Operation
Hindutva Watch was established in April 2021 in response to growing concern over the rise of hate crimes and violence targeting religious minorities in India. [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.
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]
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. [1]
International media outlets like Al Jazeera English, [6] Los Angeles Times, [7] Reuters and more use it as authentic source for tracking attacks on minorities in India. [8]
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. [9] [2]
On 16 January 2024, the account associated with Hindutva Watch on X (formerly Twitter) was withheld within India due to a legal demand. A search for the website's X handle, followed by over 77,000 accounts, yielded a blank page accompanied by a notice confirming the regulatory action. [10] 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. [11]
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