Case Summary

The Hindu festival of Diwali, a revered and sacred celebration, was denigrated and abused on social media by an American Christian conservative man named Joshua Haymes. Diwali, also known as Deepavali, holds profound importance for Hindus as it symbolises the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. It commemorates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after defeating the demon king Ravana, representing the triumph of righteousness (dharma) and virtue. The festival also celebrates the divine feminine energy through Goddess Lakshmi, who symbolises wealth, prosperity, and good fortune, and through Goddess Kali, who represents the destruction of evil forces. Diwali unites Hindu families and communities in prayer, celebration, and renewal, encouraging spiritual cleansing, positive beginnings, and harmony. The accused, Joshua, is a host of a podcast named 'Reformation Red Pill Podcast'. He has 45,300 followers on X (formerly Twitter). On his X account, the accused called Diwali ‘demonic’. This began when Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian American entrepreneur and politician currently serving as the Governor of Wyoming, tweeted Diwali greetings to Hindus. On 20th October 2025, Joshua Haymes quote-tweeted Ramaswamy’s message saying: “WE 👏 DON’T 👏 CELEBRATE 👏 DEMONIC 👏 PAGAN 👏 HOLIDAYS 👏 IN 👏 AMERICA 👏. Christless conservatism will destroy our nation… if we let it. I do not intend to let it. Christ is King.” Following this, on 22nd October 2025, the accused again abused Hinduism by calling it a 'demonic false religion'. This incident began when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted Diwali greetings to Indian American Hindus. The accused replied, quote-tweeting: “Dude. Read the room. We’re done with demonic false religions. Christ is King.”

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Hate Speech against Hindus. The subcategory selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This case is a clear example of anti-Hindu hate speech. Firstly, the accused mocked the revered Hindu festival of Diwali by calling it “demonic.” Diwali holds deep religious significance for the Hindu community and is one of their most sacred festivals. To denigrate such a revered festival in this manner, using abusive terms like “demonic,” reveals the perpetrator’s deep-seated religious animosity towards the Hindu community and their faith. This constitutes a blatant instance of religiously motivated hate speech online. Following this, the accused again abused Hinduism itself by labelling it a “demonic false religion.” It is important to state that Hinduism is a faith followed by millions across the world. It is highly revered and held in profound respect by the Hindu community. Hinduism has shown its followers the true path to liberation, freedom, and peace. The act of abusing Hinduism in such a manner fosters negative stereotypes, portraying it as demonic and false. This inevitably leads to prejudice, discrimination, and, in the worst cases, violence against Hindus by individuals indoctrinated with this false notion. Such behaviour clearly amounts to hate speech targeting an entire faith and community. Moreover, the accused’s use of the term “demonic” to describe Hinduism echoes historical patterns commonly seen among conservative Christian circles, who have long employed similar terminology to demonise non-Christian faiths, including Hinduism. This reflects a deep-rooted doctrinal animosity towards all non-Christian religions. This case is therefore a clear example of doctrinal hatred and animosity directed at the Hindu community and its faith, categorising it as religiously motivated hate speech. Consequently, this incident is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.