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HfHR's Monthly Newsletter serves as your guide to our progressive Hindu advocacy over the past month! Read on to learn about our webinars, podcasts, articles, advocacy updates, anti-caste initiatives, and more.
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Dear Friend,
Today is a heavy day for many of us -- the 29th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and the death anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. On this day, we commit ourselves to continuing to speak out for justice and peace for all.
In that spirit, we're pleased to bring you our monthly newsletter. You've been hearing all about our year-end activities in our other communications, such as our End-of-Year Gala and our 2022 Calendar, but we pause to update you on our many activities in the past month of November.
Hindus for Human Rights In Action: November 2021
November was bookended by two important occasions for our community: Deepavali on November 4th and Indian Constitution Day on November 26th.
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HfHR celebrated Deepavali by attending various online and in-person functions. Our Advocacy Director Nikhil bumped into Congressman Ro Khanna and other luminaries at Indian American Impact's Diwali celebration, and also delivered a Diwali reflection at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, headed by HfHR’s newest Advisory Board member, Rev. Abhi Janamanchi.
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On November 26th, HfHR threw ourselves into Light a Lamp for Democracy, a campaign spearheaded by another Advisory Board member, Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan. Thanks to Martin ji’s efforts, 13,000 villages across India lit lamps to uphold and defend the principles and rights enshrined in India’s constitution. Some of us also lit lamps in solidarity, and our Voices of Peace team put together this video to showcase the campaign, which we hope you will enjoy:
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We celebrated a major victory for India's farmer's movement, with the Modi government repealing three pro-corporate farm bills. Over the past year, HfHR members have written blogs and participated in protests in India, North American, Australia and Europe in support of Indian farmers.
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We brought together a global coalition of 35 organizations and 175 individuals to send a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on him to condemn recent attacks on Muslims in the northeastern Indian state of Tripura.
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On December 2, Sudha Bharadwaj, one of the first Indian activists to be arrested in the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case, was granted bail. We celebrated Sudha ji's release and will keep up our advocacy until all of India’s political prisoners are released.
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We joined Amnesty International, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, and voices from around the world in condemning the Indian government's arrest of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez under the draconian UAPA anti-terrorism law.
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HfHR is an active leader among a coalition of 16+ organizations that jointly organize bi-weekly Congressional Briefings on timely issues related to democracy, human rights and religious freedom in India.
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Watch our November 3 Congressional Briefing, where panelists spoke about the Haugen Revelations and Facebook's role in anti-minority violence in India.
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Watch our November 17 Congressional Briefing, moderated by HfHR Co-Founder Raju Rajagopal, where we heard from family members of prisoners of conscience in India.
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Our Executive Director Sunita Viswanath spoke at an Indian Diaspora Metro DC event titled "Majoritarian Nationalism & the Crisis of Democracy." Watch her remarks, addressed in particular to the Hindu community.
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Our incredibly devoted and talented board members have been active in advancing our mission:
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Sravya Tadepalli was featured on the podcast Conflicting Narratives: Interfaith-ish, along with Sarah Brammer-Shlay, a rabbinical student and co-founder of If Not Now. Sravya and Sarah discuss the stories they grew up with around India and Israel, respectively, and the work they are engaged in today to organize their communities to stand up for justice for people of all backgrounds.
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Vijay Kadalabal reviewed the highly acclaimed Tamil film Jai Bhim, which addresses discrimination against an Adivasi (Indigenous) community in South India, in the Indian-American publication American Kahani.
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Urmila Kutikkad and Sravya Tadepalli worked hard, along with Advocacy Director Nikhil Mandalaparthy, on designing and creating this gorgeous inclusive and progressive 2022 calendar, which can be yours for just $5 a month! Order yours here!
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As you know, we're just about the only Hindu organization motivated by our Hindu faith to speak out against caste and Hindutva, and build a beautiful Hindu community devoted to justice for all.
We've been growing in strength and numbers over 2021 -- we have members and chapters in Australia and New Zealand, in Europe and in South Africa. And with your support and blessings, in 2022 we will be building and growing our voice and our movement.
Stay connected to us, support us, spread the word about us! We would love to hear from you.
HfHR Board and Staff
Bidisha, Deepak, Nikhil, Punya, Raju, Sravya, Sunil, Sunita, Swati, Swathi, Urmila, Vijay
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