Statement of Solidarity with Hindus for Human Rights, USA, by Academics and Scholars
We stand in solidarity with Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) and deplore efforts to silence an important alternative and inclusive Hindu voice in the diaspora. We are alarmed by the news that Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), specifically co-founders Sunita Viswanath and Raju Rajagopal, have been sued by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). They, along with Indian American Muslim Council executive director Rasheed Ahmed, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America chairman John Prabhudoss, and Rutgers University professor Audrey Truschke, have been accused of defamation and conspiracy to defame HAF.
Viswanath and Rajagopal exercised their right to free speech by commenting on
the matter of disbursement of federal COVID relief federal funds to several
Hindutva-aligned organizations. (See HAF’s complaint here: https://tinyurl.com/5hcxdrnk)
Almost every minute, India’s Covid stories send us deeper into grief, but Covid
is not the only poison attacking India. Equally troubling is the drive of
“Hindutva,” or Hindu nationalism. Going directly against constitutional
guarantees of equality and democratic rights, Hindutva wants supremacy for
India’s Hindu majority and acceptance by Muslims, Christians, and others of
second-class citizenship. Moreover, Hindutva is an authoritarian ideology,
having no tolerance for peaceful dissent or debate, the very qualities that
underline a democracy.
Many are aware that the Hindutva thrust is worryingly similar to the rise of
white supremacy in the U.S. But a clear majority of Indian Americans believe in
equal rights and voted for a change in the US administration. And now, a
considerable section of Indian Americans also oppose Hindutva and demand equal
rights for all citizens of India. HfHR is a crucial voice on their behalf.
Unfortunately, given the support for Hindutva in influential sections of the Indian
American community, attempts are being made to legally harass or discredit
HfHR.
These efforts must be resolutely opposed. In the U.S. and in India, forces
working for exclusionary and majoritarian forces must be resisted and defeated.
In particular, the resources of the U.S. should not be allowed to directly or
indirectly aid the anti-democratic project for Hindutva-supremacy in India. HfHR and other organizations are fully justified in asking for scrutiny to
ensure that aid from U.S. tax payers, whether for Covid-related assistance in
India or for any other purpose, to U.S.-based community organizations, do not
end up supporting supremacist causes in either country.
The parallel battles in the U.S. and in India to preserve democratic rights are
very closely interconnected. Everyone in the U.S., including Hindu Americans,
must have the fullest freedom to support efforts for equal rights and democracy
everywhere, and especially in India, the country where Hindu traditions
emerged. We applaud the steps taken by the Biden administration to aid of India
as the second wave of Covid is threatens to destroy the social fabric of India.
Speaking out against the threat to human rights and religious freedom in India
are no less important.
We strongly condemn any efforts to curb or restrict HfHR’s activities or to
silence HfHR and its allies, and we earnestly hope that the courts will quickly
rule in favor of HfHR’s First Amendment right to free speech.
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