‘American Hindus are not foreign agents’: Students protest at New Jersey university over anti

A silent protest at Rutgers University in New Jersey has ignited debate over how Hindu identity is being framed in academic spaces. Students, faculty members, and community supporters gathered outside Alexander Library as a lecture titled “Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism” took place inside. The protestors, many of whom are part of Hindu student organisations, say the event wrongly links Hindu cultural identity with extremist political ideology, leaving Hindu students feeling targeted on campus. Earlier this month, concerns over the issue were raised at the federal level when four US Congressmen wrote to Rutgers’ administration, warning that conflating Hindu identity with extremist ideology could lead to bias, targeting, or profiling of Hindu American st