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Only some time back I got to know about the word "Mleccha" and Wikipedia offers the following definition:

Mleccha (from Vedic Sanskrit mlecchá, meaning "non-Vedic", "barbarian") is a Sanskrit term referring to foreign or barbarous peoples in ancient India, as contradistinguished from Aryas. Mleccha was used by the ancient Indians originally to indicate the uncouth and incomprehensible speech of foreigners and then extended to their unfamiliar behaviour, and also used as a derogatory term in the sense of "impure" and/or "inferior" people.

The word Mleccha was commonly used for 'outer barbarians of whatever race or colour'.

The Indians referred to all alien cultures and races that were less civilized in ancient times as 'Mleccha' or barbarians.

But on this site this term is used pretty unabashedly. For example, in chat:

BTW, how are the so-called mlecchas so powerful? And we, the followers of Sanatana Dharma so weak? What went wrong?

Not taking names so not posting links to actual chat messages.

Same applies to the main site where "Mleccha Deshas" (foreign countries) is used in questions freely.

So my question is, is "Mleccha" safe to use on Hinduism.SE irrespective of the context or should we avoid using such derogatory terms as much as possible (excluding genuine questions) and edit out the word from all existing posts where it's been used with a bad connotation?

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    Possible duplicate of How is the word "mleccha" considered offensive?
    – Say No To Censorship
    Commented Sep 19, 2019 at 15:20
  • @sv. that one have no conclusion and this one have different angle
    – Ankit Sharma
    Commented Sep 19, 2019 at 15:22
  • It didn't have a conclusion probably because users are divided on this. But definitely a duplicate
    – Say No To Censorship
    Commented Sep 19, 2019 at 15:28
  • barbarous - this word would probably be too much on english translation... As known, some words are wrong in English when translated and would sound harsh.
    – Agamas Tantras
    Commented Sep 19, 2019 at 15:29
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    @ParabrahmanJyoti I disagree Mleccha was never supposed to be a polite word.
    – Ankit Sharma
    Commented Sep 19, 2019 at 17:33
  • The word is used to describe non-Vedic people. Being non-Vedic is bad, so obviously it will have a negative connotation.
    – Ikshvaku
    Commented Sep 21, 2019 at 15:29
  • @Ikshvaku There are people who got Moksha even by being non vedic. So just like that we cannot say like that harsh. These are just users manual for life. just guidance. thats it!!!
    – Agamas Tantras
    Commented Sep 23, 2019 at 17:34
  • @ParabrahmanJyoti Doesn't change the fact that they were mleccha.
    – Ikshvaku
    Commented Sep 23, 2019 at 18:30
  • @Ikshvaku the above point is for your word "being non vedic is bad".
    – Agamas Tantras
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 3:48
  • The chat example is too old, Btw.
    – Pandya Mod
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 15:48
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    @Paṇḍyā old or new doesn't matter. If new examples are needed, they can be shown. What's offensive doesn't have an expiry date. The intention behind choosing example is to portray how it's used on this site and how the moderation is going on. New or old is not the matter of discussion here.
    – Sarvabhouma
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 17:08
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    This is not a Hindu site but is a site about Hinduism. This word shouldn't be used for addressing/targeting foreign people.
    – Pandya Mod
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 11:05

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I don't think we should use it. As we community have both professionals and learners. This more sounds like a word used by professionals to learners and other people who don't follow ancient Sanatana Dharma, in an offensive way. But we can't restrict anyone to not use it. We can just flag if the word is being used in offensive manner and explain the same to the mods.

And yes, we should edit all posts if it has been used in non-relative context of the post.

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    Also see example like this chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/48869601#48869601 I am not sure why mods can't say anything here and how come it's acceptable.
    – Ankit Sharma
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 4:53
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    It is acceptable until someone flags it.
    – Mr_Green
    Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 6:15
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    @Mr_Green So even if a mod reads it first and finds it offensive, they should wait until someone flags it before taking action?
    – Say No To Censorship
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 19:02
  • should we also tag posts which have the tag 'mythology' for scriptures because it is offensive to 'natives' ?
    – ram
    Commented Mar 3, 2020 at 3:50
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    why it will be offensive if you tag a post as 'mythology' to anyone? I don't understand. I don't think I care much.
    – Mr_Green
    Commented Mar 3, 2020 at 5:09

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