HinduPACT

Category: HinduPACT

  • Ambedkar Jayanti – Omnitude Day 2022

    Ambedkar Jayanti – Omnitude Day 2022

    HinduPACT and HMEC are jointly organizing a celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti as Ekatmata 

    Diwas or Omnitude Day on April 17, 2022 with a special HinduLounge show.  
    The show will feature two panels. Shree Ramesh Patange
    , author of Manu, Sangh and I and Shree Vinod Diwakar will participate in the first panel and discuss Varna, Jati and Cast politics from the Hindu perspective.
    Representative
    s of major Hindu organizations, including BAPS, ISKCON, Gayatri Parivar etc. will participate in the second panel to talk about social justice, equality and equity from the perspective of Hindu dharma.

    The event details:

    HinduLounge Show Special Event on Ekatmata Diwas

    Date: April 17, 2022
    Time: 11:00 AM EDT – 1:00 PM EDT (8:00 AM PDT – 10:00 AM PDT)
    URL: YouTube: @VHPAVideos https://youtube,com/vhpavideos
    Facebook: @VHPAmerica.Org https://facebook.com/vhpamerica.org
  • HinduPACT Leadership Interviews on BharatFM

    HinduPACT Leadership Interviews on BharatFM

  • HinduPACT Year-End Donation Appeal

    HinduPACT Year-End Donation Appeal

    Click Here to Donate

  • HinduPACT Condemns Pakistan’s Rejection of Forced Conversion Bill, Calls for Pakistan to Become Secular State

    HinduPACT Condemns Pakistan’s Rejection of Forced Conversion Bill, Calls for Pakistan to Become Secular State

    WASHINGTON, D.C – Pakistan’s decision to reject a bill that would have banned forced conversions to Islam is the latest blow to the Islamic Republic’s religious minority population. This exasperates the need to ensure the country becomes secular and HinduPACT is calling on the international community to unify and ensure this comes to fruition.

    The fragility of the democratic process, that is still non-existent in Pakistan, is on full display with this latest failure to protect the most vulnerable members of Pakistan’s society, especially Christians, Hindus and other minorities in Sindh and Punjab.

    “Democracy in Pakistan is weak and even in that system there is no willingness to help the country’s religious minorities,” said HinduPACT Executive Director Utsav Chakrabarti. “True democracy cannot take place unless Pakistan becomes a secular State and it is incumbent on the international community to make sure Pakistan becomes a secular State.”

    “The rejection of a bill that expressly prohibits forced conversions of religious minorities, and even more important, criminalizes the forced conversion of underage non-Muslim girls in Pakistan is truly tragic, but for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Harmony to term a bill that aims to protect the basic rights of minority citizens as non-Islamic is clear evidence of how systemic the religious intolerance is in the Pakistani establishment,” said Rakhi Israni, who leads HinduPACT’s CHINGARI, a project that deals with this issue.

    The bill, which was signed by nearly 40 human rights groups and included signatures by known human rights activists like Irfan Mufti, Mohammad Tahseen, Peter Jacob, Rubina Jamil, and Syeda Ghulam Fatima, among others, was rejected by Pakistan’s Parliamentary Committee. It sought to make 18 years the minimum legal age for conversion.

    For Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri to suggest that there should be no age limit for conversion is egregious. And for him to reason that a potential law meant to protect minority rights would “create further problems” for them and would make them “more vulnerable” is counterintuitive.

    True democracy is defined by a nation’s ability to protect its most vulnerable citizens. Until Pakistan becomes a secular state, the fate of its non-Muslim minority population continues to hang in the balances.

    For media inquiries, contact adelle.nazarian@hindupact.org 

  • CHINGARI Vigils Across North America

    CHINGARI Vigils Across North America

    CHINGARI-Vigil-Sept-2021

  • Groups and Individuals Involved in the Attack on BAPS

    Groups and Individuals Involved in the Attack on BAPS

    The attack on BAPS and the allegations of “caste-based exploitation” in BAPs temple complex in Robbinsville-NJ,  involves a web of organizations and institutions with a long track record of Hinduphobic activism, both in the United States and India. 

    It is also not a coincidence that the article in the New York Times that appeared on the day the BAPS temple was raided by federal authorities, was researched and written by an individual who worked for a media outlet funded by the same organization that has donated to an activist group named Aajeevika Bureau in India. Interestingly, activists working with the Aajeevika Bureau have been involved in running the anti-BAPs campaign in India. Additionally, scroll.in and wire.in, two media outlets that published anti-BAPs articles recently, have also received funding from the same source that has funded Aajeevika Bureau.

    The same organizations that fund Aajeevika Bureau and the individuals that have been targeting BAPs in the US, have been running campaigns in support of Stan Swamy, a Catholic priest (incarcerated without bail) for working with Maoist terror groups and for fomenting the infamous Bhima-Koregaon riots in 2018, and campaigning to introduce “Caste” based discrimination in the US. 

    Below is a list of individuals and organizations that are linked to the attack on BAPS.

    Org list:

    1. Equality Labs/Ambedkar King Study Circle (US based)
    2. AIDIndia (US and India)
    3. Hindus 4HR (US based)
    4. Aajeevika Bureau (india based)
    5. Patthar Ghadai (India)

    List of People:

    1. Swati Sawant
    2. Professor Audrey Truschke
    3. Sunita Vishwanath
    4. Sharmin Hossein
    5. Sheelagh McNeill

    As we went about, doing a detailed analysis of these individuals and organizations offers a unique perspective on how multiple ideological streams, often at loggerheads with each other, have converged on a mutually complementary partnership in targeting India geopolitically and Hindus in America socio-politically.

  • HMEC Appeal – Sign Dharma Coalition Letter to Support BAPS

    HMEC Appeal – Sign Dharma Coalition Letter to Support BAPS

    Namaste,

    There have been recent news articles about Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) mandir construction project in New Jersey.  While we cannot comment on the legal matters, we understand that BAPS is cooperating with the relevant law enforcement agencies and the truth will eventually prevail. The attack on BAPS, for caste discrimination bewildering.  We have a long history of working with BAPS and have always known it as an exemplary organization working for the upliftment of all Hindus regardless of caste, creed or race.  These attacks fit the recent pattern of characterizing American Hindus as castist in various forums.  

    As HMEC, we request all the mandirs to come together and sign the enclosed statement as members of Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference, as a statement on equality, and expressing a unified Hindu support for BAPS.

    ­HINDU DHARMA COALITION Statement

    As practitioners of the many diverse traditions that constitute Hindu faith in North America, we stand united in valuing the life of every being. We believe that each soul is divine, in this world and beyond. Inspired by the values found in the ancient Upanishadic mantra “vasudhaiva kutumbakam,” that the whole world is our family, we strive for justice for all members of that family, regardless of caste, religion, race, and gender. Thus, as is true of many faith communities, Hindus are committed to addressing instances of injustice whenever and wherever they appear. 

    On May 11th, 2021, the New York Times outlined allegations against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) regarding its temple construction project in Robbinsville, New Jersey.  BAPS disagreed with the allegations and stated that they are cooperating fully with all relevant investigative authorities. We trust that the truth will be brought to light through the legal process.

    The allegations, however, confound our and numerous others’ experiences with BAPS as a Hindu tradition that rejects caste-based discrimination of all kinds. Those familiar with the tradition know that dismantling caste differences has been a central priority of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and the gurus of BAPS. Observing BAPS’s commitment to justice in their religious, social, and charitable work in North America over the past five decades gives us faith that they will remain committed to justice, and they deserve the basic presumption of innocence until the conclusion of the legal proceedings when all the facts emerge.

    We recognize that this is a difficult time for the American Hindu community. These unproven allegations challenge our core values, portraying them in public discourse as fact in a way that perpetuates misinformed and damaging stereotypes about Hindus and Hindu dharma. 

    Caste is not a principle that guides Hindu society. Caste is not even a Hindu concept and ideas about caste among Hindus have never been monolithic or static. This does not diminish the fact that Dalit, Bahujan, and Vanavasi communities have unjustly suffered from mistreatment, both historically and today. We recognize that we all have a role to play in overcoming all inequities and are committed to doing so.  

    As we continue to stand with marginalized members of society, we urge members of mandirs, Hindu organizations, civil society organizations, and the interfaith community to recognize the damage that an unfounded prejudice against any community does to all of us and express our commitment to allow the facts to emerge through the legal process before passing judgment or supporting those who do.

    In the Service of Dharma,

    HMEC & HMPC Leadership Team

    Dharma Coalition BAPS Support
  • HinduPACT and Other Hindu Organizations’ Letter to Santa Clara County Commissioners on Caste Discussion in HR Commission

    HinduPACT and Other Hindu Organizations’ Letter to Santa Clara County Commissioners on Caste Discussion in HR Commission

    April 7, 2021

    Honorable Supervisors,

    We, the undersigned, representing are deeply concerned about the Commission’s recent discussions on the issue of “caste.” We urge the Commission not to pursue any proposal seeking to add the word “caste” as a specific protected category.

    The word “caste” is of Portuguese origin (Casta – ‘lineage, race, breed’) and was used to categorize diverse professional guilds in Asia by European colonial powers in the 18th century, mirroring those that existed in late 16th century Europe. There is no reference to the concept of “caste” neither in any of the canonical Hindu scriptures, nor in any other religious or philosophical school that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

    We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination that exist in societies around the world. Theologically sanctioned birth-based discriminations are far more endemic in Judeo-Christian and Islamic societies, based on differentiation of believers versus non-believers, slave versus master, etc. Fortunately, the Federal and California state laws protect against religious, ethnic, or racial discrimination under the existing categories of national origin and ancestry, both of which have been interpreted as inclusive of the various characteristics that might be associated with what is presented as “caste.”

    The Commission’s discussions of “caste” in the Hindu context and adoption of policies related to it will perpetuate racist European stereotypes and misconceptions about India and Indians and lead the broader American public and private companies to view all people of Indian descent or origin through a divisive lens. It would single out and unfairly target only one community based on its members’ race, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, and religion, thereby violating their rights to due process and equal protection under both the US Constitution and California law. It will leave Hindus and people of Indian descent or origin vulnerable to bullying in schools and discrimination in hiring and firing and subject to a hostile work environment by the County or companies based in Santa Clara County.

    The overriding intent of this legislation, clearly, is to divide the Hindu community in Santa Clara County, California, and America, which has lived in harmony for decades despite political machinations by those who misunderstand or hate Hindus, and seek to divide Americans rather than unify them. Ironically, what is being presented as “caste” in Santa Clara is routinely practiced in Muslim and Christian communities in the Indian subcontinent. We again strongly urge the Commission not to adopt any policies or resolutions that would unfairly target the American Hindu community and the people of Indian descent or origin, subject them to additional discrimination, leave them vulnerable to bullying in schools, deprive them of fundamental civil rights and infringe upon their right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

    Respectfully,

    1. World Hindu Council of America (VHPA)
    2. Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective USA (HinduPACT) 
    3. America Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD)
    4. Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) South Asian Minorities Collective
    5. Atlas Center
    6. South Asian Heritage Forum
    7. Lead America Foundation
    8. United Indigenous Communities
    9. Friends of Afrin Collective
    10. Yezidi International

  • Chicago Indian Americans celebrate a big win!

    Chicago Indian Americans celebrate a big win!

    Indian Americans win 8 month long battle: Chicago Anti-India Anti-CAA Resolution Defeated.

    [Chicago, Illinois, 3/23/2021]  Richa Gautam

    Excited and relieved Indian Americans all over the USA celebrated the defeat of a Chicago resolution sponsored by Ms. Maria Hadden, city councilor of 49th Ward.  Called “the sugar coated cyanide pill” by Chicago Indian Americans, the resolution started off by congratulating India for its democracy and Independence Day but soon moved to vicious and denigrating clauses.

    A long drawn 8 month long battle, ensured that the Indian American community had to pull all stops to counter the apparent lies that the organization behind this maneuver, Council for Islamic Relations (CAIR) was spreading around to clueless Councilors.

    Finally efforts paid off when 26 Councilors voted against the resolution, saying we have more pressing things closer home to take care of. Only 18 voted for it, ensuring that the resolution is soundly defeated and not tabled again.

    “Instead of caring for her own 49th ward, an approximately 10 Square kilometer area Maria Hadden is spending all her time in a symbolic and non-binding resolution that is bent on scolding India, the sole democracy and refuge for persecuted peoples in that part of the world,” said Mr. Amitabh Mittal who heads the Indo US Friendship Council in Chicago.

    Indian Americans are busy contributing to the American economy as doctors and engineers and Space scientists. They are too busy to be aware of either the CAA or the fact that Progressive Left members of the Democrat City Councils are tabling these resolutions, “said Vandana Jhingan to a TV Channel that interviewed her recently.

    The resolution is called “symbolic” and “non-binding” and contains many inaccuracies based on misstated allegations by vested parties. However, it has repercussions not on India but the Indian Americans in the USA, who have suffered hate crimes recently in cities like Seattle and in California. They also face the consequence of a divided community and the prospect of a factually incorrect resolution staying in the Cities historical Records.” said Mr Bharat Barai, an Oncologist and stalwart of the Indian American Community since past 40 years in Chicago. An 8 month long fight was supported by elders like him who served as guiding spirits uplifting the volunteers.

    Independent of the volunteers, the Indian Consular General Mr. Amit Kumar also worked in his own capacity, approaching the sponsoring group of city councilors, educating them on the oft maligned and misquoted Indian laws like CAA and Article 370 and Farm Laws. 

    Sachin Tripathi made his public comments and said we may not have money on our side but we have truth. Eventually, truth did prevail as city Alderman Moore and 25 others voted against it.

    Alder Moore made a very powerful statement that sums up the situation in a very statesman like manner, “I have constituents in the Indian American community in the  28th Ward and the majority of them are not supportive [of this resolution 2020-583] Again, I think we have more than enough work in the city of Chicago, we want to talk about oppression…racism…and about issues that have impacted members of the community, but again I understand that people have the right to propose any type of legislation they wish. However unfortunately, I would not support this because I look out the window and I see young men and women who do not have jobs and I see young men and women who can barely read and those that have lost a level of hope and I don’t think they would appreciate their aldermen focusing on what’s going on 8000 miles away when I got challenges two blocks where I live.”

    Another Alder who voted Nay, also said that he would like to focus on local issues and not on issues beyond the Chicago city at this time when they were suffering severe crimes and Covid 19 issues in the city.

    It was a big win and big relief to those who followed this long drawn battle, as Chicago was the biggest city to table this insidious and motivated resolution. Unfortunately about 7 cities have passed these nefarious resolutions sneakily, behind closed doors under the quiet of the COVID 19 crisis. A big fight was put up in Seattle and St. Paul cities but these cities passed the resolution despite knowing the facts on the matter, clearly indicating political machinations. 

    It is pertinent to note that people like Varusha Khan who is a newly elected member of the Redmond City Council near Seattle, and who is also a director of Council of Islamic Relations (CAIR) has tried to ban an Indian American organization APPWW, calling it Islamophobic, after it held a conference highlighting human rights issues in Baluchistan, Sindh, and other provinces of Pakistan. Mr Tarek Fateh also spoke about the abysmal plight of Hindus in Pakistan during this conference held in August 2020 highlighting the dire need for CAA.

    While Chicago has much to celebrate today, 24th March 2020, the Indian Americans need to stay awake to such machinations as displayed by Varusha Khan and others who are targeting the Indian Americans with unceasing regularity trying to malign the name of a community largely known as a model minority in the USA.

  • HinduPACT Statement on Attacks on Asian Americans

    HinduPACT Statement on Attacks on Asian Americans

    March 19, 2021

    HinduPACT condemns the murders and other violent attacks on Asian Americans across the US, including Indian Americans who are predominantly followers of the dharmic religious traditions.  Reports indicate that over the past one year, around 3000 attacks on Asian Americans have taken place, which reflects a 150% increase over the previous year.  HinduPACT believes that lack of cultural understanding, racial prejudices, and economic envy are among the primary reasons for these attacks.  These attacks have no place in America.

    Commenting on the attacks, Ajay Shah, President of World Hindu Council of America and Convenor of HinduPACT stated:

    Attacks on Asian Americans, driven by “Othering” and economic envy have no place in America.  While physical attacks are recorded and reported to some extent, the bullying of children in the schools and other more subtle attacks go unrecorded and unreported.  Universities and school districts that apply “personality scores” and other measures to deprive Asian Americans equal opportunity in education also play a role in increasing prejudice against Asian Americans.   

    Utsav Chakrabarti, Executive Director of HinduPACT stated:

    Over the past decade, Asian Americans have been increasing demonized and targeted for their success in the academia and the workplace. It was just a matter of time before the shrill rhetoric of identity-politics on social media and in the Public square took its toll in the form of such a tragic event.

    Rakhi Israni, HinduPACT Executive Director, Legal said:

    As a community, Asian Americans have always been hard-working and positive contributors to the American economy and society, and yet they have continually experienced astonishing numbers of hate crimes.  The acts of hate experienced by the Asian American community haven’t been limited to violent physical actions.  Unfortunately, they have spanned a wide gamut of subtle moves to punish Asian Americans for their success and achievements.  We call on all policy makers, in the private and public sectors, to strive for the equal treatment of all individuals, regardless of race, religion, and nationality. 

    A detailed exploration of attacks on Asian Americans was presented on the HinduLounge, our weekly live show on Contemporary American Hindu issues (hindulounge.com) on March 13, 2021.

    About HinduPACT USA
    Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective, USA – HinduPACT USA is an initiative of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA). HinduPACT (hindupact.org) aims to bring Hindu ethos and dharmic values of unity in diversity, plurality, compassion and, mutual respect amongst religions to policy and advocacy for human rights, environmental protection, racial and gender equality, and, interfaith dialog.  HinduPACT activities include voter education (hinduvote.org), and weekly live show on contemporary American Hindu issues HinduLounge (hindulounge.com). 

    About World Hindu Council of America (VHPA)
    World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) is the most prominent organization of Hindus in the USA.  Founded in 1970, it has chapters across the country.   VHPA runs educational programs for Hindu children and youth in addition to community service (Seva) activities, and initiatives such as Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC), Hindu Womens’ Network, American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD), Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective USA (HinduPACT).