The event showcased urgency for formal
recognition of Hinduphobia via initiatives like H.Res 1131
WASHINGTON, June 28,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawmakers, Hindu students,
researchers, and community leaders came together in a packed room
during the 3rd National Hindu Advocacy Day on the Hill, to
discuss the concerns Hindus living in the US face. Close to 25
lawmakers (a mix of congressional representatives and staffers both
Democrat and Republican) attended the event, organized by the
Coalition of Hindus of North
America (CoHNA) which highlighted the multi-pronged attacks
Hindus face. These range from the continued usage of stereotypical
colonial frameworks, to gaslighting and verbal slurs, and all the
way to the vandalizations of multiple
temples. Over 100 delegates (including a large number of Hindu
youth) from 15 states attended the event and 40 plus core CoHNA
volunteers visited over 115 congressional offices to advocate
support for H.Res.1131, which condemns
Hinduphobia and attacks on temples, while celebrating the
contribution of the Hindu American community. Watch vignettes from
the day here.
"From students to retired community members of diverse
backgrounds, CoHNA's Advocacy Day has grown steadily to become an
important mechanism through which our community engages with
lawmakers on the Hill," remarked CoHNA President Nikunj Trivedi. "We are also glad to see other
organizations as well as non-Hindu allies join us in support of the
causes that matter to our community and especially our youth."
The highlight of the event was the multiplicity of student
voices. Attendees heard heartfelt personal testimony from a
powerful panel of Hindu students from Stanford, UC Berkeley, and University of Georgia. They delved into the
challenges they face on campus, in academic settings, and even in
their dorm rooms. Their voices and stories brought home the
prevalent Hinduphobia on campus and the way it shapes their lives
and the choices they make.
Rutvij Holay spoke of being mocked for having a small space for
Hindu worship in his dorm room and of having to console a close
Kashmiri friend who was traumatized by the display of on-campus
displays sanitizing the ethnic cleansing his community had faced.
Aryan Sawant shared his isolation in
being an openly proud Hindu on campus and having to deal with the
disapproval of peers. He highlighted the misinformation by
professors who deny anti-Hindu hate, even as they peddle it by
denying the religious nature of recorded pogroms against Hindus
around the world such as the 1971 Bengali Hindu Genocide.
Anvita Yerramsetty shared how
growing awareness of anti-Hindu hate in her high school years
strengthened her resolve to stay proud of her roots and reshaped
her decision and research on something as fundamental as where to
apply and go to college.
Surya Naga, the Youth Director for Hindu on Campus, presented
data collected from student testimonials across the United States and the impact of such
experiences on a student's psyche - from students being told to
wipe off the bindis on their foreheads and attempts to rip of their
sacred threads, to being made fun of for worshiping Hindu deities
with "weird names," to being accused of supporting extremism and
oppression of minorities just because of one's Hindu identity,
etc.
American Hindus have just lived through a turbulent year and
these issues were highlighted throughout the event. Data shows a
rise in hate against Hindus. Academic Hinduphobia has been
amplified as a result of the turmoil on college campuses and Hindu
students shared personal stories of the many ways they get targeted
on campus. And even sacred spaces are not safe -- SIX Hindu temples
were attacked in California
between Nov. 2023-Jan. 2024, with no
resulting action and little lasting outrage. A detailed list of the
incidents was published in April.
Congressional Support
The event began with Congressman Max
Miller (R-OH), talking about the importance of freedom of
religion and sharing how proud he was for supporting H.Res 1131. He
expressed empathy with the issues the Hindu community has been
facing, and assured that he would continue to stand against all
forms of hate and bigotry throughout the country. He acknowledged
that it was a tough time for the country, but that he would be
there for the Hindu community: "If anything were to happen to your
community, I'll be there standing shoulder to shoulder with you."
He also asked the audience to stand strong and never back away from
their values.
CoHNA was excited to host the force behind H.Res 1131 -
Congressman Shri Thanedar (D-MI) -
who stressed he will not tolerate Hinduphobia, discrimination, or
other forms of hate. "We are here and we are fighting," he said,
drawing attention to "the voice you all have, the voice the Hindu
community has in Congress." Thanedar spoke of why H.Res. 1131
was needed in the first place and also shared his own immigration
story as a way of illustrating the great American story and the
ability to surmount hurdles.
Sharing his excitement at being back at CoHNA's event,
Congressman Rich McCormick (R-GA)
welcomed the continued and growing engagement of the Hindu American
and Indian American community in policy making and its potential to
transform the future of America. He called attention to his support
for H.Res 1131, honoring the contributions of Hindu Americans, and
asked the community to continue pursuing the American dream which
celebrates innovation, hard work, success, AND its traditions.
Other lawmakers like Congressman Glen
Grothman (R-WI) also expressed solidarity with the community
and congratulated CoHNA for being a force in advocating for the
community
Closing out the day, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) celebrated the
growth of the community's advocacy over the past decade, and lauded
CoHNA's efforts in ensuring the community has a growing voice on
Capitol Hill via advocacy events. He exhorted everyone to be proud
of who they are and congratulated the audience on making time to
come to DC for an event that exemplified pride in their heritage
and roots.
Several lawmakers also spoke about the importance of tackling
immigration - especially problems like the Green Card backlog - an
issue that has an outsized impact on the Hindu American immigrant
community.
In addition to lawmakers and staffers, the event was also
attended by community leaders and representatives from various
organizations such as HinduACTion, Howard County Jewish Advocacy
Group (HoCoJAG), ISKCON, Association of United Hindu and Jain
Temples, Americans for Hindus (A4H), Indian Cultural
Association of Howard County, etc.
Data and Research
Aaron Gross, Research Fellow at
Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), highlighted the
alarming rise of Hinduphobia in North
America, driven by the Khalistan extremist movement and
attacks on temples, along with the need for law enforcement to
tackle online hate before it escalates into further violence.
NCRI's analysis of online chatter surrounding real life anti-Hindu
hate incidents (attacks on temples, vandalization of Gandhi
statues, etc.) pointed to the involvement of Khalistan movement
supporters, a group advocating for the creation of a separate Sikh
nation out of Punjab, India. Each
attack was preceded and followed by a spike in online posts
promoting violence, powered by a bot network designed to amplify
anti-Hindu sentiment. Often, these posts include videos from
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of Sikhs for Justice, who openly
incites his followers to target Hindus in Canada, US, and India. Interestingly, about 20% of these
Twitter accounts purport to be from Pakistan, where Sikhs constitute less than
0.02% of the population. This suggests that many of these accounts
do not genuinely support Sikh separatism but are driven by
Hinduphobia and geo political considerations.
Rana Reddy, CoHNA's Policy
Fellow, shared his analysis of a report recently published by
Carnegie Mellon University. He showed
how geo-political players use Hinduism to target India even though India is a secular country. And in a digital
world, these anti-India tropes are
used to target Hindus across the globe. The key report findings -
organized cybercrime, bot networks, and sophisticated
disinformation tactics to propagate Hinduphobia globally by
exploiting/misrepresenting Indian political narratives for targeted
information attacks. He concluded that counter strategies and
reporting mechanisms are required by private distribution platforms
to mitigate this digital threat through robust cybersecurity
measures and international regulatory bodies.
About CoHNA
CoHNA is a grassroots level advocacy and civil rights
organization dedicated to improving the understanding of Hinduism
in North America by working on
matters related to the Hindu community and by educating the public
about Hindu heritage and tradition. For more information, please
visit https://cohna.org or follow us
on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and
on Instagram.
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SOURCE Coalition of Hindus of North
America