Mentioning Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) in my article unleashed a storm of vitriol on X. The irony is striking: referencing an organization—whether or not one agrees with it (and I don’t) —is not a defence of that group. Instead, it opens the door for meaningful criticism, beyond the rants on X (formerly Twitter). What’s truly revealing, however, is the lack of strategic thinking among some self-proclaimed defenders of Hinduism who react with anger and vitriol.
Their emotional outbursts play directly into the hands of organizations they disagree with. By reacting without subtlety or restraint, they confirm the very stereotypes that such organizations often want to highlight and make a narrative. Shrill voices, through their angry rhetoric, serve as “useful idiots,” inadvertently amplifying the messaging of those they oppose.
The Trap: How Vitriol Legitimizes Opponents
Organizations like HfHR thrive on controversy. When you say you don’t want meat and alcohol at Diwali, they will attack you for being elitist. When faced with hate-filled reactions, they can point to these reactions as evidence of the "extremism" they claim to oppose. This dynamic serves two purposes:
- Validation of Narrative: Angry responses allow HfHR to argue, “Look, we told you they’re intolerant.”
- Loss of Credibility: Moderate observers, the majority of whom sit in the middle ground, uninformed, neutral, are alienated by the toxicity and unwilling to engage with a cause associated with anger and division.
The Consequences: Dividing the Community
The lack of nuance among these reactionary voices does more harm than good. Their hostility not only isolates them but also damages the very cause they claim to champion.
- Alienating Moderates: Vitriolic attacks push the middle ground away, reinforcing a perception that Hinduism itself is intolerant—an impression that extreme voices foster with their behaviour.
- Turning on Fellow Hindus: These voices often attack Hindus who don’t conform to their rigid standards of allegiance, undermining unity within the community. So they multiply division. More destruction of unity.
- Useless to the Cause: By reducing the conversation to anger and invective, they fail to articulate a positive or strategic defence of their beliefs, rendering themselves irrelevant to any meaningful discourse. I cannot blame them for being inarticulate. We cannot articulate that which we cannot understand.
A Call for Strategy
If these self-appointed defenders of the faith truly care about promoting Hindu values, they need to adopt subtlety, strategy, and grace. Hinduism, is best not represented by loud and angry rhetoric. PM Narendra Modi continues to win because he understands this. He practices this. Is ingenious at this.
The fight for Hindu causes—or any cause—requires a calm, considered approach that engages the middle ground rather than setting fire to those who otherwise might have agreed with you. Anger without strategy is not strength; it’s weakness. Read the Ramayan Mahabharata and The Gita and it’s one of the clearest messages. And the loudest voices, when fuelled by hatred, often do more harm to their cause than any external critic ever could.
