A group of Indian Americans are hosting the first-ever Hindu American summit in Washington D.C., NDTV reports. They believe anti-Hindu sentiment in the U.S. is growing.
The Hindu-American Summit for Political Engagement will be held on June 14 at the U.S. Capitol. It is being organized by Americans4Hindus political Action committee alongside 20 other organizations. Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and other Congress members are expected to speak.
Cardiologist Dr Romesh Japra told NDTV that summit organizers want to raise awareness against growing anti-Hindu sentiment. They claim organizations like ike Equality Labs and CARE are attacking Hinduism. Equality Labs is a Dalit (“untouchables”) civil rights organization that focuses on addressing gender-based violence, Islamophobia and caste discrimination.
“They are behind many (anti-Hindu activities) of these things. So, we thought we should get together, unite all the Hindu Americans, all the leaders, all the executive heads of the organizations, and get here on the Capitol Hill, come to the powerhouses, the Congress and put our case forward,” he said.
The goal of the summit is to hopefully create a Hindu caucus. They also want to raise money to endorse and support political candidates who agree with Hindu principles and fight anti-Hindu sentiment.
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Many Hindu Americans, for example, are concerned about a California bill called SB 403 that would ban caste discrimination in the state. According to Cal Matters, opponents of the bill claim that unfairly targets South Asians.
“To tackle discrimination, we have very strong existing laws and existing protections under categories of ancestry and national origin. They can, and should, be used to deal with any issues of caste-based discrimination as they arise — and they have actually already been used,” Samir Kalra, managing director of the Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group opposing the bill, told Cal Matters.
“Creating an entire separate category and law that only applies to minority communities is inconsistent with our constitutional norms.”
The bill was introduced by State sen. Aisha Wahab, who is the daughter of Afghan refugees. According to TIME Magazine, the senator has faced several Islamophobic attacks and threats because of the bill.
Naindeep Singh, executive director of the Jakara movement, which works to educate and empower Punjabi Sikhs in the U.S., says the bill is necessary because casteism is still practiced in the U.S.
“The argument that the bill singles out South Asian communities is a canard. It is rather simple: If you don’t discriminate against others based on caste, you have little to fear with SB 403’s passage,” Singh told Cal Matters.
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