PM Modi's Hindu nationalism stokes tension in Indian diaspora

Lecture halls at Canadian and U.S. universities have become battlegrounds for critics and defenders of Hindu nationalism, punctuated by threats of violence and even death. Temples of Sikhs and Hindus in Canada have been defaced with slogans harking back to India's timeless divisions.

And the Canadian government's startling accusation that Indian government agents were behind the professional-style killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist in Vancouver, British Columbia, has focused attention on the growing tensions within the vast Indian diaspora, reflecting divisions in India that have been fueled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brand of Hindu nationalism. Modi's Hindu-first policies and increasing intolerance of scrutiny have spilled over into Indian communities worldwide, intensifying historical divisions among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and different castes.

“Before 2014, when Modi came to power, you didn't see these kinds of divisions in the Indian diaspora in Canada — not at all,” said Chinnaiah Jangam, an associate professor of history at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and an expert on caste-based discrimination.

Stephen Brown, the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said, “What you've seen is a contagion effect.”

Modi and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, came to power in 2014, espousing a Hindu nationalist agenda called Hindutva that critics say has fueled rising violence and discrimination against India's religious minorities, about 20% of the population.

Modi's government has adopted laws and policies discriminating against religious minorities as some of his supporters have carried out killings and acts of violence against them, often with impunity. But criticism from Western nations seeking closer economic ties with India and a geopolitical counterweight to China has been muted.

Malavika Kasturi, a historian at the University of Toronto and an expert on Hindu nationalism, said there is a network backing Modi's Hindu-first agenda in Canada.

They have “a common agenda, which is to crack down on all dissent,” Kasturi said. “So any critique of Hindutva is called Hinduphobia. Any critique of Mr. Modi is called Hinduphobia.”