1st June 2023 – Hinduphobia has a long and tragic history in the North American continent. With growing internet technology, the hate against Hindus has increased multi-fold online. Memes mocking Hindu gods and goddesses, traditions, customs and beliefs have flooded the social media platforms.
Pajeet is an extremely derogatory term often used interchangeably for Indians and Hindus. Though the origin of this racial slur is not confirmed, but it seems like a combination of Punjabi/Indian words (elder brother is commonly called as Paaji in Punjabi. Also, lot of people from India have names such as Manjeet, Gurjeet, Harjeet, etc.)
A report titled “Quantitative Methods for Investigating Anti-Hindu Disinformation” published by US-based think tank ‘National Contagion Research Institute’ revealed how “old hatred is finding a new playbook” in the West. The report highlights “both the deployment of Hinduphobic tropes on social media and the growing intensity of the hate messaging, fueled in part, by state-sponsored trolls, notably of Iranian origin, posing as victims.” Data further reveals that such activities co-relate to physical violence and may provoke genocidal tendencies.
Before 2019, the usage of the term “pajeet” was mainly restricted to fringe social media platforms such as 4Chan, Gab and Telegram. However, the term is now being extensively used on Twitter as well. It is believed that this term is used over 250 times a day on Twitter.
Social media accounts which spread anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda often use coded language or disguise to call for genocide. For instance, please have a look at what the report has to say on this.
It can safely be concluded that the recent attacks on Hindu temples across Canada and Australia and the riots against Hindus in Leicester, UK have been significantly impacted by online hate that Hindus have to face each passing day.
To read the complete report, please click here.
