Canadian academics experience harassment after critiquing Hindu nationalism in India

A recent CBC Investigates article describes the harassment that Canadian academics are experiencing after critiquing Hindu nationalism in India. CBC reports that 18 Canadian academics who have criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a right-wing political ideology called Hindutva have become subject to “rhetorically violent” attacks meant to silence them. A virtual conference called Dismantling Global Hindutva, which was endorsed by over 50 universities in Canada and the United States, was also reportedly spammed by Hindutva groups. A group of protestors at the University of Toronto demonstrated before the conference to encourage the institution to withdraw its support, and U of T Centre of South Asia Civilizations director Kristin Plys was harassed and threatened after the protest. “[The intimidation] is a Canadian issue. It’s not a South Asian cultural issue,” said U of T Professor Malavika Kasturi, who called for the Canadian government to take the intimidation as seriously as other threats. CBC Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.