If no one keeps watch, the communal fringe in India will become the mainstream. On Facebook, Akshay Lahoti—employed with HDFC Life—called for a Hindu-only referendum on whether Muslims should be allowed to stay in India. Calling the expulsion of Muslims an “unfinished business” of Partition, Lahoti wrote that if a majority of Hindus decide against Muslims being given Indian citizenship, then Muslims should “accept the mandate and move to Pakistan and Bangladesh”. After the post went viral, a Twitter user tagged the HDFC Bank handle to highlight Lahoti’s bigotry to his employers, following which HDFC Bank said that it had flagged the post to HDFC Life, and HDFC strongly condemns “such divisive and insensitive comments/views.”
What has followed since should be alarming for those concerned about preserving India’s plurality. HDFC Bank’s response drew a tsunami of criticism from Hindu right-wing Twitter, with many defending Lahoti and threatening the bank with withdrawal of their patronage by shutting down accounts. One user even tagged an unverified account believed to be of RBI director and right-wing ideologue S Gurumurthy, seeking his intervention.
The backlash is telling. Bigotry may no longer be kept concealed—with a large enough Twitter army, those opposing it can be threatened, perhaps into silence. HDFC Bank, Surf Excel and others that faced such backlash should assert that they will not deviate from the principles they hold dear. Else, bigots will only get encouraged to armtwist those differing with them.
