HinduPACT

Tag: American Hindus Against Defamation

  • Hindudvesha – Systemic Hinduphobia Webinar : The Colonial Roots of Hindudvesha

    Hindudvesha – Systemic Hinduphobia Webinar : The Colonial Roots of Hindudvesha

    The Colonial Roots of Hindudvesha – When did it start ? Who started it ?
    In this Webinar, we will be exploring the genealogy of Hindudvesha. While Hindudvesha goes far back into history, we will pick up an important thread with the writings from the British Colonial era which set in motion a certain narrative about the Hindu civilization. We will look at how the “Ruler’s Gaze” of the British era distorted not only their perception of the Hindu world, but also our own, and what consequences those colonial era writings continue to have on our own self-understanding, today?

    We hope you will be able to join for this webinar on February 28th 2021, at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

    Click here to register

  • The Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked Cross) will continue to haunt the ‘Swastika’

    The Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked Cross) will continue to haunt the ‘Swastika’

    Author: Utsav Chakrabarty

    The New York Bill declaring ‘Swastika’ as a symbol of hate, has stalled. But history tells us that we have to do more than stalling misguided legislation to reclaim back our enduring symbol of wellness from the White Supremacists. The reclamation of the Swastika is a metaphor for the reclamation and revival of Hindu Dharma from centuries of colonialism. We have to proactively work towards educating the rest of the world that maligning our ancient heritage would be a step backwards in promoting interfaith harmony and would lead to increase in hate crimes. For the sake of honesty, safety and well being of our future generations, we must demand that the meaning and significance of Swastika be redeemed, so that the hate crimes against Jews, Hindus or any other community is not perpetuated in the name of ignorance.

    About 3 weeks ago, I got a call from Ajay Shah, my colleague at HinduPACT. He wanted us to urgently draft a response to a Bill that had been introduced in the New York State Senate by Senator Todd Kaminsky (D) 9TH SENATE DISTRICT and co-sponsored by Senators Joseph Addabbo Jr (D) 15TH SENATE DISTRICT, Alessandra Biaggi (D, WF) 34TH SENATE DISTRICT, John Brooks (D) 8TH SENATE DISTRICT, and David Carlucci (D) 38TH SENATE DISTRICT. New York State Senate Bill SS 6648 sponsored by has a stated purpose to require that the New York school children be educated regarding the meaning of swastikas and nooses as ‘symbols of hatred’ and intolerance.

    My first thoughts were, “not again, Shouldn’t the Islamic State flag make it to this list? For how long do the Hindus around the world have to carry the baggage of colonialism and appropriation on their shoulders, for a horrible crime, they had nothing to do with?”

    The history of the Swastika is over 10,000 years old. It has appeared in several civilizations all throughout the world. from pre-Christian Greece and Rome to the Druids and Celts, to proto-Vedic Hindu communities across Eurasia. The Swastika continues to be an integral part of Hindu iconography in India and in East Asian cultures that adhere to Buddhism. It has regularly been donned on Hindu homes, businesses, temples, and other objects. Hindu families gather round to place it in front of their homes for good luck and protection.

    So, as a response to the New York Senate Bill SS6648, we started by compiling the tremendous amount of work that had already been done on this issue. In 2009, The American Jewish Committee (AJC) working with the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) and other Hindu organizations in Washington, DC had produced a brochure titled, “Understanding Swastika, Use and Abuse of a sacred symbol.”

    The AJC brochure
    quotes, the following from Declaration of the Second Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit, that was held in February 2008, in Jerusalem, The Declaration says “The Svastika is an ancient and greatly auspicious symbol of the Hindu tradition. It is inscribed on Hindu temples, ritual altars, entrances, and even account books. A distorted version of this sacred symbol was misappropriated by the Third Reich in Germany and abused as an emblem under which heinous crimes were perpetrated against humanity, particularly the Jewish people. The participants recognize that this symbol is, and has been sacred to Hindus for millennia, long before its misappropriation.”

    At that time, I had hoped, that this would have put any further debate on this issue to rest, for future generations. But like with most things in the world of voluntary Hindu activism, the brochure was never popularized in the way it should have been. It never made it to the state and national level lawmakers, nor did it reach the hands of academics or education professionals. Now I feel that even if the AJC brochure had made its way to its intended audience, it may not have absolved the Swastika from its misrepresentation by White supremacists. The reason, there are people with a vested interest in keeping it misrepresented.
    You see, Hitler actually never used the word “Swastika”, and instead used the same symbol, calling it Hakenkreuz (German, Hooked Cross). But instead of censoring the Hakenkreuz (hooked Cross), which essentially would have alluded to the Christian religious symbol of the Cross, the powers that be, found it much more convenient to use the word Swastika, to represent the Nazi symbol.  Now, the 2 billion Hindus and other colonized proto-Vedic communities are left holding the baggage of the Swastika’s misuse by a murderous German dictator, who committed some of the most horrible crimes of the 20th century.

    What is even worse, is that Indian American lawmaker like Pramila Jayapal (D-Wa), who positions herself as a leader representing the voice of ‘people of color’ communities, continues to associate the Swastika with White Supremacists and neo-Nazis. I expected that she would have realized by now that the best way to weaken White supremacists & neo-Nazis, would be to help Hindus, Buddhists and other proto-Vedic communities reclaim back their historical heritage. That would have actually helped the ‘people of color’, for whom the Swastika is a symbol of reverence.

    As it stands today, the New York Senate Bill has stalled. Over 300,000 Hindu New Yorkers who come from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds and contribute immensely to the community and economy, succeeded in forcing their lawmakers to re-evaluate the language and representation of Swastika. But something tells me that we have not seen the end of this debate here.

    The reclamation of the Swastika is a metaphor for the reclamation and revival of Hindu Dharma, from centuries of colonialism. We have to proactively work towards educating the rest of the world that maligning our ancient heritage would be a step backwards in promoting interfaith harmony and would lead to increase in hate crimes and Hinduphobia. For the sake of honesty, safety and well being of our future generations, we must demand that the meaning and significance of Swastika be included in the educational curriculum so that the hate crimes against Jews, Hindus or any other community is not perpetuated in the name of ignorance. There would be no better way to disarm and disenfranchise Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists.

  • Code Words and Dog Whistles – Hindus in Media

    Code-Words-and-Dog-Whistles-Hindus-in-Media

  • Idols and Icons – The Misrepresentation of Hinduism in the Press

    Idols and Icons – The Misrepresentation of Hinduism in the Press

    By David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)

    There are a number of terms that are applied to Hinduism in the Press, not only in the West but in India itself, which foster a negative image of it. Hindus are routinely called worshippers of idols, polytheists, and various other denigrating stereotypes, which do not reflect any intelligent examination of the religion itself but what is often an intentional campaign of misrepresentation and distortion.

    All the religions of the world – with the general exception of Protestant Christians, Muslims and Jews – use some sort of images or statues in their religious worship. Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches abound with statues, paintings and pictures of various types. Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto groups use them as well. Native American, African and Asian religions abound with them. The ancient religions of the entire world from Mexico to Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, India and China used images, as archeology so clearly reveals. The use of images appear as an integral part of human religious practices and no universal religion could be regarded as complete without them. Even many Protestant Christians have pictures of Jesus in their house or church, and Muslims often have pictures of their religious or political leaders, occasionally even depictions of Mohammed.

    However, there is a strange dichotomy in how such religious images are judged. When they are part of the Christian tradition they are called icons and classified as works of art and regarded as sacred in nature.  When they are part of non-Christian or pagan traditions they are called “idols,” which is a derogatory term that indicates not the sacred but mere superstition. In the case of native American and
    African images, even when done by a culture as advanced as the Mayas of Central America – which built great pyramids and had many great cities – they are lumped along with so-called primitive art.

    An image of Christ as the good shepherd is called an icon and viewed with respect. An image of Krishna as the good cow herder – which is a similar image of the Divine as watching over the souls of men – is called an idol, which encourages one to look down on it. This is prejudice and negative stereotyping in language of the worst order.  What Christian would accept calling a depiction of Christ an idol? Would Christian religious leaders approve of it in the press of Christian countries? What Christians in India would accept it?  And would not the government and news media of India change the language in their favor? Yet Hindus routinely accept that depictions of their deities – who represent as high a standard in consciousness and ethical behavior as Christ – are demeaned as idols.  The news media of India does this commonly, which encourages the Western news media to continue in this practice, which is part of their negative depiction of Hinduism.

    To call such images as idols implies that those who worship them practice idolatry or take the image itself as a God. This adds yet more prejudice and error to this judgement. The use of an image – whether we call it an icon or an idol – does not imply belief in the reality of the image. That we keep a photograph of our wife and children at our work desk does not mean that we think our wife and children are the photograph. It is a reminder, not a false reality.

    Moreover, the use of the term idol inflames the sentiments of anti-idolatry religions like Christianity and Islam, as both the Bible and the Koran, at least in places, instruct their followers to oppose idolaters and smash their temples and images. The use of the term idol in the press, particularly in the Indian press, is thus careless, insensitive, inflammatory, and communal. It should be removed in an effort to promote greater understanding and good will between religious groups. The use of such terms indicates that the news media of India uncritically and unnecessarily uses terms that encourage anti-Hindu attitudes. It is a hold over from the British rule in the intellectual sphere, even though the British have long left the country. What majority community in the world is so unaware of its new media to allow such practices to continue? Yet this issue only reflects many other prejudicial terms like Hindu chauvinism, Hindu fundamentalism, and Hindu militancy which the often anti-Hindu Indian news media frequently uses, while at the same time not using them in regard to Islam and Christianity, even when they are much more appropriate relative to the exclusivistic attitudes and greater intolerance of these belief-oriented religions.

    Using such terms as idols, the news media is not fostering communication but promoting discrimination and violence. Such abuse of language should be challenged and replaced wherever it is found, whether relative to Hindus or anyone else.