Hindutva Watch

Hindutva Watch is a controversial digital platform that has been accused by critics of promoting a biased and one-sided narrative against Hindus, the religious majority in India. The project, founded and operated by journalist Raqib Hameed Naik, focuses exclusively on documenting alleged hate crimes and human rights violations attributed to groups associated with Hindutva ideology. Critics argue that the platform selectively highlights incidents to portray the Hindu community as inherently communal, while consistently presenting religious minorities as victims of systemic oppression in India.

Hindutva Watch

Established	April 2021, 01; 4 years ago (01-04-2021)
Type	Independent research initiative
Purpose	Monitoring and documenting hate crimes and human rights abuses in India
Headquarters	Cambridge, USA
Region	India
Founder	Raqib Hameed Naik
Website	www.hindutvawatch.org

Background

As per its website, Hindutva Watch (HW) is a media and research initiative committed to documenting hate crimes and hate speech targeting India’s religious minorities and marginalized groups, including Dalits.^[1]The organization employs a real-time data collection methodology to track and catalog instances of violent attacks, hate speech, and human rights violations against communities based on their faith, including Muslims, Christians, and members of lower-ranked castes.^[2][3] The team is primarily composed of volunteers situated across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Methodology

Hindutva Watch collects evidence from various sources, including video and picture submissions from Indian activists, news aggregation, social media platforms, and messaging apps. The organization's network of volunteers, which spans across the world, verifies and validates the information before it is documented on their website. Hindutva Watch also holds virtual meetings to discuss and verify reports of hate crimes, ensuring the accuracy of their data.^[2][4]

Impact

Since its inception, Hindutva Watch has documented and cataloged over 1,000 instances of violent attacks, hate speech, and other forms of human rights abuses against minority and marginalized communities in India.^[5] The organization's work serves as a critical source of evidence for researchers, journalists, lawmakers, and activists who seek to address and combat hate crimes in the country.^[2][4]

Their reports have been referenced in public discourse, including a Supreme Court of India petition in August 2023. The team's reports have been referenced in public discourse, including a Supreme Court of India petition in August 2023 that cited nine Hindutva Watch reports to highlight cases of alleged police inaction during communal violence.^[6]

International media outlets like Al Jazeera English,^[7] Los Angeles Times,^[8] Reuters and more use it as authentic source for tracking attacks on minorities in India.^[9]

Reception

Hindutva Watch's efforts to document hate crimes have drawn both praise and criticism. Supporters applaud the organization's dedication to preserving evidence of human rights violations, while critics argue that the initiative may be biased or selective in its reporting.^[10][2]

On 16 January 2024, the X account, formerly known as Twitter, associated with Hindutva Watch was withheld within India due to a legal demand. A search for the website's X handle, boasting a substantial following of over 77,000, yielded a blank page accompanied by a notice confirming the regulatory action.^[11] The block was challenged in the Delhi High Court by Naik, founder of Hindutva Watch. X submitted an affidavit to the court stating that the decision to block the account was "unjustified and disproportionate", and that it was willing to restore the account on the court’s direction.^[12]

See also

• Human rights in India
• Religious violence in India