I was approached by a publication to write about the Hindutva, pro-Modi lobby in the US. In my research, I was horrified to discover how so many Indian and Hindu-American organizations that are just cultural or religious from outside were hotbeds of Sangh support

What we see with the Hindutva lobby is a weaponization of Hindu identity, this can be seen in Hindu American Foundation’s recent rhetoric on how condemning BJP and/or Modi’s role in pogroms, whether in Gujarat or Delhi, is “Hinduphobic.”

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who received most of her election donations from outside Hawaii, and is supported by the Hindutva lobby also adopted this same rhetoric instead of condemning the Delhi pogrom outright.

Hindu Students Council, a front for the VHP, held a summer camp with a session on “How to Be A Woke Hindu,” which involved downplaying caste and educating attendees on media “misinformation” (i.e. criticism) regarding Hinduism.

Kashmiri Pandits, who support the occupation, likewise produce a narrative about Kashmir that serves to justify Indian military occupation and the settler colonialism we’re now witnessing in real time.

What we see in diaspora supporting Modi is a weaponization of Hindu and Indian identity. It’s not about his policy, it’s about mass support from Indians identifying with Indian PM. When Modi visited in 2014, the first desi Miss America and an Indian PBS broadcast reporter emceed.

The issue with identity politics is how it’s used. As we’re seeing with internal debates in diaspora—communities that are under-studied and appoint spokespeople to fill the gap—there are structural inequities reproduced regardless of skin color

And sometimes these inequities are produced bcuz of the hierarchy of identities within the diaspora/immigrant/nonwhite community itself