When I first got the WhatsApp messages I dismissed them. The messaging service has become a hive for mad family debates so they were nothing new. Then I heard that Hindu temples were sending them too. When I tweeted about that, a deluge of concerned British Hindus began telling me what they were seeing. Then I heard that Overseas Friends of BJP – an organisation that supports India’s ruling party – were running a campaign to target Labour Party candidates in the UK, and I started putting the pieces together.
I’ve been shocked by what I’ve found. The impact of all this may not be widely felt in this election but it will resonate for years. It is polarising and dividing Hindu families across the UK. It is causing tensions between communities and those divides may get worse.
It began with pro-Kashmir protests. On 5 August, the Indian BJP government revoked the autonomy of the disputed region of Kashmir. Protests were held outside the Indian High Commission, and in early September they went too far. Missiles were thrown at pro-India counter-protesters, including women and children, and windows were broken. Videos of hundreds of angry (largely male) protesters intimidating pro-India women went viral.
