hindus. This is, in no small part, because it has been normalized through the erasure and distortion of Hindu and Indian history curriculum in Indian schools and around the world.
Hinduphobia is not officially recognized.
Hinduphobia is described by powerful people (i.e. professors) to be a “false claim” made by “political extremists.”
People may not know or understand how they can activate the discrimination policies and grievance procedures at their institutions.
Trauma and the triggering of past trauma.
A hesitation to relive the experience, especially if it was emotionally or professionally difficult.