Pajeet is an ethnic slur directed at Indians, particularly Hindus and Sikhs.[1][2][3][4] The term first appeared on 4chan in 2015 and it has been used more widely since the early 2020s.[5]
Etymology
[edit]The term Pajeet is an invented name, an imitation of Indian names with the element "jeet", such as Jeet, Amarjeet and Ranjeet.[6][5][7] The name element comes from Sanskrit जित (jitá, IPA: [d͡ʑi.t̪ɐ]) meaning 'victory' or 'conquered', the first element can be parsed a derivation of "paji", a respectful term of address in Punjabi meaning older brother.[8][5]
History
[edit]The term Pajeet originated from the "Pajeet my son" meme created on the 4chan message board /int/ in July 2015 mocking open defecation in India. This was itself inspired by the "Mehmet, my son" meme, popularised on the same board in late 2014, which mocked Turkish people.[9]
Prior to 2019, Pajeet was mainly limited to a small number of social media platforms such as 4chan, Gab and Telegram. However, pajeet was then popularised by Islamists, white supremacists and other extremists to target Hindus.[10] John Earnest, the perpetrator of the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, referenced "pajeets" in his manifesto.[10]
In the months preceding the 2022 Leicester unrest between Hindus and Muslims, anti-Hindu memes were accompanied by "pajeet" depicting Hindus as barbaric and dirty.[11] Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) investigated the online trends between 2019 and 2022, noting a wide dispersion of anti-Hindu and anti-Indian slurs and tropes during this period. The NCRI report concluded that the word "Pajeet" is often used, "with the majority of derogatory characterisations towards Hindus", alongside a depiction of Hindu religious symbols.[6] Dheepa Sundaram, a scholar of digital culture writing for the Drexel Law Review in 2024, disputed this "anti-Hindu" characterization of the slur and other tropes by the NCRI report, instead stating that the slur and tropes are "derogatory towards South Asians in general."[12][unreliable source?]
According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), between May 2023 and April 2025 there were over 26,600 posts which included "pajeet" and other anti-South Asian slurs in Canada, compared to nearly 1,600 posts containing anti-Muslim slurs.[7]
The 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse due to a collision MV Dali, which carried Indians in the crew, resulted in large anti-Indian racist attacks on social media platforms including usage of the term pajeet.[2]
The slur has also been used against politicians of Indian origin. Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak and American presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were often targeted with the slur.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Ramachandran, Ramesh (19 August 2024). "Rising Hinduphobia: Global Surge in Anti-Hindu Violence Raises Alarms". DD News. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Baltimore bridge collapse: Racist online attacks on Indian crew of MV Dali". The New Indian Express. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
- ^ Kumar, Gaurav (2 July 2025). "Surge in hate slurs against Indian-origin people in Canada, reveals report". India Today. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Online Racism Targeting South Asians Skyrockets". Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- ^ a b c Chopra, Rohit (24 September 2024). "The Politics of Anti-Indian Hate and Racism on Elon Musk's X". Center for the Study of Organized Hate. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
- ^ a b NCRI, Anti-Hindu Disinformation 2022.
- ^ a b "The rise of anti-South Asian hate in Canada". Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
- ^ Campbell, Mike (2025). "Name Element JITI". Behind the Name (Q112578104). Victoria, British Columbia.
- ^ Rana, Aayushi (13 March 2024). "Cow Worshippers to Pajeets: Analysing the Lexicon of Hate speech". DFRAC. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Anti-Hindu Disinformation: A Case Study of Hinduphobia on Social Media" (PDF). Rutgers University. 7 July 2022.
- ^ NCRI, Cyber Social Swarming (2022), p. 3.
- ^ Sundaram 2024.
Bibliography
[edit]- Sudhakar, Prasiddha; Goldenberg, Alex; Finkelstein, Joel; Donohue, Jack; Ratadiya, Pratik; Farmer, John; Riggleman, Denver; Benson, Richard; et. al. (October 2022), Cyber Social Swarming Precedes Real World Riots in Leicester: How Social Media Became a Weapon for Violence (PDF), Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University
- Sudhakar, Prasiddha; Farmer, John; Finkelstein, Joel; Jussim, Lee; Parihar, Parth; Riggleman, Denver (November 2022), Quantitative Methods for Investigating Anti-Hindu Disinformation (PDF), Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University
- Sundaram, Dheepa (2024). "An academic conference, a bomb threat, and the title VI complaint: U.S. Hindu nationalist groups' litigious assault on academic freedom". Drexel Law Review. 16 (4): 837–889.