Motion tabled in Scottish Parliament tackling Hinduphobia

LONDON: An Alba party member of the Scottish Parliament has tabled Scotland’s first-ever parliamentary motion tackling Hinduphobia.

Ash Regan tabled the motion, which highlights rising levels of prejudice, discrimination and marginalisation experienced by the 16,000-strong Scottish Hindu community. It also acknowledges the importance of their research, advocacy and public engagement in raising awareness and advancing interfaith dialogue, social cohesion and mutual respect across Scotland’s diverse communities.

The motion commends the work of the Gandhian Peace Society, a UK registered charity, for its report “Hinduphobia in Scotland”, which was presented on Jan 23 to the Scottish parliamentary cross-party group on challenging racial and religious prejudice. Motions are short statements written by MSPs to raise awareness of an issue.

The report combines data with first-hand accounts of Hinduphobia. It highlights the vandalising of a Dundee temple with hateful graffiti and an attack with stones and bricks on a Hindu family’s home in Glasgow by masked men in 2021.

The report reveals that a Hindu nurse in Edinburgh was denied a promotion because of her religion and was told to remove her bindi and bangles, and a Hindu teacher in Glasgow was accused of being a terrorist.

The report also gives examples of Hinduphobic terms used in Scotland, such as “cow piss drinker” and “devil worshipper”. Sixteen per cent of Scots would be unhappy if a close relative married a Hindu, it says.

“Regan’s motion sets a precedent: religious harmony is not passive, it is fought for, legislated, and cherished,” saidGandhian Peace Society general secretary Dhruva Kumar, who wrote the report.