Right-wing news anchors like Zee News’s Sudhir Chaudhary , the only Mulsim speaker at the hearing, but were curiously silent on chief organiser, Hindus for Human Rights.
Hindus for Human Rights is a US-based advocacy organisation.
This new year was rung in with terrifying and explicit calls for a genocide against Muslims by Hindu religious leaders in the holy city of Haridwar.
Most of the mainstream Indian media coverage singled out one of the 17 co-sponsors, the Indian American Muslim Council ; and the only Muslim speaker, former Vice-President Hamid Ansari for its attacks.
As a progressive Hindu organisation that was a lead organiser of the congressional briefing, we can’t help but notice that hardly any of the mainstream media coverage mentions us.
Our board member Sravya Tadepalli moderated the briefing and opened with the words, “As a Hindu and part of a religious tradition that believes all human beings are inherently divine, I believe it is my religious duty to speak out when oppressed people face atrocities.
Why is it that the only Hindu organiser of the briefing is being left out of the coverage and the brickbats are saved for a Muslim cosponsor and the only Muslim speaker? It must be deeply threatening to Hindu majoritarianism to see members of the Hindu community rejecting their bigotry.
I am reminded of an in-person congressional briefing in Washington, DC, that was organised in 2018 by the IAMC, a few months before Hindus for Human Rights was formed.
Right wing Indian news platform Times Now published a video report about the briefing, characterising it as an anti-India and anti-Hindu cabal and included video footage of all the speakers except me.
They considered inviting us to present our case, but ultimately did not give us a platform because we are Hindus who agree with the remarks of Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
We stand with all Indian Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, Christians, Sikhs and all other minorities whose rights are in peril under this Hindutva government.
This hatred might start with engulfing Muslims and other minorities, but it will ultimately engulf every one of us and everything we cherish.
As we approach the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination at the hands of a Hindu extremist, it is important for all Indians to do their part to bring peace to our communities.