Inside This Newsletter

FULL-TIME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ASSUMES NEW ROLE AT HAF

HAF, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE CONDEMN REFERENCES TO HINDUS AND JEWS IN PAKISTAN MILITARY PAMPHLET

HAF SIGNS INTERFAITH STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

HAF ADDRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE ON BANGLADESH MINORITIES

REPORTS SECTION, XML FEEDS ADDED TO HAF WEBSITE
 

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Full-time Executive Director Assumes New Role at HAF

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 6, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) Board of Directors retained Ms. Ishani Chowdhury of Washington D.C. as its first full-time Executive Director last week. Leaving her previous employment as a Lead Project Manager at a Washington, D.C. based software firm, Chowdhury takes over most major administrative, public relations and fundraising coordination tasks at HAF. In addition, she will utilize management experience to shepherd various ongoing long-term projects at HAF.

"HAF has fulfilled one of its long-term goals—to bring on a talented, articulate and creative individual—who has the potential to take HAF into the top tier of human rights and faith-based organizations," said Mihir Meghani, M.D., President of HAF and member of the HAF Board. "HAF has taken its first steps towards establishing a permanent presence in this nation’s capital with an executive director devoted to HAF’s goal of putting forth a professional and credible voice for Hindu Americans."

HAF Executive Director, Ishani Chowdhury

Beyond supervising various ongoing human rights projects, media outreach efforts and database management Chowdhury’s tasks will include bringing a consistent Hindu American voice to Capitol Hill, the White House and non-governmental organizations in Washington, D.C. She will attend relevant hearings on the Hill, interact with congressional offices and oversee communications with such groups as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Plans are on to open the first full-time office dedicated to Hindu American affairs in Washington, D.C. later this year.

"I had come to admire HAF’s rapid rise on the political and educational scene in a span of just three years, and was searching for ways to contribute to the foundation," said Chowdhury. "This opportunity will allow me to bring the skills I acquired as a programmer, analyst and project manager—and my passion for this cause and movement—to HAF."

Chowdhury received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Baruch College in New York City and will earn an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland in the fall of this year. Chowdhury has written and spoken extensively on issues relevant to Hindu Americans and human rights atrocities against Bangladeshi Hindus. She has written frequently for Hinduism Today and served as a Hinduism school teacher at the Sri Beenapani Vedic School in Brooklyn, New York.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF, AJC Condemn References to Hindus and Jews in Pakistan Military Pamphlet

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca (April 3, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) today condemned the references to Hindus and Jews in a pamphlet airdropped by the Pakistani military. The Reuters news agency reported that the pamphlets, which were airdropped over tribal regions near the Afghan border, warned tribesmen that “foreign terrorists” operating in the region were part of a Hindu and Jewish plot and therefore were posing threats to Pakistan's integrity and tribal society.

The Urdu and Pashto language pamphlets, titled “Warning” and signed “Well Wishers, Pakistan's Armed Forces”, were dropped over major towns in the Waziristan province as part of a campaign to flush out Taliban and al Qaeda militants living among the tribesmen. The Reuters report said that although military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said he could not confirm that pamphlets were sponsored by the Pakistani military, local residents said that they saw military aircraft scattering the pamphlets over their neighborhoods.

“Although we support the objective of drawing the local populace away from supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, we are concerned about the outright falsehood contained in the pamphlet, which suggests that foreign militants in the region were fighting in connivance with Jews and Hindus”, said Ernest H. Weiner, Executive Director of the Northern California Region of the American Jewish Committee. “With local events having a global impact as illustrated by the controversy over the Danish cartoons, this could further inflame sentiments against Hindus and Jews, who already bear the brunt of substantial terrorist violence in India and Israel”.

The pamphlets accusations are not entirely new. In March 2004, a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Toiba, one of the Pakistan-based terror groups operating in Kashmir was quoted in Greater Kashmir newspaper saying, “…..Yahud (Jews) and Hanood (Hindus) are two sides of the same coin.”

“Not only do such pamphlets promote hate on Hindus and Jews, who have nothing to do with the extremism in Pakistan, it also calls into question Pakistan’s commitment to the ongoing two-year peace process with India and recent diplomatic initiatives with Israel”, said Swaminathan Venkataraman, Executive Council Member of the Hindu American Foundation. “The reference to Jews and Hindus is all the more disturbing since Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf is also the chief of Pakistan’s armed forces.”

HAF and AJC call upon the Pakistani military to withdraw the pamphlets and publicly dissociate itself from its contents. President Musharraf’s promise to modernize his nation cannot be fulfilled until he flushes out the Taliban and al Qaeda militants and deals with the anti-Semitism and Hinduphobia which one finds in segments of Pakistani society.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF Signs Interfaith Statement on Immigration Reform

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (March 24, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation today joined numerous faith-based groups in urging President George W. Bush and elected leaders in Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation that establishes a safe and humane immigration system consistent with American values as well as the values espoused by all the diverse faith traditions practiced in the Unites States.

The statement, which quoted from Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim scriptures to highlight how all faiths regard charity and kindness to strangers as among the highest virtues, has been signed by over fifty national and over one hundred local faith-based organizations, along with a number of prominent individual leaders.

“There is a need for a fair and equitable immigration legislation that respects the God-given dignity of every individual and his family while also protecting America’s economic and national security interests”, said Swaminathan Venkataraman, member of Hindu American Foundation’s Executive Council. “Hindus are one of the most highly educated and prosperous immigrant communities in the US and we desire that the enormous opportunities that this nation affords should remain open to immigrants in future”, he said.

The statement calls for legislation that supports regularization of existing workers upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria, reduced waiting times for reunification of separated families, legal avenues for workers and their families who wish to migrate to the U.S. and border protection policies that treat all individuals with respect while also allowing authorities to prevent entry of terrorists and dangerous criminals. Click here for the full text of the statement.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF Addresses Human Rights Conference on Bangladesh Minorities

NEW YORK, NY (Mar. 18, 2006) - A member of the Hindu American Foundation’s (HAF) Executive Council addressed the "Sixth International Conference on Religious & Ethnic Cleansing and Terrorism in Bangladesh: The Role of Govt. and Civil Society," a conference organized by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist & Christian Unity Council (BHBUC) USA on February 26, 2006, in New York.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL, was the keynote speaker. Other notable speakers included Subrata Choudhury of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association; Saleem Samad, journalist and former Bangladesh Bureau chief of TIME-ASIA Magazine; and Dr. Sachi Dastidar, former chair, Department of Politics, Economics and Society, State University of New York.

From Left to Right: Dr. Jiten Roy (BHBCUC); Dr. Dwijen Bhattacharjya (Spokesperson (BHBCUC); Mr. Swaminathan Venkataraman (HAF; Mr. Bidyut Sarkar (BHBCUC); Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Mr. Saleem Samad, formerly with TIME-ASIA (living in exile); Captain Sachin Karmakar (living in exile); and Mr. Shontosh Shaha (BHBUC)

"The failure of the Bangladesh Government to end the atrocities on minorities and the dangers to the region as well as the world from rising Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh are a cause for concern," cautioned Swaminathan Venkataraman, one of HAF’s Executive Council members, in his address to the conference. "It is high time that the moral weight of the US Congress is brought to bear upon this issue," he said. Discussing the Congressional Research Service’s report on Bangladesh, Ros-Lehtinen spoke at length about the human rights violations and ethnic cleansing that has been visited upon the minorities of Bangladesh. "Hindus have a history of being peaceful, pluralistic and understanding of other faiths and peoples, yet minority Hindus have endured decades of pain and suffering without the attention of the world", she said.

In October 2005, HAF submitted a draft resolution that would call attention to the significant human rights violations occurring against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, among other regions, to Ros-Lehtinen. Venkataraman urged her to finalize a resolution for submission to the US Congress and called for a statement of strong condemnation of the atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir and elsewhere, to be released onto the House floor.

Venkataraman thanked Ros-Lehtinen for endorsing HAF’s first annual report on the status of Hindu human rights in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir released in July 2005. Entitled "Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir: A survey of Human Rights 2004", the report compiles media coverage and first-hand accounts of human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus because of their religious identity. The full text of the first annual HAF Hindu human rights report is available at http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/HHR2004.pdf

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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Reports Section, XML Feeds Added to HAF Website

TAMPA, Fl (Mar. 9, 2006) – The website of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) now has a new reports section that lists major reports issued by the non-profit organization to date. On the page, visitors can view the cover, read a brief summary and download an electronic of each report.

To date, HAF has released two major reports. In July of 2005, HAF released the first annual survey on the status of Hindu human rights in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The report, entitled “Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir: A Survey of Human Rights 2004”, compiles media coverage and first-hand accounts of human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus because of their religious identity. In September of 2005, HAF published a guide intended to assist Hindu religious organizations in participating in the federal Faith-based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) program. Entitled “Faith-based and Community Initiatives in the United States: A Guide for Hindu Organizations”, the report is aimed at offering a single point of reference to an otherwise complex FBCI program and specifically informing Hindu Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) of the steps required to prepare for the grant process, identify funding sources, write grant proposals and comply with post application rules and regulations. Both reports can be accessed on the "Reports" section of the HAF website.

In addition, XML feeds were added to the website. Now visitors with news readers can easily syndicate the latest HAF press releases and news. The feed is accessible by visiting the website and clicking on the orange XML button located on the lower left corner of any page.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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