February Newsletter: Black and Dalit Lives Matter!
March 30, 2021
Namaste Dear Friend,
As March rolls into April, we are pleased to bring you our jam-packed monthly newsletter.
As our gardens come to life with the onset of spring, we remember that this is a time of regeneration and rebirth. And we celebrate the spring holy days of Holi and Passover, and soonEaster and Ramadan.
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A few HfHR board members -- Punya, Sunil and Sunita -- celebrated Holi by gathering for a meal and good company, and visiting the Hanuman temple in Taos, NM. And two of our board members, PunyaandUrmila, wrote beautiful Holi reflections.
Two weeks ago, we welcomed our new Advocacy Director Nikhil Mandalaparthy! Nikhil has been representing HfHR at various briefings and coalition meetings, connecting with HfHR’s partners across the country and abroad, and is working on drafting a strategic plan for HfHR’s advocacy in DC moving forward. You can learn more about him here.
There is so much to share about our work in March!
Anti-Caste Initiatives
HfHR, from our inception, has been an organization of caste-abolitionist Hindus. The month began with an opportunity to walk our talk on caste: we partnered with Ambedkar International Center (AIC), a Dalit rights organization that filed an amicus brief in the California v CISCO case on workplace caste discrimination; and we participated in AIC’s press conference on March 2nd. While the case was ultimately postponed till September, we stand firmly with the Dalit plaintiff in the case--and with AIC--in this fight.
Dalit rights activist and HfHR Advisory Board Member Martin Macwan and his organization Navsarjan Trust launched a campaign called, “1111: One Country, One Nation.” The campaign seeks to raise enough funds and collect enough brass articles to melt into a 1111 mg brass coin--engraved with a picture of and quotes by Dr. Ambedkar--which will be placed in the foundation of India’s new parliament building. Read how you can support this anti-untouchabilitycampaign here.
Civil Rights
March 5-7th saw the commemoration of the 56th anniversary of the Selma bridge crossing and Bloody Sunday when peaceful protesters, calling for the right to vote for African-Americans, were met with violent police in riot gear with tear gas and batons. HfHR was a part of the organizing committee for the commemoration, and cofounders Raju and Sunita as well as advisory board member Prof. Rajmohan Gandhi were all panelists during the virtual conference.
Excerpt of the panel at the Selma commemoration with Prof Rajmohan Gandhi and Rev James Lawson, in which Rajmohan ji answers the question, "Was Gandhi a Racist?"
Our immersion into civil rights history continued with our Essay and Art Contest, organized with Indian American Muslim Council. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapalannounced the winners and runners up in our beautiful award ceremony on March 13th in which middle and high school students were able to interact with special guests Prof.Rajmohan Gandhi, Terra Foster, Executive Director of NAACP-Alabama, and Dr. Mary E. King, professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the UN-affiliated University for Peace. We are so proud of the almost 100 students who registered, the 42 students who submitted essays and artwork, and of course the 8 students who are our winners and runners up: Suhan Kacholia, Samara Desai, Victoria Maria Garcia, Aminah Ahmed, Sarina Harjani, Vaishnavi Murthy, Meghna Sudhakar and Anya Chopra. IAMC and HfHR would love to do this again next year!
Our media partner is American Kahani. Our blog has links to the submissions by all winners and runners up, as featured in American Kahani.
Women's History Month
March is Women’s History Month, and March 8th is International Women’s Day. HfHR board member Swati led our women’s history month efforts by penning this blog offering a Hindu perspective on a woman’s right to consent, and how this right is being eroded in present day India. HfHR partnered with a number of other organizations including Global Progressive Indian Alliance (GIPA) on a social media campaign to end gender based violence: #EndGBV, #LoveAzaadi.
Climate Action and Farmers Struggle
On March 11, HfHR participated in the global day of climate action, Sacred People, Sacred Earth, by organizing along with GreenFaith, a webinar entitled, “How Hindutva is Harming the Planet.” The speakers were our own board member Vijayendra Kadalabal, LA-based interfaith activist Tahil Sharma, Ghazipur-based activist Mrinali Dhembla (also a leader in Students Against Hindutva Ideology, SAHI), and Varanasi-based interfaith activists Father Anand Mathew and Dr. Muniza Khan.
Vijayendra and Mrinali came together in another important webinar this month, “On The Ground at the Farmers Protests,” organized by SAHI on March 20. This webinar brought us voices directly from the farmer protests in Ghazipur and Tikri border.
Blogs and Statements
Statement in support of Dr. Audrey Truschke, professor of South Asian history and religions at Rutgers University, who is accused of being anti-Hindu and being viciously trolled and attacked by Hindutva forces.
March 26 marked the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence. We published a blog post by Bangladeshi Hindu writer Amrita Chakraborty which honors the women who survived sexual violence during the 1971 Bengali genocide. We know that Bangladeshi Hindu communities were particularly targeted during the violence of 1971 and continue to face numerous challenges to this day. For those looking for ways to support Bangladesh's Hindu communities, please donate to and share this fundraiser for the 70-80 Hindu families in Sumanganj district whose homes were attacked by Hefazat-e-Islami extremists on March 17th.
Chicago Anti-CAA Resolution
March also brought us disappointment: the anti-CAA resolution in Chicago City Council was defeated in spite of the hard work of our friends in Chicago Coalition for Human Rights in India, and despite our own strident advocacy. We are saddened to hear that Hindu American Congressman Raja Krishnamurthi helped defeat the resolution through his own advocacy.
We are heartened by the fact that 40% of Indian Hindus in the US believe that Hindutva poses a threat to India. It is essential that more Hindu Americans see Hindutva for what it is: a fascist ideology that will destroy the Indian democracy and result in immeasurable loss of life.
HfHR will continue to assert our strong and clear voice of an inclusive and egalitarian Hinduism, and advocate for the human rights of all. Please continue to support us so that our voice is strong, and our effort is robust and impactful. Our work is possible only thanks to you.
With our love, gratitude and solidarity,
HfHR Board of Directors
Deepak, Punya, Raju, Sunil, Sunita, Swati, Urmila, Sravya, Vijay
Please Join Us
As Always, Get Involved.We would love to hear from you — write to us. Volunteer. Start a chapter. Hold a birthday fundraiser and raise both awareness and money!
And please consider a donation to HfHR so that our platform and movement for a Hindu resistance to Hindutva can grow stronger and more impactful.
A few HfHR board members -- Punya, Sunil and Sunita -- celebrated Holi by gathering for a meal and good company, and visiting the Hanuman temple in Taos, NM. And two of our board members, 
Two weeks ago, we welcomed our new Advocacy Director Nikhil Mandalaparthy! Nikhil has been representing HfHR at various briefings and coalition meetings, connecting with HfHR’s partners across the country and abroad, and is working on drafting a strategic plan for HfHR’s advocacy in DC moving forward. You can learn more about him 
HfHR, from our inception, has been an organization of caste-abolitionist Hindus. The month began with an opportunity to walk our talk on caste: we partnered with Ambedkar International Center (AIC), a Dalit rights organization that filed an amicus brief in the 
Dalit rights activist and HfHR Advisory Board Member Martin Macwan and his organization Navsarjan Trust launched a campaign called, “1111: One Country, One Nation.” The campaign seeks to raise enough funds and collect enough brass articles to melt into a 1111 mg brass coin--engraved with a picture of and quotes by Dr. Ambedkar--which will be placed in the foundation of India’s new parliament building. Read how you can support this anti-untouchability campaign 
Our immersion into civil rights history continued with our Essay and Art Contest, organized with Indian American Muslim Council. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal 
We are so proud of the almost 100 students who registered, the 42 students who submitted essays and artwork, and of course the 8 students who are our winners and runners up: Suhan Kacholia, Samara Desai, Victoria Maria Garcia, Aminah Ahmed, Sarina Harjani, Vaishnavi Murthy, Meghna Sudhakar and Anya Chopra. IAMC and HfHR would love to do this again next year!
March is Women’s History Month, and March 8th is International Women’s Day. HfHR board member Swati led our women’s history month efforts by penning this 
