HfHR member Sandhya Gupta represented the organization at an interfaith prayer gathering for reproductive freedom organized by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The prayer gathering was held at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, on Saturday April 15th, and was co-convened by Catholics for Choice, Faith for Black Lives, National Council of Jewish Women, Heart, Sacred, Women of Reform Judaism/Religious Action Center, and of course, Hindus for Human Rights.

Here is the message that Sandhya shared:

Good morning friends,

My name is Sandhya Gupta and I’m a proud member of Hindus for Human Rights, an organization of progressive and inclusive Hindus who stand opposed to caste and Hindu nationalism, that is building a platform and movement of Hindus of conscience who say NO to hatred. To Islamophobia. To racism and xenophobia. To misogyny and homophobia. To religious extremism and the violence that comes with it.

In both countries I call home, India and the United States, democracy is in danger. And in both countries, our bodies are on the line.

India is hurtling towards becoming a repressive Hindu theocracy; and the threat of white Christian nationalism in America is very real. What you may not know is that the Hindu right and the white Christian right in America are very much aligned. The Hindu flag was raised by Hindu supremacists in the Jan 6 2021 attack on the US capitol. In India, Hindu nationalists use the courts to stop the criminalization of marital rape or uphold hijab bans, and try to control women’s  bodies. In the US, Christian nationalists continue to deny all individuals the right to make choices about our own bodies, including the right to a safe abortion. 

This is why I’m thrilled to be with all of you in this rally for reproductive freedom convened by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Catholics for Choice, National Council of Jewish Women, Hindus for Human Rights, Heart, Sacred, and Women of Reform Judaism/Religious Action Center.

I am here today because we are in an emergency. Our democracy is only a democracy if each of us has the right to affordable — if not free — healthcare. And we are only free when we have the right to make choices about our health, our bodies, and our families. Last year, we saw the reversal of Roe v Wade. This year Florida implemented a 6-week ban on abortion and now, a safe, legal abortion drug that women have had access to for twenty years, might come off the market in Texas and beyond. 

We have to stay vigilant.
We have to stay together.
And we have to fight. In the courts and in the streets.
BANS OFF OUR BODIES

Since the faith and interfaith spaces are the ground zero for the assault on our democracy and the human and civil rights we hold sacred, we must ensure a robust, unwavering, and indivisible interfaith resistance to it.

Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu, the religious right is exclusivist and strives to divide us and move us to mistrust, hate and harm towards each other. The most formidable resistance to the religious rights and the hate it pedals in, is to be undivided from each other, across our differences. To be a rainbow alliance of resistance rooted in justice and love.

Hindus for Human Rights works on providing a Hindu voice to human rights issues affecting our communities around the world. 

While there are Hindu texts that do not support abortion, or can be interpreted that way, we find numerous resources in our texts that support our bodily autonomy and the right to choose. Our “Shanti mantras,” or “peace prayers” many of which come from the Vedas, include lines such as “may nobody suffer” and “may there be well-being in all.” The oldest Hindu text, the Rig Veda, states “let noble thoughts come from all directors,” requiring us to have an open mind when confronting thoughts, opinions and choices of others. And in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Prince Arjuna, confused and stricken with  self-doubt, “better to do your own dharma or duty imperfectly than do another’s dharma perfectly.” That is, live a life that is true to who you are, and what you believe. 

Even when texts like the Vedas are interpreted to denounce abortion, they are not the sole authorities of morality within the Hindu tradition. The Vedas often contain contradictory advice for people. Instead, people must make informed decisions based on how they interpret the texts. Through the core tenets of dharma and karma, Hindu traditions encourage followers to question accepted wisdom, make their own choices and face those consequences. Abortion bans interrupt the way Hindus are allowed to practice our faith in the United States. 

For Hindus, the divine is in each one of  us, and each atom in the universe, equally and identically. The Hindu Goddess loves and protects all of us equally, no matter who we are. I end with a salutation to the female divine.

Jai Mata Di