March 24, 2005

Dear Editor,

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) never stated that the denial of a visa to any Indian elected official was “Hinduphobic” as stated in today’s report titled “Denial of official's visa causes stir among Indo-Americans.” We called House Resolution 160 “Hinduphobic” for its neglect of Hindu human rights in South Asia. The U.S. government has ignored the fact that in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state over 50,000 Indians have been killed and that over 400,000 Hindus and Sikhs are living in refugee camps in other parts of India because of the ethnic cleansing by Pakistan supported Islamist terrorists. In Bangladesh in the past few years, thousands of Hindus have been murdered, gang raped, and rendered refugees after the election of an Islamist government. Why has the United States largely ignored these much greater tragedies? Are the lives of Hindus worth less than others? We are greatly distressed that worldwide, few have stood to champion the rights of Hindus.

HAF also deplores your attempt to depict us in a sectarian manner. As Hindus, we naturally focus on the human rights of our community. But the tragedy that befell Hindus and Muslims in India after the burning of a train in Godhra and subsequent riots should be condemned by all people of conscience. However, some Islamist and Indian communist groups are promoting a discredited report by the current Indian railway minister, Laloo Yadav, which states that 58 Hindus burned themselves to death but framed Muslims for it so that riots would lead to genocide. Your statement that the riots began “allegedly” after Muslims set fire to the train serves to propagate such conspiracy theories. Mr. Yadav, it should be noted, was recently convicted in a $200 million corruption case and jailed during his tenure as Chief Minister of the State of Bihar.

Sincerely,

Mihir Meghani
President, Hindu American Foundation