Minority among minority

In recent years Indian Americans have been
concerned about the stereotypes about India and
Hinduism that are taught as fact in American
classrooms. They know it will negatively impact
students of Indian or South Asian origin who are
struggling to work out their identity in a
multicultural, predominately Anglo-Christian
environment.

Moreover, some academicians too are engaged in
Hindu-bashing. For instance, scholars have
disparaged the Bhagavad Gita as "a dishonest
book"; declared Gansesh's trunk a "limp phallus";
classified Devi as the "mother with a penis" and
Shiv as "a notorious womanizer" who incites
violence in India; pronounced Shri Ramakrishna a
pedophile who sexually molested the young Swami
Vivekanand; condemned Indian mothers as being less
loving of their children than white women; and
interpreted the bindi as a drop of menstrual fluid
and the "ha" in sacred mantras as a woman's sound
during orgasm.

. . .

The first person within the Indian-American
community to bring Hinduphobia, or distortions and
negative portrayals of the Hindu religion out into
the open was Rajiv Malhotra. Since at least 2002,
his single minded campaigning, his scholarly
criticisms, and his courageous stance has brought
the issue into focus -- thanks to the
world-wide-web. In many of these articles,
Malhotra argues that misinterpretations of Indian
culture, especially philosophy and religion have
created a Hinduism for American society that is
very different from the religious philosophy as
practiced by its followers.

. . .