Pajeet

Pajeet is an ethnic slur directed mainly at people of Indian origin,^[1][2][3] and interchargebly at Hindus.^[4] The term first appeared on 4chan in 2015, originating on the site's /int/ (International) board, and was later popularized by white separatists and Islamists.^[5][6][7]

Etymology

Pajeet is an invented name, created as an imitation of common indian names in Northwestern India that end with the suffix "jeet", which means "victory" in Sanskrit. Names such as Harjeet and Manjeet are typical examples. When it first appeared on 4chan, the term was used to represent a stereotypical Indian identity and later developed into an ethnic slur.^{[2][8][9][10]}

History

The term Pajeet originated from the "Pajeet my son" meme created on the 4chan message board /int/ in July 2015 mocking open defecation of Indians.^[5] This was itself inspired by the "Mehmet, my son" meme, popularized on /int/ in late 2014, which mocked Turkish people.^[11][12]

Prior to 2019, Pajeet was mainly limited to a small number of social media platforms such as 4chan, Gab and Telegram.^[8] However, pajeet was then popularized by Islamist extremists, and white supremacists activists to target Hindus online.^[13][14] John Earnest, the perpetrator of the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, referenced "pajeets" in his manifesto.^[14] The term gained currency in the early 2020s.^[15]

In the aftermath of the 2022 Leicester unrest between Hindus and Muslims, anti-Hindu memes were accompanied by "pajeet" depicting Hindus as barbaric and dirty. Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which has investigated the online trends between 2019 and 2022, noted a wide dispersion of anti-Hindu and anti-Indian slurs and tropes during this period.^[16]

The 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, which was incorrectly blamed by many on Indians, resulted in large racist attacks on social media platforms, in which the term pajeet was widely used by anti-Indian internet users.^[10]

Politicians of Indian origin have been applied with the Pajeet slur. British prime minister Rishi Sunak was targeted with the term in 2023, so was American presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during his campaigns.^[2]

Criticism

In late 2022, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) criticized and denounced the term Pajeet as "Hinduphobic".^[5]