iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Lawmakers, community leaders, delegates, and researchers from across the US converged at Capitol Hill where the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) hosted the second National Hindu Advocacy Day to discuss the concerns of Indian American Hindus on July 11.
More than 21 lawmakers (congressional representatives and staffers) attended the discussions which centered around concerns of growing Hinduphobia in the US. “It’s a problem that has been amplified via caste laws and policies that seek to profile Hindus in America, as well as rising levels of online hate from a globally connected set of networks associated with Khalistani and Islamist terror, which at times spills over into violence,” said a statement issued by CoHNA, a grassroots-level advocacy and civil rights organization focused on improving the understanding of Hinduism in North America.
People from 12 states across the US attended CoHNA’s National Hindu Advocacy Day held on July 11. The attendees interacted with and heard from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle – Democrats and Republicans. Congressional Representatives who joined the day’s events included Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Rep.Tom Keane (R-NJ), Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), and Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), as well as Ohio State Senator Niraj Antani.
Echoing the concerns expressed by the attendees, Congressman Rich McCormick emphasized the need to pay attention to how “there is discrimination not just by race but also by religion and Hinduphobia and intimidation of the Hindu community is an old problem.” He highlighted problems with new laws and bills like California’s SB 403 that are being discussed. McCormick said that such laws “are racist, discriminatory and divisive since they seek to classify people in ways that the people themselves reject. This is not American and needs to be opposed.”
“I strongly believe in freedom of religion for every individual and stand against any kind of attacks and phobia,” said Congressman Sri Thanedar (D-MI). He also spoke on the importance of ensuring representation for diverse groups and freedom of religion. “The Hindu religion is a peaceful one, yet it has been attacked and needs to be protected. Like others, Hindus deserve to be able to practice their religion without any kind of hate, prejudice, or phobia. As a Congressman I myself noted the lack of a Hindu caucus and therefore helped create one,” he added.
“It’s been a productive year of advocacy for the Hindu community with states like Georgia and cities like Fremont, California, Memphis, and Tennessee, seeking to learn about the problem with resolutions and proclamations against Hinduphobia. We also witnessed history as the growing popularity of Hindu festivals like Diwali led to the successful declaration of the festival as a holiday in New York City public schools,” said Nikunj Trivedi, President of CoHNA.
CoHNA held the first National Hindu Advocacy Day in 2022, to draw the attention of lawmakers bringing Hinduphobia and to urge more American Hindus to speak up and get involved to “counter the ignorance about Hinduism is widespread, and the community is increasingly targeted with hate crimes”.
“Our second National Hindu Advocacy Day has given us a promising start, but much more remains to be done as the community is in the crosshairs owing to the spread of policies and laws targeting the community via Hinduphobic concepts like caste. We have also seen fear and self-censoring spread in the community as it gets targeted in the online world and faces real-life violence from transnational actors such as the Khalistan terror groups,” he added.
The event also showcased academics like Prof Salvatore Babones, who leads an international think tank, as well as senior researchers from Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI). The day wrapped up with an evening event where additional speakers from diverse backgrounds of faith and regions shared their findings and lived experiences.
“The idea of caste discrimination in America is strange at best, given the lack of proper data of any actual discrimination,” said Prof Babones who is also the executive director of the Indian Century Roundtable. “How do California lawmakers plan to figure out someone’s caste in the US, given that there are over 1100 scheduled castes, over 700 scheduled tribes, and over 2500 castes in the OBC category just in India alone?” he added.
Senior researchers from Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCR), spoke on their study on incidents like the anti-Hindu violence in Leicester, UK in the fall of 2022 and the recent violence triggered by Khalistan supporters in San Francisco.
“In February, after Seattle passed a law on caste, we noticed the emergence of non-American actors who were celebrating the issue – raising the concern about foreign influence networks influencing domestic public policy,” said Jack Donohue, Chief Operating Officer at NCRI. “This sentiment isn’t new – in fact, our previous research on Iranian State Sponsored Troll operations found that messages surrounding caste which suggested ‘Upper Caste’ Hindus were oppressing all other communities were disseminated on Twitter.”
