Devdutt Pattanaik slams Oxford intolerance over 'Hindutva' toxicity against Rashmi Samant

Amid the ongoing controversy of Oxford University involving Rashmi Samant, who had become the first Indian woman to be appointed President of the Oxford Student Union (SU), Devdutt Pattanaik issued a sarcastic and cryptic response. The mythologist-author termed the prestigious university as one that abhorred ‘intelligent brown Hindutva girls’ who did not wish to speak about 'caste/class oppression and Islamophobia.' He wrote that ‘Hindutva’ would look at the institution as ‘racist and bigoted.‘

Devdutt Pattanaik’s tweet on Oxford University-Rashmi Samant controversy 

Devdutt  Pattanaik took to Twitter to state that Oxford was fond of intelligent brown girls who spoke about decolonisation, but not 'intelligent brown girls who do not speak on caste and class oppression/Islamophobia.'

The cryptic post seemed to be in response to Rashmi Samant’s resignation as the President of the Oxford Student Union (SU) over cyberbullying and racist harassment, after her old controversial posts surfaced,  

Recently, three societies of the institution, Oxford India Society, HUMSoc – Oxford University Hindu Society and the Oxford South Asian Society had issued a  joint statement, condemning the incident. They had also hit out at the narrative that Oxford University was discriminating against Hindus.

They had clarified that “neither her nationality nor her religion are what prompted the calls for her resignation”. “We reiterate that these calls did not have anything to do with the fact that she is Indian or Hindu or a woman,” the statement read..

Pattanaik's tweets were a part of a series of tweets that included the word ‘Hindutva’, right from asking why ‘Hindutva students’ went to Oxford instead of Kashi’, as well touching upon on art, caste-based malpractices and more. 

Among the other developments in Rashmi Samant controversy included a case being filed against an Oxford University faculty member, Abhijit Sarkar, who is a postdoctoral history researcher at New College in Oxford University. The UK Police filed the case after Satish Sharma, Managing Director of the global Hindu Federation, complained about 'religious hatred, bullying and harassment of Samant at the hands of the Oxford PhD scholar.

Rashmi Samant had made history to become the first Indian woman to become President of the Oxford Student Union (SU) in February. However, soon after she announced her resignation over the intense reactions to her comments in the past,  

She had claimed that her posts were “grossly misrepresented” and there was a “huge smear campaign”. She shared that she even had to delete her social media accounts and had now come back to India.