Indian alt-right glossary


 * See Alt-right glossary for our overall inspiration

Much like the alt-right in North America and Europe, the far-right in India has its own lexicon of in-group memes and jargon. In Indian English, some of these are derived from like-minded movements in the larger Anglosphere and given an Indian twist, some are based on Hindi or other regional languages rendered into Latin script and possibly mixed with English or "leet-speak", basically forming a rich cultural tapestry of ways to be cruel.

This list is inspired by our popular Alt-right glossary, and is made even more necessary by the fact that the larger social media world for English speakers is largely composed of people who simply don't get the culture of the Indian Right, giving them a lot of leeway to mob Reddit, Discord, YouTube comment sections, and the like with very aggressive input that often violates the platform's Terms of Service, but gets a pass because a tech worker in California has no idea what a "" is. So this list exists to compile these terms to raise awareness of the dangerously violent strains of bigotry in the corners of the Indian English social media world that might otherwise be overlooked.

Please note this list focuses on terms used in Indian English, with some flex for terms/phrases that are in Hindi or regional languages but would be commonly dropped into discussions otherwise in English and commonly recognized by participants.

🚩
The triangular red flag emoji (🚩) refers to the flag of, simply known as (lit. Saffron Flag). The RSS has infamously been against the usage of the Indian national flag (🇮🇳), saying "it will never be respected and owned by Hindus."

🏹
The bow-and-arrow emoji (🏹) refers to the iconic bow and arrow of  a Hindu god.

Akhand Bharat
Akhand Bharat (lit. United India) is an irredentist mythical geographical extension of the Indian territories to accompany most of South Asian dominions, akin to the Nazi concept of Lebensraum.

Bvll
Bvll is faux-Latinization of 'bull', roughly equivalent to the manosphere term, 'chad'. It is also used within the Western alt-right.

Cauliflower farmer
The term cauliflower farmer refers to the which killed more than a thousand people comprising mostly Muslims, and displaced 50,000 more, during which a Hindu police officer killed more than a hundred Muslims in the Logain massacre and buried them in the cauliflower plantation nearby to hide the evidence.

Ghar Wapsi or Suddhi
Ghar Wapsi (lit. Homecoming) is the name under which various modern Hindutva organisations orchestrate their religious conversions to Hinduism. It is part of the larger Suddhi (lit. Purification) movement. They prefer this term over conversion because of the pseudohistorical myth that in the past, Hindu Rashtra extended all over the globe and everyone was a Hindu. Hence, a religious conversion outside Hinduism is seen as betrayal of one’s culture, but a foreigner adopting Hindu culture is seen as “purification” rather than conversion as they are returning to the “truer” religion.

Hindu Rashtra
The Hindu Rashtra (lit. Hindu Nation) is the main goal for Hindutva; a Hindu supremacist ethnostate.

This was first described by the major RSS leader, M.S. Golwalkar.

Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga is a concept in Hinduism that refers to the "age of the demon" or the "age of darkness". In far-right political spaces, the Kali Yuga is appropriated by traditionalists; to denounce the modern world as being decadent, while reminiscing of the good old days, the Golden Age of India.

Kattar Hindu and Viraat Hindu
Kattar Hindu and viraat Hindu refer to Hindus who are "proud of their culture;" supremacists. Similar to saying "It's OK To Be Hindu." Kattar means 'hardcore' in Hindi and Viraat means 'huge' in Gujarati.

Trads
Trads are Hindu traditionalists; they are called unapologetic for subscribing to the old beliefs of Hinduism, such as casteism and sati.

Abdul
Abdul is a common Arabic name in the Muslim community, but used as a slur.

Abdul is not used as a standalone name, but rather with another word such as Abdurrahman (Abd-ul Rahman, "slave of the merciful [God] ").

Alia Malia Jamia
Alia Malia Jamia is a catchphrase referring to Muslims. The phrase itself has no real meaning besides the fact that the three names sound a bit Muslim and have assonance. It was first used by Narendra Modi and then popularised by Amit Shah.

Bakri premi
Bakri premi (बकरी प्रेमी) in Hindi translates to "goat lover". It refers to RationalWiki’s fascination with goats Muslims because of Eid (sometimes called Bakri Eid ), the Muslim festival of sacrifice, in which a domestic animal is required to be sacrificed, often a sheep or a goat.

Bulla
Bulla is the text form of 🅱️ulla (using the 'B emoji'). It is used to avoid censorship of pejorative use of '' (or mullah, a Muslim clerical title). It is a slur for Muslims generally.

Katua/katwa/k2a
Katua, katwa (katua + fatwa), and k2a are used as crude slurs for Muslim males,  derived from kat (काट), which is a cognate for 'cut', referring to male Muslims being circumcised. It is on the same level of vulgarity as the n-word. K2A is an abbreviation of katwa.

The word also refers to the name of a Hindu town in a mostly Muslim state (Jammu and Kashmir). Kathua was where the took place, where an eight-year-old girl was drugged, brutally gang raped several times over the course of a week, and strangled to death by a local Hindu priest, his son, his nephew, and four Hindu police officers, including a constable. Protests in support of the accused were later attended by two prominent ministers of the ruling right-wing BJP.

Khalistani
Khalistani is a slur against Sikhs (in India or elsewhere). is a proposed Sikh separatist homeland comprising the general Punjab regions of both India and Pakistan, and was a serious issue in the 1980s that led to major violence. So it is a real issue, less so today than in past years, but used a blanket term for Sikhs, its implication is that Sikhs aren't "real" members of the society that they live in, but are scheming "people without a nation" pressing their own interests (sound familiar?).

Mleccha
refers to any non-Hindu. Mleccha is a Sanskrit term for “foreign” people who did not know the Vedic tongue.

Moslim
Moslim means Muslim. 'Moslim' is a non-pejorative secondary spelling of Muslim, dating back to the 1600s, that has come into disuse in standard English.

Mulla/Kathmulla
Mulla is a generic slur of Muslims. It refers to 'mullahs' who are learned theologists in Islam. Not a bad word in itself, but has turned offensive by use over time. The 'mulla' spelling of the word actually follows the Urdu transliteration mullā, and is an archaic spelling in English.

The slur has been used by famous BJP members like Yogi Adityanath and Sambit Patra.

Ola hu Uber
and are popular cab services in India. The sentence "Ola hu Uber." refers to meaning “Allah is the greatest.”

Paki
is a slur against South Asian Muslims. Derived from the country of Pakistan. The slur originated in Britain in the 1960s to refer to Pakistani immigrants, but more broadly all South Asians (including Hindus).

Pasmandu
Pasmandu is a derogatory term for lower caste Muslims. Pasmanda means “those left behind” in Persian, and is not derogatory, and Passmandu is a portmanteau of Pasmanda and the Bengali gandu (গান্ডু, asshole). The word is generally used by Hindu supremacists as an insult to Muslims. The alt-right is now using it for all liberals and leftists.

Porkistan/Porkis
Porkistan is a portmanteau of Pakistan and pork, and is used to disparage Muslims, who do not eat pork because it is considered haram (forbidden in Islamic law).

Ricebag
Ricebag is a slur against Indian Christians, implying that they converted to get free In earlier times, lower caste Hindus converted to Christianity to escape the caste discrimination (it didn't work, they brought the caste system along). Right-wingers being right-wingers, they view anyone that isn't a Hindu with contempt, and use the term 'ricebag' to imply that they converted for freebies.

What the people who use this word don't realize by using the word is the implication that their religion is only worth a bag of rice; then again, we are talking about people who believe in religious superiority. No surprise.

Xztians
Xztians refers to Christians. Probably derived from the practice of using the Greek letter chi (Χx) or the visually similar X as a stand-in for the word Christ (as in Xmas).

Andolan jeevi
Andolan jeevi is a term used to accuse minorities and the underprivileged who protest the laws passed by the government of being paid by the opposition to "defame India". The word was first coined by Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi to dismiss the concerns of  The word "andolan" means "agitation" and "jeevi" means "one who lives", so the full phrase means "people who live off of protests."

Anti-national
The term  is a label slapped onto basically anyone who criticises the current government. Criticising the current government is not the same as literally being against the existence of India, which is something most Indian conservatives fail to understand.

Award Wapsi Gang
Similar to the other “gang” terms, Award Wapsi Gang is a catchphrase used against award-winning journalists, intellectuals, sportsmen, etc. who returned their prizes from the government back to them in response to the rising authoritarianism under the Narendra Modi regime. It was popularised by the Indian actor whose sole response for any opposition to the government is asking “Where were you when…”. The word "wapsi" means "to return" and the full phrase translates to "gang that returns their awards".

Bhangi
Bhangi is a casteist slur for people belonging to the Valmiki castes. Valmiki is a large cluster of castes and local groups from the Indian subcontinent. The Valmikis can be classified as a caste or In terms of being classified as Sampradaya, the Valmikis trace their tradition to the Hindu sage Valmiki, who is traditionally ascribed as the writer of the epic  Valmikis are traditionally supposed to be cleaners/sweepers according to the caste system. They are supposed to clean the toilets of upper-caste Hindus and do all the filthy work that they would require to get done.

Bheemta
Bheemta is a slur against and Ambedkarites. It refers to B. R. Ambedkar, a rationalist-humanist atheist who fought for Dalit rights after Indian independence and had a large part in forming the Indian constitution.

Chamar
Chamar is similar to, another casteist slur for people belonging to the caste, who were mostly leatherworkers. Under the its usage to refer to a person is punishable by law. That hasn't stopped its use, however.

Chrislamocommie
Chrislamocommie is an amalgamation of Christian, Islam, and commie, which are the three spooky groups that the Hindu far right hates.

Deletes
Deletes or Delets is a portmanteau of the words and delete, calling for violence against the lower castes.

Khan Market Gang
Similar to, Khan Market Gang is a catchphrase against the "liberal elite". It refers to one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in India which hosts trendy boutiques, eateries, and shopping centres.

The phrase was coined by Finance Minister referring to political brokers who spent time at the market during parliament lunch breaks. It was then further popularised by Narendra Modi, who used it to refer to the BJP's opposition.

Khujliwal
Khujliwal is a snarl word used to discredit the The word is a play on the name of AAP’s leader, named  and khujalī, which means itching in Hindi.

Librandu
Librandu is a term used against liberals. It is a portmanteau of the words Liberal and the Bengali word gandu (asshole).

Lutyen's media
The term Lutyen's media is used to accuse dissenting media houses and journalists (especially the English, -centric ones) of being paid by “the elite” (“foreign powers” and opposition parties, especially the ) to "destroy India". Refers to who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj.

It is described as: highly homogenized, urban, closeted, dilli/punjabi, bipolarly broken conservative/liberal, overly articulate, English, overly defensive, highly left-liberal, overly label-loving, well-meaning but obtuse…

Macaulay's children
The term Macaulay's children is used to accuse opponents of being British bootlickers who value 'western science' over the teachings in Vedic scriptures. It refers to who introduced the Western education system into India.

Neech
Neech (नीच) translates to 'lowly' in Hindi. It is a casteist slur that is generally used by upper-caste Hindus towards lower-caste Hindus, suggesting that they are inferior to them.

Pappu
 is a nickname given to BJP’s opposition leader, meaning "little boy". It was first used to refer to him by Narendra Modi and the term has stuck ever since.

Pajeet
Pajeet is a slur aimed at various groups depending on context (South Asians in general). Paaji (elder brother in Punjabi) + generic Punjabi name (Sanjeet, Manjeet etc). The name Pajeet does not exist in South Asia, but similar-sounding names do exist, most notably in the Punjab region.

The slur originated from a meme, "Pajeet, my son", circulated on 4chan in late 2014 and early 2015, mocking India for its open-defecation problem, with public reaction to the campaign. The term is also used in the broader alt-right.

Pseudosecular
Used against secular people to insinuate tokenism.

Raita/Rayta
Raita or Rayta, referring to a common South Asian dish made with yogurt, is a conservative Hindu who doesn’t follow Hindutva. Considered centrists in Indian politics because of the stunted Overton window in India. Usage of this term is not exclusive to Hindutva-proponents.

Scamgress
Scamgress (from 'scam' + 'Congress') is a snarl word for the which achieved infamy because of the number of scams and corruption scandals that took place under their regime.

Sharia Bolshevism
Sharia Bolshevism is a parody ideology meaning "communism with Islamic characteristics", where Marxshallah (Marx + Allah) is worshipped.

Sickular
Sickular is interchangable with pseudo-sickular. It is a portmanteu of the words 'sick' and 'secular'. It is used against people who promote secularism to imply tokenism.

Taliliberals
Taliliberals is a slur used against liberals. It is a portmanteau of the words Liberal and the terrorist group Taliban to accuse them of being Islamists.

Tukde Tukde Gang
Similar to,  is a catchphrase used against critics of the BJP regime to accuse them of wanting to break India into pieces (direct opposite of ). The word "tukde" means "small fragments" in Hindi and the full phrase can translate to "gang that wants to break the nation".

The credit for the coinage of the phrase was claimed by the infamous news anchor of Zee TV, It gained popularity after the mostly left-leaning students of  (JNU) were protesting using "anti-national" slogans, where one student is allegedly heard saying "Bharat Tere Tukde Honge" (India, you will be fractured into pieces). The allegations were later proved to be false by the police.

But the damage from the propaganda had been done; JNU’s reputation was tarnished by pundits covering the  and despite it being disproved, the conspiracy that the Tudke Tudke Gang ever existed still continues today.

Urban Naxal
Urban Naxal is an abusive term used against anyone who criticizes the government. The word 'naxal' derives from the name of the village Naxalbari in West Bengal, where the revolt took place in 1967.

The first known use of the word was in 2014 when Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley called the center to center-left political party "Urban Naxalism".

The term got a resurgence when the Maharashtra Government arrested five people, namely    and  for their alleged involvement in the  It currently owes its usage to  a BJP and  member who defined the term "Urban Naxal" in his book of the same name as: urban Naxal as an intellectual, influencer or activist who is an invisible enemy of India

…which makes it easy for right wingers to label anyone who opposes their view as an "Urban Naxal". In reality, the book doesn't have much to do with the use of the term other than a solid reference. BJP leaders were constantly using the term right after the Bhima Koregaon arrests to discredit dissident voices.

This term has many different varieties, depending on who the right-wing wants to hate and blame today:
 * Suburban Naxal, for people in Suburban areas.
 * Bourbon Naxal, for people who use western products instead of Indian ones. Refers to
 * Turban Naxal, alternate term for s.
 * Carbon Naxal, for environmentalists.