Caste politics weaponised against Hindu community; Indian politician targets upper castes Hindus
Lima, Lima, Peru 
11 October, 2025
Case Summary
In Lima city of Peru, Hindu sentiments were insulted after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi viciously targeted upper caste Hindus. The accused made contentious remarks about India’s education system, claiming that it was designed to benefit only the upper castes. While speaking with the students at the Pontifical Catholic University, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that India was dominated by upper castes while the middle and lower castes formed the majority of the population, yet their history, traditions, and thought systems were excluded from the country’s educational framework. He claimed that the education system represented only the top tier of society and called for the inclusion of the traditions and histories of Adivasis, middle castes, and lower castes. Furthermore, in an effort to target the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power since 2014, Rahul Gandhi went on to accuse the government of having destroyed India’s scientific temper over the past decade, claiming that logical and scientific thinking had been undermined and that such principles needed to be restored. He claimed that free thought, openness, and scientific reasoning were under serious threat in India, promising to revive them if given the opportunity. His comments were seen as part of a broader strategy by the Congress party to deepen caste-based divisions for electoral gain. The Congress leadership had also pledged to conduct a nationwide caste census and remove the upper limit on reservations, while Rahul Gandhi himself had been promoting the slogan “Jitni abadi utna haq” (Rights proportional to population), calling for proportional representation in jobs and education. Critics had warned that such measures could destabilise social harmony, fragment Hindu society along caste lines, and embolden demands for religion-based representation, potentially leading to communal polarisation. Political commentators also described this as a continuation of the Congress party’s strategy to weaken Hindu unity and consolidate Muslim vote banks. They compared the idea of proportional representation to the failed political model of Lebanon, cautioning that such divisive policies could have catastrophic consequences for India’s democratic fabric.
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 has been added to the tracker because Hindu sentiments were insulted after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made contentious remarks about India’s education system, claiming that it was designed to benefit only the upper castes. His comments were not random; they were deliberate and directly sought to delegitimise and discredit Hindu society and Hinduism by portraying it as inherently oppressive and discriminatory. By claiming that India’s education system favoured only the upper castes while excluding the history, traditions, and thought systems of middle castes, lower castes, and tribal communities, he attempted to create a narrative that Hindu society and Hinduism are structurally tyrannical. Such a false narrative is perpetuated in order to discredit and delegitimise the faith and dehumanise its followers. The direct consequence of the creation of such false ‘atrocity literature’ is an increase in hostility and violence against particular sections of Hindu society. Such a narrative attacks the core of the faith, seeking to dehumanise its followers and create internal divisions within the Hindu community. The intent behind spreading this disinformation was to weaken the unity of Hindu society and divide it along caste lines by portraying one community as inherently oppressive and the Hindu religion as discriminatory. Furthermore, by promoting ideas such as caste-based proportional representation, a nationwide caste census, and by advocating slogans like “Jitni abadi utna haq,” Rahul Gandhi encouraged fragmentation of Hindu society and the prioritisation of micro-identities over shared religious and civilisational bonds. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi's statement cannot be viewed merely as a political comment; it had a clear motive to divide Hindu society along micro-identities such as caste and region. His views aligned with several leftists and Islamists, who often weaponise identity politics to target Hindus. It attempts to weaken the unifying factor (Hindu religious identity) of Indian society, which transcends caste distinctions and geographical boundaries, by creating a perception that the Hindu upper caste is tyrannical and oppressive, and has captured resources. For leaders like Rahul Gandhi, as well as the Congress party, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary; their real target is Hinduism, as a religious identity. Their goal is to divide the Hindu society across fictitious caste, anti-Brahmanism, or rhetoric about social hierarchies. For example, the 2015 Karnataka caste survey and the 2024 Telangana caste survey, both of which were conducted by the Congress government, created divisions within Hindu society under the guise of social equity. Therefore, in this context, his speech represented a deliberate attempt to fragment the Hindu society by promoting a narrative of division, targeting Hindu religious identity rather than political or social issues. Such actions not only seek to fragment Hindu society along caste lines but also aim to diminish its collective religious identity. His remarks constitute hate speech because they were intended to demean, marginalise, and create animosity towards Hindus by exploiting caste lines. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
