Indian media displays Hinduphobia; links Hindu sacred Swastika with Nazi Hakenkreuz
India 
30 March, 2025
Case Summary
In Pennsylvania, 55-year-old Chadd Ritenbaugh was charged with criminal mischief, harassment, and disorderly conduct after he scratched a Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) onto a Tesla SUV parked at a Planet Fitness gym. The incident, which took place in broad daylight, was captured by the vehicle’s built-in camera system, a feature commonly found in Tesla cars for security surveillance. Commenting on the case, Tesla CEO Elon Musk controversially linked the Nazi Hakenkreuz with the Hindu sacred Swastika. He asserted that defacing a Tesla with a hate symbol like a Swastika clearly constituted a hate crime, stating, “Anyone who scrawls a swastika on a Tesla has obviously committed a hate crime.” Several Indian media outlets, including Times of India, News18, and India Today, misrepresented the incident by using the term "Swastika" in their headlines, creating the misleading impression that the symbol drawn was the Hindu sacred Swastika. However, images of the vandalism clearly showed that the symbol in question was the Nazi Hakenkreuz. For instance, News18 ran the headline: "'Crazy People': Elon Musk Reacts To Man Painting Swastika On Tesla Cybertruck." Similarly, India Today published: "Elon Musk reacts after man paints Swastika on Tesla Cybertruck: Crazy people." Times of India also reported on the controversy with the headline: "Elon Musk on a man painting Swastika on Tesla: Crazy people." None of these media outlets made an effort to clarify that the symbol vandalized onto the car was a Nazi Hakenkreuz, which is entirely distinct from the Hindu Swastika, further contributing to misinformation and reinforcing harmful misconceptions. It is worth mentioning that this is the tactic used by Hinduphobic propagandists who intentionally link ‘Swastika’ to the Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) in order to indicate that Hindus draw their inspiration from Nazis. However, this is not the first instance of international media, the Indian liberal media, and the left intelligentsia deliberately displaying their Hinduphobia by falsely equating the sacred Hindu Swastika with the Nazi symbol. In May 2022, the International media outlet ‘The Guardian‘ reported about an incident where a gunman opened fire in a school in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, killing at least six people and injuring 20 before killing himself. While reporting on the horrible killing, the media outlet, in keeping with its Hinduphobic propaganda, stated that the killer was wearing a jacket with the holy Hindu ‘Swastika’. Likewise, many other international media houses like Global News, The Times, vice.com, Toronto Sun, South China Morning Post and NBC News displayed the same Hinduphobia while reporting about the incident. They too referred to the gunman who adhered to Nazi ideologies as a ‘Swastika-wearing killer’. However, anyone looking at the symbol on the gunman’s jacket would have noticed that the symbol these media outlets were egregiously dubbing Swastika was actually the Nazi Hakenkreuz. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, in 2019, shared an image that depicted a man running behind a ‘Swastika’ shape with a club in his hand, driving out the symbol that is considered holy in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism in India.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category 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. The second sub-category under which this instance is placed is- Anti Hindu subversion and prejudice. Hate speech is defined as any speech, gesture, conduct, writing, or display that is prejudicial against a specific individual and/or group of people, which is leading to or may lead to violence, prejudicial action or hate against that individual and/or group. Media plays a specific and overarching reach in perpetuating prejudicial attitudes towards a community owing to unfair, untrue coverage and/or misrepresentation/misinterpretation, selective coverage and/or omission of facts of/pertaining to issues affecting a specific religious group. This type of bias can dehumanise the victim group, making it easier for others to justify harmful actions against them, which aligns with the objectives of hate speech laws aimed at preventing such harm. It is often observed that the media takes a prejudicial stand against the Hindu community driven by their need to shield the aggressor community which happens to be a numeric minority, however, is the one perpetrating violence against Hindus. For example, the media is often quick to contextualise religiously motivated crimes against Hindus, omit or misrepresent facts that point towards religiously motivated hate crimes, justify and/or downplay religiously motivated hate crimes or simply present fake news to stereotype Hindus. Such media bias leads to the denial of persecution and is often used to dehumanise Hindus, leading to justification for violence against them. For example, the media covered several fake allegations of Hindus targeting Muslims and forcing them to chant Jai Shree Ram. Most of these cases were proven false and fabricated after police investigation. These fake news reports were subsequently never retracted or clarified. Such fake news led to the justification of violence and dehumanisation of Hindus based on the argument that since Hindus targeted Muslims and forced them to chant Jai Shree Ram, the dehumanisation of Hindus and violence against them was par for the course and merely a retaliation. Such media bias leads to prejudicial portrayal of Hindus and offers a justification for violence against them and therefore, is considered hate speech under this category. This incident qualifies as a hate crime because multiple media outlets failed to distinguish between the sacred Hindu Swastika and the Nazi Hakenkreuz, thereby contributing to the misrepresentation and vilification of a revered religious symbol. The Swastika has been an integral part of Hinduism for millennia, symbolising auspiciousness, prosperity, and divinity. By using the term "Swastika" for the Nazi symbol, the media reinforced a false and harmful narrative that maligns a sacred Hindu symbol and fuels prejudice against Hindus. In this case, the failure to distinguish between the Hindu Swastika—a millennia-old sacred symbol of auspiciousness—and the Nazi Hakenkreuz reflects either deliberate prejudice or a wilful disregard for historical and cultural accuracy. The persistent misrepresentation of the Swastika as a hate symbol, despite extensive academic and historical evidence distinguishing it from the Hakenkreuz, reveals an ingrained bias within liberal academia and media. This aligns with a broader pattern where Hindu concepts and traditions are selectively misrepresented, either through omission or distortion, to fit ideological narratives that frame Hinduism in a negative light. By repeatedly associating the Swastika with the Nazi Hakenkreuz without clarification, the media perpetuates a form of academic Hinduphobia that subtly delegitimises Hindu cultural heritage. Elon Musk, despite his global influence, may not have been fully aware of the distinction between the Hindu Swastika and the Nazi Hakenkreuz, and for once, he could be given the benefit of the doubt. However, Indian media outlets, which operate within a country where the holy Swastika is deeply ingrained in cultural and religious traditions, have no such excuse. Their deliberate choice to conflate the two symbols, despite clear visual evidence and historical knowledge, exposes a deeper bias and an intent to distort Hindu symbolism, reinforcing a narrative of prejudice and subversion.
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