Newsletter Sep 2022 - Defeating Hindu Supremacism in New Jersey, IAMC in Geneva, and Grant Program

October 6, 2022

Newsletter Sep 2022 – Defeating Hindu Supremacism in New Jersey, IAMC in Geneva, and Grant Program

Justice is a tool to maintain balance

“…and establish weight in justice and do not make the balance deficient.” [Quran, 55:7-9]”

Over the last couple of months, the Hindu Supremacist (Hindutva) hate against Muslims has spilled onto the American streets.

IAMC and our partners have been on the ground combatting and protesting this egregious escalation. The city of Edison, New Jersey, witnessed a shocking display of hate and bigotry when the Indian Business Association of New Jersey brought out a bulldozer decorated with photos of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, to the India Independence Day Parade.

Extensive advocacy efforts led by the IAMC-New Jersey chapter with our coalition partners resulted in a massive backlash against the Hindu supremacist organizers. Senators Bob Menendez, Cory Booker, and other state-level politicians issued statements vehemently condemning the blatant display of anti-Muslim hate. The pushback brought the media spotlight on American Hindutva, forcing the Indian Business Association to tender a public apology.

In another success through the joint efforts of IAMC and its coalition partners, a Church in Ridgewood, NJ, canceled the approval given to organizers for Hindu extremist leader Sadhvi Rithambara’s event.

IAMC members had met church officials to educate them about the speaker’s background and her role in inciting violence against religious minorities and whipping up the communal frenzy in India. A public campaign spearheaded by IAMC sent the church over 1,000 emails and hundreds of phone calls.

RSS whistleblower Attends IAMC Congressional Briefing

In an exclusive Congressional Briefing co-organized by IAMC, former RSS leader of 25 years and whistleblower Yashwant Shinde made explosive revelations that India’s ruling Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had collaborated with the RSS to carry out terror attacks across India for political and electoral gain in the 2000s.

IAMC Panel on Hindu Extremism at ISNA

IAMC participated in the 59th Annual ISNA Convention and hosted a panel discussion entitled Hindu Nationalism: A Threat to Human Rights and Religious Freedom Globally.

The panel featured Niranjan Takle, Investigate Journalist and author of “Who killed Judge Loya,” Dr. Gregory Stanton, President of the Genocide Watch, and Ajit Sahi, Advocacy Director of IAMC.

Dr. Gregory Stanton stated that India is preparing for genocidal massacres of 200 million Muslims.

IAMC in Geneva

IAMC completed a highly successful week at the United Nations Office in Geneva ahead of the Universal Periodic Review, which will include India this year.

IAMC staffer Safa Ahmed met the special mission teams from the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Denmark. We briefed them about the persecution of religious minorities in India. We also met with the staff of prominent officials, including multiple branches of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

In each of these meetings, we provided a list of questions we recommend countries ask Indian officials when India comes under review. We also highlighted the gravity of the situation faced by minorities in India, including the rise of anti-Muslim violence, Hindu extremist lynch mobs, discriminatory government policies against Muslims, threats against Muslim women, and anti-Muslim hate speech.

Our goal in sharing this information is to push countries to hold no punches in asking India to step up the protection of minority rights, enforce consequences for hate-mongering, and repeal discriminatory legislation such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In this UPR cycle, the international community should drive home the message that the world is watching.