Ask HN: Why are tech companies allowing Hindu nationalism in their campuses? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why are tech companies allowing Hindu nationalism in their campuses?

9 pointsrss_gpt9 comments

In the name of diversity enrichment, like in this example case of: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hellofresh_ganeshfestival-socialchange-insidehellofresh-activity-6975394570914168832-U8vM/, why are tech companies literally allowing Hindu superiority and religious teachings in their campuses? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQn8X4FbpTM is another example of a tech company hosting a Hindu priest! What happened to their secularism? What would have been the reaction if such a thing happened for something related to Christianity or even Islam? What would have been the reaction if a Christian or Muslim priest comes and does something like this? As everyone knows that Hindu nationalism is ruling India and it's even hijacked US and UK politics with RSS or Hindu nationalist organisation-backed politicians in power(https://jacobin.com/2023/03/india-modi-hindutva-lobby-nationalism-bjp, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/20/what-is-hindu-nationalism-and-who-are-the-rss). Are tech companies also being now controlled by RSS? These tech companies also allow direct hate content in the form of posts and comments by Hindu nationalists against other religions(https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-hate-speech-india-politics-muslim-hindu-modi-zuckerberg-11597423346). Is it a sign of so called developed tech industry which considers religions like Christianity and Islam as superstition supporting Hindu theocracy?

> Is it a sign of so called developed tech industry which considers religions like Christianity and Islam as superstition bending down in front of Hindu theocracy?

Not likely… it’s more that your average non-Hindu who has never been to India for a protracted period of time has likely zero idea who Narendra Modi is, has never even heard of the BJP (much less the RSS) and hasn’t the slightest clue how to distinguish a Hindu-nationalist utterance from a Hindu-non-nationalist one. If they bothered to hear either.

I also think it’s incorrect to say that the tech industry a) is all that secular or b) is anywhere near as dismissive of (especially Christian) religiosity as you’ve implied. In the USA it’s bad for business (and recruiting) to be anti-(especially Christian) faith, and it’s outright illegal to actually discriminate against any given faith (though a lot of Christians make a big show of feeling discriminated against when their performative faith marketing isn’t aggressively promoted, see also the annual War On Christmas on Faux News).

More likely than deference to Hindu theocracy — which doesn’t really (yet) exist, Modi is a power-seeking populist who leverages zealots, not a zealot — is a less than informed attempt at inclusivity and an inability to distinguish faith-X-nationalism (always bad) from faith-X (often, but far from always, bad).

It's because Americans have no awareness of what is going on in India. Just in general the US tends to be focused internally, except major wars which do get peoples attention. Partially to blame is the US government, it's been a trade off to keep India as close as possible with China looming so the usual pushback you would see isn't there, and that leads to less coverage in the media. For the most part it seems allying with India is the best option given the tough circumstances for the US despite what is happening there.

This is the crux of modern unrest isn’t it?

How do we have free will and societal lawful order AND know that some people support opinions, policies, and behavior counter to conventional views of human rights and dignity? Even in some remote, abstract, sentimental way?

I do believe the convention is that you may be who or what ever you please as long as you do not overtly support the unlawful or immoral harming of others.

This may not be true to application , one may be cancelled for merely expressing an unfavorable view.

We must evolve our vigorous debate and mental preparedness for diversity, even that which is counter to our own views (both ways.)

For some, being “racist” (or variant) is equivalent to being a jackass. For others, there is shikanery (abusing or harassing others over their characteristics.)

We cannot make being a jackass a crime.

Shikanery however is a different matter.

You might just have to accept jack and fire the ass.

Never thought I'd find folks from r/india here. Congratulations for making your presence felt here!

> As everyone knows that Hindu nationalism is...

Who is this "everyone", who you imagine knows all those things? I'm thinking that <0.1% of Americans share your knowledge and worldview.

And if you aren't one of the "everyone" who knows this one: America has a centuries-long history of ignoring unsavory people and activities, when those didn't seem to present any major short-term downsides for "people like us".

The person [1] in the Youtube video of a event at Google is no priest in the sense like a priest in a Church or Imam in Mosque.

He is more of a spiritual leader and Yoga teacher, more like Dalai Lama than Pope.

[1] Sadhguru https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhguru

> more like Dalai Lama than Pope.

Oh wow… if anything could get a Tibetan Buddhist to slap someone silly, that bit of ignorance might just be it.

BTW, Jesus, Mahavir, Mohammed, and Gautama Siddhartha were all “no priest” by your definition. Oh, and all three of “priest”, “imam”, and “pope” are synonymous with “spiritual leader”.

The West will tolerate Hindu nationalism as long as we're still on 'China bad' timeline.

Personally I’m on more of a “China good, but Xi Jinping as infallible-dictator-for-life substantially less gooder” timeline, though maybe once I’ve found the last of the Infinity Stones…

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