11^th July 2021 – Two days back, NASA introduced its latest interns to the world through Twitter. One of the girls is a Hindu and can be seen wearing a Bindi and has lot of Hindu idols in the background. Ever since, NASA has tweeted this, the space technology company and the girl has faced the wrath of online bigotry by Hindu haters. In a series of tweets, the online haters questioned NASA’s selection procedure and the intern’s academic capabilities.

The online hatred against NASA and the Hindu intern is clear case of Hindu-hatred and Hinduphobia. A Sweden based professor, Ashok Swain, tweeted ‘Why does a Hindu kid need to be surrounded by Gods and Goddesses? Can’t we do anything without them?’ The hatred against Hindus is on the rise. Earlier this year, an Oxford student, Rashmi Samant, who was an elected President of Oxford Student Union was forced to resign from the position and had to face online hatred for being a Hindu and was a victim of cyber-bullying. The incident was so sensitive that even the UK Police had to be involved.

For those who ridicule the NASA Hindu intern for her religious sentiments, we would like to quote Werner Heisenberg who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932. He was a philosopher as well and had once said “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

Religion is a personal thing and no one should have to bear such hatred and harassment. HTC would appeal to all religious organizations to condemn such acts. Such hatred has no place in a civilized society.