Shruti Pandey is an Associate professor of Legal Practice and Director of the Centre for Human Rights at the Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, Haryana. On October 09, 2021, she, in a video, alleged that Hinduism exists because of untouchability. She said, “My professor, Professor Upendra Bakshi, who taught me law in the law school, he says that you cannot be a Hindu without being a practitioner, without prac…, you…, every Hindu practices untouchability. That’s what he says. So he says that if you are a Hindu, you will be practicing untouchability. And that, initially when he said that, I said that, I don’t think so. But it’s true guys. And go back and look within yourselves. Look at how you are, how you practice untouchability in very quiet invisible ways, in ways we don’t even understand, it’s so internalized like gender.”

Mrittika Mallick, a student of English Literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, writes an article on October 4th, 2021 on YouthKiAwaaz (https://www.youthkiawaaz.com). One of the paragraphs says, “As I brought into light Sita’s feelings that were always belittled by Ram, her being constantly victimized, and of course Ram being an absolute patriarchal, misogynistic, and egoistic war hero, I saw feelings of confusion in my grandfather’s eyes. A religious belief held so strong for ages, completely shattered by a few words like ‘patriarchy’, ‘misogyny’, ‘rape’ is hard to accept. He was shaken, but he did not argue, for he knew what I said was all true.” She accused Ramayana for the evils of today’s India as she added, “When I connected these incidents of all the women in Ramayana with various mishappenings of women that make headlines in the country today, my grandmother nodded in affirmation and my grandfather sighed in agreement.” She further wrote, “If age-old myths like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have such fatally flawed men, why are they at all worshipped even today and the women still blamed? It was never possible to remove the Islamophobia in my grandparents’ hearts, but narratives like these do arouse questions in their own religion and religious heroes. Unless the strong pillars of a conceited belief in faith bears cracks, no human can possibly welcome new ideas.”

Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner David Manning, who is also the nation’s designated Pandemic Controller, in a letter dated 18th September 2021, has denied permission to the nation’s Hindus from holding Durga Puja prayers. “Your request has been considered and we note that this is a form of idol worshipping which is morally inappropriate and against our Christian values. As such, APPROVAL IS NOT GRANTED to host this event,” the letter addressed to Mr. Puspendu Maity, President of Port Moresby Durga Puja Committee, says.

On September 11, 2021, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a 44-year-old man and his family were conducting a faith ceremony in the area of Barbertown Road and Mississauga Road in the City of Mississauga. Two males approached the family, shouted derogatory and hateful remarks assaulted the victim several times, including throwing rocks at him. The victim was able to break away and he and his family retreated to their vehicle. As the victim drove away, stones were thrown at his car, causing damage. Peel Regional Police has noted this as a hate-crime. One of the wanted males is believed to be Caucasian while the second is thought to be Asian. Both are around 16 to 18 years of age and have dark hair, according to police. The male victim was rushed to the hospital and is now safe. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries. His family did not get suffer any injuries. The 2 suspects are in their teens and are at large at the moment. One suspect is Caucasian and the other is Asian. “The abundance of rich culture and diversity that we have here in Peel Region is one of our many strengths. Being able to practice and celebrate one’s faith in peace and safety is a fundamental right here in Canada. Hateful, deliberate acts such as this will not be tolerated and I can assure you that the appropriate resources are being allocated to identify those responsible.” – Nishan Duraiappah, Chief of Peel Regional Police.

On Day 3, Session 2, Shana Sippy, Assistant Professor of Religion, Centre College at Carleton College, Minnesota, said: “As far as the idea with respect to Hindutva and Hinduism, I mean, I think, I'd like to think that we made it very clear, for us, Hinduism can take many forms, but we need to understand that Hindutva is – there is no Hindutva without Hinduism. Hindutva is inextricably linked to and is a form of Hinduism. And we do not think that there's any way to understand Hindutva, if you disaggregate it from that, and there's also absolutely no way to dismantle it, if you are going to kind of ignore the Hinduism of it.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aoOvDGt6zg at 1:10:19

On Day 3, Session 2, Sailaja Krishnamurti, Associate Professor, Religious Studies and Women & Gender Studies at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, said: “A person's identification with Hinduism can easily become an entryway into participation in Hindutva. In the diaspora, in particular, Hindu identity has become an important way of naming and comfortably inhabiting one's difference. Hinduism is seen as inseparable from traditions and families, food ways, languages, art forms and rituals.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aoOvDGt6zg at 24:39