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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Necessary Corrective

The launch of the Anti-Hindu Hate Monitor (AHHM) in Britain is both welcome and overdue. For years, hate crimes and discrimination directed at Hindus in the United Kingdom have existed in a peculiar blind spot - ignored by institutions, undercounted in official discourse and treated as politically inconvenient by sections of the British media and activist establishment. The new platform, launched by the International Centre for Sustainability in London, seeks to correct this imbalance. By...

Necessary Corrective

The launch of the Anti-Hindu Hate Monitor (AHHM) in Britain is both welcome and overdue. For years, hate crimes and discrimination directed at Hindus in the United Kingdom have existed in a peculiar blind spot - ignored by institutions, undercounted in official discourse and treated as politically inconvenient by sections of the British media and activist establishment. The new platform, launched by the International Centre for Sustainability in London, seeks to correct this imbalance. By systematically documenting incidents ranging from assault and threats to online abuse and desecration of property, it aims to create empirical visibility, something long been denied to British Hindus. While the British system devotes enormous institutional energy towards combating anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism, anti-Hindu hate has often been treated as either too marginal to matter or too politically awkward to discuss openly. Official figures recorded only 182 anti-Hindu offences last year, around two percent of religious hate crimes. But community organisations have consistently argued that the true scale is much larger because many incidents go unreported, are poorly categorised, or disappear into broader racial or religious classifications. The problem is cultural and political. In much of the Western liberal ecosystem, coverage of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in influential foreign publications often descends into caricature. India is routinely described as “majoritarian,” “authoritarian” or “fascist”, while Hindu identity itself is increasingly portrayed through a suspicious ideological lens. The asymmetry is glaring. Any incident involving Muslims triggers intense scrutiny, anguished editorials and institutional concern across major ‘progressive’ Western media outlets. But hostility directed at Hindus is frequently softened, contextualised away or ignored altogether. The same commentators who loftily insist that no minority should be stereotyped often show little hesitation in flattening Hindus into a monolithic political category associated with every alleged excess of the Indian state. The hypocrisy of sections of the self-styled progressive establishment lies in demanding sensitivity for every minority except Hindus. That is precisely why the AHHM initiative matters. Its significance lies in normalising the idea that anti-Hindu prejudice is real, measurable, and worthy of public attention. The platform’s attempt to categorise incidents systematically from hate speech and abusive behaviour to discrimination and online harassment is an important step towards moving the discussion beyond anecdote and into evidence-based policymaking. Importantly, the initiative also reflects a broader maturation within Britain’s Hindu community. Historically, British Hindus have tended to prioritise integration, professional advancement, and social quietude over political mobilisation. But silence can also produce invisibility. Communities that do not document their experiences are often told their experiences do not exist. If authorities genuinely seek to combat hate crime comprehensively, they cannot afford selective blindness shaped by fashionable narratives or geopolitical biases. A democracy’s moral credibility depends on consistency. Britain’s institutions and media would do well to recognise that protecting Hindus is simply the obligation of any society that claims to believe in pluralism.

Scions hurl dollops of allegations at patriarch

Ravi Ghai
Ravi Ghai

Mumbai: The heirs of the founder of the ‘Kwality’ ice-creams brand comprising the patriarch Ravi Iqbal Ghai and a daughter on one side and his entire clan on the other, are embroiled in a fresh war of words to claim the properties and inheritances estimated to be worth over Rs 350-cr.

 

Days after the ailing Ravi I. Ghai, 83, shot off police complaints naming several of his family members, the latter have apparently ganged up to launch a counter-offensive on him, through public notices in the media.

 

The present division lines within the Ghai family are: Ravi I. Ghai plus his daughter Gaurika Ghai-Chandhok on one side; and on the loaded opposite fence are his estranged wife Geeta (Ravi I.) Ghai, son Gaurav Ghai and his wife Sumita, grandson Shivaan Gaurav Ghai and his wife Alya, and finally granddaughter Sunera (Gaurav) Ghai-Somani.

 

In signed public notices in multiple print media today (July 8), the Ghai Family said they are dismayed to learn about the media communications with “various false, complaints, malicious statements and unsubstantiated allegations” being made by Ravi I. Ghai and Gaurika, concerning Gaurav, his wife and kids.

 

Challenging Ravi I. Ghai’s contentions, the Ghai Family said he had been paid the amounts as agreed and he ceased to have any  beneficial interest in any of the Ghai Family’s assets, business entities, with the entire management confirmed to be with Gaurav Ghai.

 

It added that shares still held by Ravi I. Ghai in Graviss Hospitality Ltd are frozen/held in favour of Gaurav Ghai.

 

Considering Ravi I. Ghai’s actions, his son Gaurav Ghai has initiated legal proceedings, including filing criminal defamation and other complaints to protect the Ghai Family reputation, rights of the Group’s businesses and its employees.

 

“The management of the Ghai Group will continue to adhere to the highest corporate governance standards and follow the ethical principles passed on by the Founder, the Late Shri I. K. Ghai,” assured the Ghai Family.

 

It cautioned the people that Ravi I. Ghai and Gaurika Ghai-Chandhok are not authorized to represent the Ghai Group of companies or the Ghai Family in any manner whatsoever as they do not own any asset belonging to the Ghai Family or manage any of the group’s businesses; and any person dealing with them must bear this in mind.

 

Hot battle to control ice-cream major

The matter – which was first highlighted by ‘The Perfect Voice’ (July 4) – has hotted up further with the senior Ghai threatening to file cases pertaining to frauds, cheating, defamation, etc. against his family members.

 

When contacted, lawyers for Ravi I. Ghai rubbished the contentions of the Ghai Family as ‘a bundle of lies’, and said they are going with their own retaliatory police complaints and appropriate legal proceedings in the matter.

 

They said that the Ghai Family has illegally usurped the company, powers and other rights of Ravi I. Ghai, against which they will shortly move the appropriate courts.

 

The Ghai Family said that the Ghai Group of companies was founded by the late Iqbal Krishan Ghai (in 1939) and now has witnessed huge growth under the leadership of Gaurav Ghai. 

 

The Group now owns-manages the InterContinental Hotel at Marine Drive, Baskin Robbins franchise in the SAARC, the venerable Kwality Ice Creams brand in the GCC and several other foods and hospitality-related ventures.

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