Vicious Attack on Religious Freedom of Minority Hindu Americans
By Neha Dahiya
Is Hindumisia on the rise in the United States? Over the past few decades, Hinduphobic radical organisations like Hindus for Human Rights (H4HR), Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), and Equality Labs have waged disinformation and slur campaigns against Hindu culture, events and identity.
The Hindu American community had scheduled a religious discussion and cultural event for August 30 and 31, 2022, at Impact Hall, Global Mall, Norcross, Georgia. A spiritual figure in the Hindu community, Sadhvi Ritambhara was invited to grace the occasion. Several extremist Anti-Hindu groups waged an online and offline smear campaign to disparage the Sadhvi and the event organisers. This continuing hate campaign is intended to terrorise and intimidate American Hindus barring them of their rights enshrined in the Constitution of the United States.
This is not new as over the years, one may recall various hate and misinformation campaigns by motivated and foreign backed, abetted organisations and individuals which are habitual of spreading misinformation and hatred against Hindus like Equality Labs with its baseless “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” campaign, Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) with its constant and vile hateful attacks on Hindu cultural organisations like the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Pieter Friedrich, Audrey Truschke, Bhajan Singh Bhinder for their Pakistan supported Anti-Hindu agenda are some names, but the list goes long.
Similarly, by instilling doubt and dread in the minds of Americans about Hindu culture and its saints, the hate campaign against Sadhvi Ritambhara launched by H4HR, IAMC and their supporters enlisted above is aimed to demonise the very persona of such noble Hindu saints, so as to further their nefarious, divisive and communal agenda in the United States. The hate campaign against the Sadhvifollows patterns and trends closely aligning with earlier campaigns and appears to be a part of an organised ecosystem of organisations and individuals who are well known around the world for their Hinduphobic views and discriminatory and divisive views about the Hindu society.
On the contrary and in reality, Sadhvi Ritambhara is also known as DidiMaa(Lit. Sister and Mother), has motivated countless people all over the world. In Vrindavan, India she founded orphanages, special schools for underprivileged kids, and homes for women who have been abandoned. She established the \”Param Shakti Peeth\” organisation to protect India\’s underprivileged people. To help women become more self-reliant and confident, Shakti Peeth also offers training in karate, horseback riding, and other sports. The collective name for these organisations is \”Vatsalya Gram.\” She also manages widows\’ ashrams and shelters in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. In addition, she founded and serves as the chair of DurgaVahini, a Hindu women empowered organization. Durga Vahini seeks to inspire more women to take part in Hindu prayer gatherings and cultural activities. By providing social services and aid to struggling families, the organisation hopes to foster a sense of togetherness and solidarity. Sanyasini Sadhvi Ritambhara has devoted her entire life to advancing Hindu causes including strongly advocating for Ram Janamboomi (Lit. Birthplace of lord Ram) in Ayodhya, India. On November 9, 2019, the five-judge Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, presided over by the now-retired Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, unanimously ruled that Lord Ram was born on the Ayodhya ground where the Babri Structure previously stood. Over the years, her motivating speeches, which are backed up by Hindu texts, have gained a tremendous global following that transcends caste, gender, and nationality.
In light of this, acknowledging the gross violation of human values of Vis-a-Vis Hindus in America. HinduPACT, a policy research and advocacy collective based in the USA, suggested in a statement that American law enforcement agencies pay attention to the surge in such hate speech on social media and its potential to hurt people. Political favouritism must not be used to support these kinds of targeted assaults on the religious liberty of Hindu Americans and Hindu organisations. The First Amendment, which is a cornerstone of the US Constitution, guarantees Hindu Americans the freedom to profess their beliefs. But because of some radical organisations, Hindus in the USA are not allowed to freely practise their religion. Whether it be through the physical assault on Hindus expats or the entanglement of intellectuals in a web of false propaganda, Hindus are made into very easy targets in the west. Maligning Hindu culture, rituals and values using hate-tricks by radical cells is not a new phenomenon. They made groups, organisations, and networks with selective ill mind people to target India and Hindus from all spheres. Islamists, Separatists and Evangelists masked themselves as an innocent Hindu rights advocacy organisation, which didn\’t spare any chance to malign Hindus and India. On the contrary, they sponsor events of Anti-India entities and fully support every measure to lead their malicious agenda of wiping out the Hindu community from the world.
(Neha Dahiya is a specialist content writer at Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies)