From Delhi to Times Square: The Anti-Dalit Campaign to Humiliate CJI Gavai

Digital Campaign Against Chief Justice Gavai

A group of Hindu Americans launched a striking billboard campaign in New York’s Times Square targeting Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai. The initiative exposed an international network of Hindu nationalist activism within the diaspora aimed at undermining Dalit representation and empowerment.

The Trigger: A Controversial Remark

In September 2025, Justice Gavai made a sharp comment while addressing petitioners seeking judicial action over a dispute involving a Vishnu idol. He told them to “ask the deity themselves,” a line that became the rallying point for outrage.

“They should ask the deity themselves,” Justice Gavai remarked, rejecting demands for judicial intervention.

The controversy was not rooted in constitutional debate but in caste identity politics. The remark’s perceived offence stemmed from the fact that it came from a Dalit Chief Justice who defied expectations of deference to the Brahminical order.

From Criticism to Coordinated Hostility

The backlash evolved quickly beyond standard public dissent. It uncovered a transnational framework of caste-based hostility that spread through digital and media platforms. The campaign’s culmination in Times Square symbolised how diaspora networks now play an active role in shaping India’s internal caste discourse.

Gavai’s Judicial Philosophy and Resistance

Justice Gavai, the second Dalit to serve as India’s Chief Justice, has consistently advanced principles that challenge systemic bias. His landmark decision in November 2024, curbing the use of demolitions as collective punishment, restricted a powerful state mechanism used to intimidate marginalised groups.

“The bulldozer cannot be a tool of collective retribution,” his ruling asserted, reinforcing constitutional protections for Dalit and Muslim citizens.

This move directly confronted the state’s approach to social control, positioning Gavai’s jurisprudence in opposition to Hindu nationalist agendas.

Conclusion

The campaign against CJI Gavai demonstrates how caste prejudice transcends borders, merging domestic caste hierarchies with international networks of ideological power, using spectacle and digital mobilisation to target voices of equality.

Author Summary

A coordinated anti-Dalit campaign against Chief Justice Gavai reveals how Hindu nationalist networks within the diaspora weaponize global platforms to repress caste justice movements.

The Quint — 2025-11-21