Poonam Sharma
In 2025, something deeply unsettling has taken shape on Western social media—particularly on X (formerly Twitter). What was once confined to fringe activist circles has now entered the mainstream: open hostility toward Hindus and a sustained narrative assault on India. According to a recent CSOH report, more than 680 incident-driven posts linked to H-1B visas, immigration debates, and geopolitical flashpoints collectively reached over 281 million impressions. These were not random outbursts. They were coordinated, ideological, and disturbingly normalized.
This is not criticism of policy. This is not debate. What we are witnessing is racialized contempt, packaged as “progressivism,” amplified by left-wing activists, Islamist networks, and what many analysts increasingly describe as the Western “deep state” ecosystem—think tanks, NGOs, activist journalists, and algorithm-friendly outrage merchants.
From Stereotypes to Systematic Targeting
Hindus today are being caricatured in ways that echo older, darker chapters of racial history. Online discourse routinely paints them as “upper-caste oppressors,” “genetically authoritarian,” or “inherently intolerant.” India, meanwhile, is portrayed as a rogue civilization—dangerous, backward, and incompatible with Western values.
What makes this moment different is scale and coordination. The CSOH data shows that spikes in Hindu-focused hate closely followed real-world triggers: U.S. immigration debates, H-1B visa discussions, India’s foreign policy assertions, or internal political developments. Each event became an excuse to unleash pre-written narratives, often recycled word-for-word across hundreds of accounts.
This is not organic anger. It is ideological manufacturing.
The Curious Silence on Racism—When the Victims Are Hindu
In Western discourse, racism is supposed to be the ultimate moral red line. Yet when Hindus become the target, that red line quietly disappears. Derogatory slurs, civilizational mockery, and calls for collective punishment are waved through as “punching up” or “speaking truth to power.”
The irony is stark. The same voices that demand sensitivity, trigger warnings, and platform restrictions suddenly rediscover “free speech absolutism” when Hindu identity is under attack. Racism, it seems, is only racism when it fits a preferred hierarchy of victims.
Brainwashing by Design
The report highlights a disturbing pattern: Western audiences are being systematically conditioned to see Hindus and Indians through a distorted moral lens. Left-wing activists frame Hindu identity as inseparable from extremism. Islamist networks inject religious hostility masked as anti-nationalism. And institutional actors—academia, NGOs, media outlets—provide intellectual cover by laundering prejudice through jargon like “structural critique” and “post-colonial analysis.”
The result is a feedback loop. Algorithms reward outrage. Outrage fuels engagement. Engagement legitimizes hate. And soon, what should be unacceptable becomes routine.
Immigration as a Pretext, Not the Cause
H-1B visas and immigration debates have become particularly potent triggers. Indian professionals—among the most law-abiding, tax-paying, and economically productive immigrant groups—are increasingly portrayed as threats: job stealers, cultural infiltrators, or demographic conspirators.
This framing ignores facts because facts are inconvenient. What matters is the narrative utility. India’s growing presence in global technology, science, and geopolitics challenges old power equations. Resentment follows influence, and racism follows resentment.
Why This Matters Beyond Social Media
Some may dismiss this as “just online noise.” That would be a grave mistake. Digital hate does not stay digital. It shapes public opinion, influences policy, and legitimizes discrimination in workplaces, campuses, and civic life.
More importantly, it reshapes how a civilization is perceived. When Hinduism—the world’s oldest living civilization—is reduced to caricature, it is not just an attack on a community. It is an attack on pluralism itself.
The Question the West Must Answer
If diversity truly matters, why is Hindu diversity excluded? If racism is unacceptable, why is Hindu-hatred tolerated?
If misinformation is dangerous, why are fabricated narratives about India amplified?
These are not questions India alone must ask. They are questions Western democracies must confront—honestly, without ideological blinders.
Because history shows us one thing with brutal clarity: hate that is normalized never stays contained. Today it is Hindus and India. Tomorrow, it will be someone else.
