We’re Only Human

Indu Viswanathan, Ed.D.
The Startup

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Are supporters of a petition demanding accountability from NPR and fair representation or is it “Hindutva apocalyptic propaganda”?

On September 10, 2019, NPR became the subject of heated debate when it was revealed that its New Delhi producer, Furkan Khan, had published violent, Hinduphobic tweets about Hindus and India (see below). She removed the tweet, stating that she didn’t wish to be “misrepresented”. She later tweeted a longer apology and resigned.

NPR responded tepidly (and somewhat defensively, as you see above) to harsh public criticism from Hindus. We were not satisfied with their response, as Khan’s horrifically violent Hinduphobic tweet reflected a much deeper issue of journalistic integrity in reporting on Hindus and Hinduism from NPR, in India and in the US.

The following day, we started a petition demanding an ethical inquiry into NPR’s methods of covering news and issues related to Hinduism. We have been excited to see the change.org petition pick up a little speed over the past two weeks. At the time this article was published, it had just been endorsed by over 6,700 signatures, mostly from people in India and the United States. (Given that over 10% of the world’s population is

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Indu Viswanathan, Ed.D.
The Startup

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