Newsletter: Putting Kajal Hindustani on blast, working with the UN, main stage at ICNA West & more
As salamu alaykum,
IAMC worked around the clock in June and July, and you’re going to love the amount of victories we’re about to list out for you. Jump straight into our bullet point summary to see all the ways in which we took on hate mongers, educated officials, breathed fire at events, and took our advocacy against Hindutva to the next level.
BULLET POINT SUMMARY:
- IAMC packed a full room on Capitol Hill for a briefing featuring UN experts, US officials, and prominent activists
- Held over 30 meetings with Congressional offices on our Advocacy Day
- Worked with our coalition partners to get NYC Mayor Eric Adams to withdraw from an event with Indian hatemonger Kajal Hindustani and forced Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor to condemn her bigotry.
- Released an important report on India’s Transnational Repression in the US
- Held an important webinar featuring Special Rapporteur Levrat and other experts on the backlash faced by Muslims post-Pahalgam
- Our Associate Media Director Safa Ahmed spoke at several major events both on and offline:
- ICNA West’s main stage alongside big names like Shaun King, Zahra Billoo, Khalid Griggs, and more
- The Socialism Conference in Chicago, in collaboration with our coalition partners at Savera
- A panel hosted by Rutgers Law Center for Security, Race, and Rights on their new Hindutva in America report
Keep scrolling to learn more about each of these achievements in detail.
IAMC HOSTING UN EXPERTS ON CAPITOL HILL
On July 17, IAMC packed a room on Capitol Hill with over 100 Congressional staffers for a briefing on India’s democratic backsliding. At the event, senior officials from the United Nations and United States, along with leading human rights experts, urged the US government to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over serious and ongoing violations of human rights and religious freedoms.
You can watch the full video of the event here, and read our press release here.
30+ CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS IN ONE DAY
On July 16, IAMC got together a coalition of interfaith partners – Muslim, Hindu, and Christian – and spent the full day meeting with over 30 Congressional offices to educate them on Hindutva in India and the US. We met with offices from California to New York, Democrat and Republican alike – including high-impact meetings with the offices of Rep. Jim McGovern and Senator Adam Schiff.
HINDUTVA HATE ISN’T WELCOME HERE
You might’ve heard of Hindu supremacist speaker Kajal Hindustani – a figure so vitriolic that she was arrested in Gujarat in 2023 for inciting anti-Muslim violence. In June and July, she went on a speaking tour across the United States, urging anti-Muslim violence, boycotts, and affiliation with Hindu militant groups.
But she couldn’t escape IAMC and our coalition.
Ahead of her Dallas stop, we worked with our partners to build a campaign to oppose her event. We collected over 50 signatures from Muslim, Christian, and Hindu civil society groups and religious leaders to condemn the event, and we did the same when she visited North Carolina days later. We also reported the event as a hate incident to Dallas police.
Our biggest victories came back to back – first, Mayor Eric Adams accepted an invitation to share a stage with prominent hate speaker Kajal Hindustani, so IAMC joined our coalition partners at Savera in signing a letter pressuring Mayor Adams to withdraw from the event and apologize. It worked – you can read the full letter here, and see our coalition statement following Mayor Adams’ withdrawal here.
Just a few weeks later, our outreach pushed Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos to condemn Kajal Hindustani’s hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric, after the office had initially issued a ceremonial citation recognizing Hindustani. You can read our statement on the issue here.
IAMC ON ICNA WEST’S MAIN STAGE
We took the message of Indian Muslim resilience and anti-Hindutva advocacy to the mainstream during Associate Media Director Safa Ahmed’s main stage panel event at ICNA West in Santa Clara, CA. Safa spoke of the need for courage and moral clarity in order to confront Hindutva, while sharing a stage with big-name Muslim speakers like Shaun King, Zahra Billoo, and Imam Khalid Griggs.
OUR NEWEST REPORT ON TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
We released a shocking new report titled “Transnational Repression: The Modi Regime’s Targeting of Critics in the United States,” documenting how Indian consulates and state-aligned actors have deployed at least 9 of the 11 forms of TNR tactics recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Read the full report here, and watch our panel event detailing the report and TNR here.
WEBINARS, BRIEFINGS, AND PANELS
We did too many events in the last two months for each to have its own section. Here’s a roundup of everything else we hosted or participated in at the national level (six more in total!).
June 11: IAMC hosted UN Special Rapporteur Nicolas Levrat, Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, Professor Apoorvanand, and writer & advocate Suchitra Vijayan for a panel event on rising anti-Muslim violence in the aftermath of Pahalgam. Watch the full briefing here, and check out our press release on the event here.
June 16: Associate Media Director Safa Ahmed gave a powerful testimony on the impact of Hindutva on Muslim Americans of all backgrounds at a panel event organized by Rutgers Law Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR). Watch the full event here, and read CSRR’s new report on Hindutva in America here.
July 5: Safa Ahmed spoke virtually on a smash hit panel on Hindutva and the multiracial far right at the 2025 Socialism Conference, which was organized by members of our Savera coalition partners. On the same day, in addition to her main stage session, Safa led two ICNA West side sessions – one on Hindutva in Tech, and another on the basics of Hindutva and its violent impact on Muslims in India.
CHAPTER UPDATES AND EVENTS
We couldn’t be more proud of our chapters these past two months. They proved that where grassroots mobilization is needed, they’ll show up every time. Keep scrolling to read about their contributions in June and July.
Bay Area
- The Bay Area chapter got IAMC onto ICNA’s main stage – and, on top of that, they arranged for two side sessions, set up a booth, distributed materials, and kept a rotating number of volunteers throughout the day to speak to interested individuals about our work.
Boston
- The Boston chapter played a key role in getting local South Asian advocacy groups to sign onto our first letter condemning Kajal Hindustani’s Dallas visit, as well as in pressuring the Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor’s office to condemn Hindustani’s hate speech.
Chicago
- On June 12, the Chicago Chapter hosted an impactful meet-and-greet featuring two influential Indian thought leaders: Sam Pitroda and Prashant Bhushan. The event brought together nearly 50 guests, including elected officials, interfaith leaders, and community members, for an evening of thought-provoking dialogue over dinner.
Dallas
- The Dallas chapter moved swiftly and boldly in raising local momentum against their city’s Kajal Hindustani event. They reached out to officials, conducted outreach to local media, rallied coalition partners, and
Maryland
- Members of the Maryland chapter drove to D.C. after work to attend meetings with Congressional offices during Advocacy Day, providing support in numbers and distributing information along with the IAMC National team.
Raleigh
- With only three days of lead time, the Raleigh chapter wrote a letter to Morrisville’s mayor and town council and collected multiple signatures ahead of Kajal Hindustani’s visit. They also put together an email blast for the local Muslim community.
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