Inside This Newsletter

LAW FIRM RETAINED TO REPRESENT HINDUS IN CALIFORNIA TEXTBOOK EFFORTS

HAF DISMAYED BY TERRORIST ATTACK IN BANGALORE, INDIA

HINDU AMERICANS LAUD USCIRF FOR SUPPORT OF AFGHAN HINDU REFUGEES

 

2005: A YEAR OF GROWTH AND ACCOMPLISHMENT (click below for more info) READ THE 2005 PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE HAF'S 2005 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Law Firm Retained to Represent Hindus in California Textbook Efforts

Date: January 12, 2006

SACRAMENTO, Ca - The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has retained the law firm of Olson, Hagel and Fishburn, LLP of Sacramento, California to represent the Foundation in its interactions with the California State Board of Education (SBE).  The SBE is currently considering a determination of the California Curriculum Commission that several edits and corrections of textbooks regarding the teaching of Hinduism to public school students be accepted. 

The Vedic Foundation (VF) and Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) previously submitted extensive edits as part of a lengthy review process conducted by SBE and the Curriculum Commission. HAF became involved in the process when it became apparent that the SBE and its staff failed to adequately address a substantial number of the VF and HEF edits, and improperly allowed certain individuals to undermine the procedures available for public debate and resolution of these issues.  The most recent example of this appears to have occurred at a January 6, 2006 meeting in which previous determinations of the Curriculum Commission were apparently re-opened and reviewed in a private session from which VF, HEF and HAF were excluded.

Although a final determination with respect to these matters may be made by the SBE at its February meeting, attorneys representing HAF are planning to appear at the SBE meeting January 12, 2006 and provide Board members with the attached statement.   

“We believe that the Curriculum Commission of the California State Board of Education made its recommendations to the SBE based on an accurate understanding of science, history and the sentiments of those people in California that actually practice the Hindu faith being taught in schools,” said Suhag Shukla, Esq., Legal Counsel of HAF. “It would be completely inappropriate – and we believe illegal – for those recommendations to be modified by the staff and Board members as the result of a closed meeting.  HAF is committed to ensure that a fair and open process is followed, and the decision to retain counsel on this matter reflects our concern that the appropriate process is perhaps not being followed in this case.”

A lack of communication from the office of the SBE to HAF regarding these concerns, despite numerous attempts, led the foundation to retain counsel.

“We are fully cognizant of how strongly our constituents feel about the textbook issue, and we at HAF are determined to utilize every possible option to ensure that the SBE process remains fair and impartial for Hindu Americans,” added Ms. Shukla.

The Sacramento based law-firm will handle communication with the SBE on behalf of HAF and ensure that the concerns of the Hindu American community regarding textbook portrayals of Hinduism are conveyed.  Attorneys at HAF continue to provide background material, the context of the current controversy and perspectives of the Hindu American community to the firm.

“Hindus throughout the United States are watching this process with concern since the results have broad implications for all Hindus.  For many years, Hinduism was taught from a non-Hindu perspective. All that we are asking is that Hinduism be taught as per state law, which asks that the education ‘Instill in each child a sense of pride in his or her heritage; develop a feeling of self-worth…; eradicate the roots of prejudice... and enable all students to become aware and accepting of religious diversity while being allowed to remain secure in any religious beliefs they may already have’”, said Mihir Meghani, M.D., President of HAF.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF Dismayed by Terrorist Attack in Bangalore, India

Date: January 3, 2006

TAMPA, Fl – Members of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) were personally shocked by the terrorist attack on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, India. On December 28^th, 2005, a gunman, armed with an improvised AK-56 rifle and a grenade, indiscriminately fired upon college faculty and students on the IISc campus.  Retired Professor Munish Chandra Puri, an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, was fatally shot in the attack.  In addition, several others were seriously injured.  The attack hit HAF close to home as HAF leaders have been invited speakers to events on the IISc campus in the past.

Though no responsibility for the attack has yet been claimed, local authorities and police suspect the attack could be the work of either the Pakistan-based outfits, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), or the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI).  All of these groups have established ties with al-Qaeda and the Government of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

“Regardless of who the group behind this horrendous act of terrorism is, the tragedy seems to indicate that the attacker subscribes to a fanatic ideology that has little regard for scholarship, human life or basic morality,” said Pawan Deshpande, member of the Hindu American Foundation Executive Council.  “We hope that all parties involved will be brought to justice.”

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Hindu Americans Laud USCIRF for Support of Afghan Hindu Refugees

Date: January 2, 2006

TAMPA, Fl - The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) lauded the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last week for bringing attention to the plight of Afghan Hindu refugees to be immediately and involuntarily deported from Germany to Afghanistan.  Similar deportations of Afghan Hindus were considered from the United States earlier this year where HAF provided legal support.  The deportations from Germany, however, involve potentially thousands of Hindus.

In its statement, the USCIRF took the step of urging the U.S. Refugee Program to prepare for the resettlement of Afghan Hindus in the United States "in the event that the German government moves ahead with involuntary deportation…." The Commission further stated, "The Afghan Hindu population was one of the most severely persecuted groups under the Taliban, and nearly all members of the community fled the country. Because the government in Kabul does not exercise full control over the country, and religious freedom and human rights abuses continue in regions outside of the central government’s control, the Commission is concerned that these individuals will be subject to persecution if forced to return to Afghanistan. A Hindu aid worker from India, Maniyappan Raman Kutty, was recently brutally beheaded".

HAF leaders have established an ongoing dialogue with USCIRF analysts and expressed appreciation to the USCIRF for highlighting the issue and for recommending concrete steps in the event that Germany proceeds with threatened deportations.  HAF is hopeful that the United States State Department will follow-up its own Commission’s recommendations through established diplomatic channels. 

“Afghan Hindus emigrated to Germany for no other reason than that country’s strong record of human rights protections and the horrendous and well-documented atrocities they faced in their homeland only because they were Hindus,” said Ramesh Rao, Ph.D., member of the HAF Executive Council and co-author of HAF’s annual Hindu Human Rights Report.  “It is HAF’s hope that the Afghan Hindus will be allowed to stay in Germany until Afghanistan proves to be a secular and safe homeland for non-Muslim minorities. If Germany seeks to shut its eyes to the prevailing conditions for minorities in Afghanistan, highlighted by the recent brutal murder of Mr. Kutty, we fully endorse USCIRF’s humanitarian solution to the problem.”

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