Hindus for Human Rights Launches in the UK

Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) reaches the United Kingdom!  This is a long-time coming.  Sadly, the issues facing the diaspora communities of the United States are just as present across the pond.

Three months ago, HfHR took on Rajiv Sinha as its Organizer over in the UK.  This meant starting from the very beginning, research to put it plainly – finding out how ordinary members of diaspora communities are thinking and feeling; seeing what activists, campaigners, and advocates are out there and how connected (or otherwise) they are; and seeing if there was a need for our organization to expand.

In those months it became very clear to Rajiv that the need was indeed there.  After hundreds of conversations – with individuals and organizations, spanning government, business, nonprofits, religious leaders, community spokespeople, professionals, family, friends, and concerned citizens – Rajiv became convinced of this.

Though there are no exact figures on this, many people in the UK feel as though it must be a huge majority of their communities that supports Hindu nationalism and exclusionary politics.

Off the back of this, Rajiv and the HfHR team were able to organize a successful launch event for the UK chapter, with many more people than expected turning up at short notice!  There were thirty-two wonderful people there, proving that there are many loving, accepting Hindus out there, waiting to be connected.  That is Rajiv’s goal from now – connect, connect, connect.

The picture above shows just one fifth of the roster of amazing individuals present at the launch event of Hindus for Human Rights UK.  From left to right you can see HfHR’s UK Organizer Rajiv Sinha, HfHR’s Executive Director Sunita Viswanath, HfHR advisory board member and historian Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, Scholar Dr Professor Nitasha Kaul, human rights activists Yusuf Dawood and Dr. Aakashi Bhatt, and accomplished British artist Abu Jaffer.

The mixture of experience, talent, courage and determination in this picture alone – again, just a fraction of the people in attendance! – is testament to HfHR’s decision to start up in the UK.  People that have spoken to Rajiv have been crying out for this kind of initiative to pull together progressive Hindu voices.

On Saturday 21st October activists, academics, peacebuilders, politicians, doctors, surgeons, business leaders, campaigners, writers, artists, and conscientious members of our dear communities came together to listen to one another, share insights, and inspire each other to act towards a common future.  We began all of this over dhokla of course!!

There is nothing like good finger food to inspire a shared vision!

Over dinner, people shared their wisdom from their respective careers and walks of life, from the troubled path of South Asian migrants in the UK in the 1970s, through the need to see the law as an ever-changing system that ought to be there to help us, to the difficulties of the queer experience and how this overlaps with the experiences of immigration, religion, and society.

These casual conversations, as well as the later, slightly more formal discussion that took place (seen in the first picture), created a sense of community that blew everyone in attendance away.  Rajiv went to bed around midnight having responded to several messages of thanks and excitement and woke up the next morning to many more such messages.  This response, along with the event itself and the months of prior work by Rajiv, has reaffirmed the fire within HfHR to set up operations in the UK.

The picture directly above shows the amazing activist Imran Dawood, whose family was tragically impacted by the Gujarat carnage of 2002, and whose story is featured in the BBC documentary, India: the Modi Question, along with Dr Rajmohan Gandhi, who needs no introduction.  The fact that this whole piece has been written without a mention yet of Rajmohanji’s grandfather Mahatma Gandhi, or the other great founding father of India, Bhimrao Ambedkar,  reflects the boundless energy coming out of this past weekend.

To be able to draw upon the experience, wisdom, and goodness of Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi and his wife Usha Gandhi was an absolute privilege.  It also anchored the group in such a profound way – this was a huge part of the success of the evening. 

Rajiv is very excited to continue connecting with like-minded people in the UK and spreading our Hindu values of shanti (peace), nyaya (justice) and the manavtha (human rights) of all communities.