Bipartisan group of US Congressmen express concern that university event could fuel ‘anti-Hindu’ prejudice
New York, Oct 27 (IANS) A bipartisan group of members of US Congress has expressed concern that an event at a university here could “fuel further prejudice” against Hindus at a time when Hindu temples have been targets of violence.
In a letter addressed to William Tate, the President of Rutgers University in New Jersey, the Congressmen said on Sunday that the event scheduled for Monday misrepresents “a diverse and peaceful and religious community and will have impacts on Hindus on college campuses and around the country”.
The signers of the letter are Democrats Sanford Bishop from Georgia, Shri Thanedar from Illinois, and Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia, and Republican Rich McCormick, also from Georgia.
The organisers of the Rutgers event titled “Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism” say it is based on a report called, “Hindutva in America: An Ethnonationalist Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism”.
The moderator is Sahar Aziz, a law professor, and the featured speaker is Audrey Truschke, a history professor who is a defender of Aurangzeb, the extremist Muslim ruler of the Mughal lineage who ordered the execution of Guru Teg Bahadur, the revered Sikh saint, and persecuted Hindus and Parsis.
The Congressmen made clear that they did not want the event banned at the New Jersey state government-funded university.
Instead, they said, “we urge Rutgers to ensure that its planned programming promotes freedom of speech and expression, but not single out and target Hindu American individuals and organisations.”
The Congressmen referred to the series of violent attacks on Hindu temples, including the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Indiana and the Shri Radha Krishna Temple in Utah.
“In this climate, we are concerned that the rhetoric of the report may fuel further prejudice, particularly impacting Hindu students on college campuses who may feel unfairly targeted or unsafe,” the Congressmen said.
Moreover, they pointed out, the report said that “law enforcement, politicians and civil society groups should cease partnership with US-based Hindu nationalist groups”.
In this context, they said they were “especially concerned by the report’s references to specific Hindu community organisations” and “are concerned about the implications of conflating religious-based organisations with nationalist groups”.
Among the Hindu civil rights groups the report targeted are the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA).
It said, “When we stand up against such bigotry, we are labelled as ‘Hindutva extremists’.”
Many US campuses have become hotbeds of religious bigotry led by leftist groups and Islamists.
President Donald Trump’s administration has taken action against campus intolerance focused on Jewish students and faculty. The same groups often are involved in ‘anti-Hindu’ campaigns.
HAF, in an open letter to Rutgers, made clear that it did not want the event banned, but asked the university’s administration to “clarify that invited speakers or conference content reflects the organisers’ views” and dissociate publicly from it.
“We seek clarity in light of the inaccuracy, gravity, and spuriousness of numerous claims the report makes about HAF and other Hindu American advocacy organisations,” it said.
CoHNA said that in the past two weeks it has heard from students “who are feeling vulnerable and concerned that their religion and identity are at risk simply for being a Hindu on campus”.
–IANS
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