Inside This Newsletter

JUDGE 'TROUBLED' BY CALIFORNIA BOARD OF EDUCATION'S TEXTBOOK ADOPTION PROCESS

HAF REACTS TO FALSE MEDIA REPORTS AFTER COURT HEARING

AMERICAN HINDUS APPLAUD DECISION OF DALITS IN INDIA TO BUILD OWN TEMPLE

MINNEAPOLIS TEMPLE ATTACK LEAVES HINDU COMMUNITY IN SHOCK

HAF APPLAUDS U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT'S COMPREHENSIVE 2005 REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES
 

CONTRIBUTE TO THE HAF LEGAL DEFENSE FUND AND EDUCATION DRIVE DONATE NOW!

Judge "Troubled" By California Board of Education's Textbook Adoption Process

SACRAMENTO, Ca (April 24, 2006) – A motion for preliminary injunction filed by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) against the California State Board of Education (SBE) to stop the printing and distribution of several textbooks containing distortions and an unbalanced presentation of Hinduism was heard on April 21, 2006 in California Superior Court.

In his ruling, Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette stated that he was “troubled” by process followed by the SBE in adopting sixth grade social studies textbooks.

Judge Marlette requested that the Hindu groups and the SBE confer to, among other things, provide a schedule to resolve this case before the textbooks in question are distributed this fall. For that reason, Judge Marlette denied the injunction in favor of a schedule that will bring this case to a resolution before the school year.

“We are pleased that Judge Marlette agrees that the procedure followed thus far by the SBE in relation to Hindus is problematic,” said Suhag Shukla, Esq., legal counsel of HAF. “We are disappointed that the preliminary injunction was denied, but remain confident that we will prevail in our goal of providing California schoolchildren a fair and balanced depiction of Hinduism and intend to continue with the legal process to its completion.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
Support HAF - Click here to become a member

HAF Reacts to False Media Reports After Court Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) reacted quickly today to errors in media coverage of a hearing for a preliminary injunction filed by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) against the California State Board of Education (SBE) in Superior Court on April 21. The injunction sought to stop the printing of textbooks containing inaccuracies and an unbalanced presentation of Hinduism. In denying the injunction, presiding Judge Patrick Marlette did not pre-judge the merits of the case, indicated that he was “troubled” by the SBE process in approving the contentious textbooks, and encouraged the parties to discuss resolution of the case before the start of the school year.

No journalists were present at the hearing, and according to HAF, several media reports relied on the motivated and biased interpretations of an amateur writer who gained recent notoriety for his anti-Hindu blog. This individual, with no previous experience reporting on legal proceedings, detailed that he attended the hearing and did not rely on official transcripts in his widely circulated report.

“While HAF’s legal team would have preferred that the preliminary injunction had been granted, they were pleased that the judge suggested the process followed by the SBE to be problematic,” said Ishani Chowdhury, Executive Director of HAF. “It is sad that one individual’s musings that were patently false at best, and blatantly racist at worst, were accepted as truth by too many.”

Based on the writer’s account, that variously intimated gratuitous comments as to the race and ethnicity of HAF’s legal team and of those present in the courtroom, some media reports erroneously stated that a preliminary injunction hearing requires a "lower showing" on the merits. In fact, such a hearing requires the court to balance a number of factors, including any harm that could be caused by granting or denying an injunction. Here, presiding Judge Marlette twice indicated that he was "troubled" by the process used to approve these texts, but in denying the injunction request seemed concerned that even if the books were poorly written, "harm" wouldn't occur until the children actually had the books in hand -- something that is currently several months off.

Judge Marlette also appeared to be concerned that he could not evaluate how "bad" these texts were in the contexts of a preliminary hearing, as that decision would require a lengthy analysis of the texts, comparison with the treatment of other religions and possibly expert testimony. Preliminary hearings are, by contrast, limited. The court rules impose limitations on both the length of the papers that can be submitted and the amount of time available for the hearing.

“Some accounts report that the judge rejected HAF's claims ‘on the merits,’ when the judge never decided such a thing,” said Suhag Shukla, Esq., legal counsel of HAF. “Clearly there is a fundamental lack of understanding as to the standard of proof required for preliminary injunctive relief. It’s difficult to obtain -- particularly against the government. More importantly, this particular denial has no bearing on the ultimate outcome of the case.”

HAF leaders reaffirmed their commitment to their legal action to ensure that California school textbooks accurately and equitably depict Hinduism.

“It is bewildering that these activists will oppose equal treatment of all religions in school textbooks, the lack of which is what led to the lawsuit,” said Chowdhury. “Hindus are merely seeking parity with other religions in sixth-grade textbooks, where social problems of other religions are not given the same prominence, even as the redeeming features of Hinduism are ignored.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
Support HAF - Click here to become a member

American Hindus Applaud Decision of Dalits in India to Build Own Temple

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca (April 14, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) today applauded the recent construction of a temple by members of the Scheduled Caste (Dalit) community in Chauriberhampur village in the state of Orissa, India. The Hadi community built the temple in response to the unjust denial of entry into the traditional village temple by Hindus of other castes.

Many Hadis make a living by scavenging, sweeping streets and removing waste. Despite their depressed economic circumstances, the Hadi community was able to raise over Rs. 200,000 (US$4,000) for the construction of a temple dedicated to Goddess Maa Mangala.

“Hindu religious leaders, who have largely focused on individual spiritual counsel, must also engage in social activism and speak out against such atrocities,” said Pawan Deshpande, Member of the Hindu American Foundation Executive Council. “The Hadis have demonstrated their pride and faith in the Hindu religion. In the past, such indignities have undoubtedly contributed to communities converting out of the Hindu fold.”

HAF calls for all Hindus in India, especially the leaders of Hindu religious, social and political organizations, to articulate and forcefully implement reforms against casteism. HAF believes that while the government has the immediate responsibility of upholding the law, religious organizations are uniquely positioned to enable a long-term social change.

“The ancient Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures of Hinduism are unambiguous in their declaration that Divinity is inherent in all beings and that the goal of religion is to help manifest that Divinity”, said Swaminathan Venkataraman, Member of the Hindu American Foundation Executive Council. “While economic changes have already diminished casteist distinctions in many parts of India, it is also imperative that all Hindus, regardless of caste or social class, enjoy equal spiritual and religious rights.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
Support HAF - Click here to become a member

Minneapolis Temple Attack Leaves Hindu Community in Shock

MINNEAPOLIS, Mn (April 12, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation joined several Minnesota Hindus last week voicing outrage over the April 5, 2006 attack on the soon to be inaugurated Hindu temple in suburban Minneapolis. The temple, being completed in Maple Grove, Minnesota, planned and executed by the Hindu Society of Minneapolis, was to join other temples in the area for Hindu Americans to congregate and worship. Vandals desecrated and destroyed the Hindu Deities that were ready to be consecrated at the temple.

The attack also left the auditorium and dining hall walls and ceilings damaged. Classroom windows were broken. Members of the tight-knit community who were preparing for the opening of the 40-acre, $9 million temple, expressed shock and dismay at community meetings held on April 8 and April 12.

Aseem Shukla, M.D., Member of the HAF Board of Directors, was present in Minneapolis for the April 8 temple meeting and joined the trustees and leadership of the Hindu society in condemning the act as a hate crime and urged local police authorities and the FBI to launch a thorough investigation and to apprehend the criminals quickly. Soon after the meeting, Dr. Shukla and the HAF executive director appealed to state legislators and members of the U.S. Congress representing the area to urge authorities for a careful and quick investigation into this crime.

"The people of our community condemn the outrageous vandalism done to the Hindu Society of Minnesota's new temple under construction in Maple Grove," said Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) representing Maple Grove in the U.S. House of Representatives, one of the first government officials to support HAF's condemnation of the attack. "I trust Minnesotans to treat people of all religious faiths with respect and tolerance. I also trust that the perpetrators of these criminal acts will be brought to justice soon."

Minnesota State Senator Satveer Chaudhary (DFL-Fridley) released a statement on April 7 that categorically called for an investigation as a potential hate crime. “This was a crime against an obviously minority institution, and there is no way the perpetrators did not know that," he said. "Also, the focus of the destruction on Hindu sculptures was particularly heinous. Icons were intentionally decapitated and dismembered."

The Maple Grove temple is a classical Hindu structure with hand-carved Deities from India placed in sacred spaces in the temple. The images of Deities are carefully sculpted according to strict, ancient religious texts and traditions. Even minimal damage to the Deities precludes consecration and worship. Sculpting of new images of the Deities will take several months and thousands of dollars.

While Maple Grove authorities have been conducting a search for the arrest of the perpetrators, they have yet to find any leads or name any suspects.

"The fact that the Deities were destroyed indicates that the vandals were trying to specifically hurt the worshippers’ sentiments," said Ishani Chowdhury, Executive Director of the Hindu American Foundation. "It is our hope that the Maple Grove community will stand firm and committed to completing the temple and making it a place of worship and community spirit”, Chowdhury said and called upon community leaders and elected officials to reassure the Hindu American community that xenophobia and such acts of hatred will not be tolerated. She called on the greater American Hindu community and well wishers to lend support to the Minnesota Hindu community during this time of crisis.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
Support HAF - Click here to become a member

HAF Applauds U.S. State Department's Comprehensive 2005 Report on Human Rights Practices

TAMPA, Fl (April 10, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) applauded the U.S. State Government for comprehensively documenting the condition of human rights in the 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (CRHRP) which was released on March 8, 2006. Deeply concerned with the status of Hindus around the world, HAF highlighted some of the findings by the State Department of conditions affecting the Hindu Diaspora.

In July of 2005, HAF released its first annual human rights report entitled “Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir: A Survey of Human Rights 2004” documenting human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus in South Asia. The second annual report will be released by HAF later this year.

HAF once again noted with concern the condition of Hindus in Afghanistan. As reported in the State Department report, “human rights record remained poor due to weak central institutions, a deadly insurgency, and the country’s ongoing recovery from two decades of war” in Afghanistan. Many regions in Afghanistan, outside of Kabul, the capital, continue to be under the control of regional commanders, who do not subscribe to the laws of the land.

Deeply troubling is the fact that Afghan law proclaims Islam as the “religion of the state,” declaring that no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of Islam. The government “required” all citizens to profess a religious affiliation thereby forcing self-identification which in times of crises could be effectively used to cleanse Afghanistan of “non-Muslims”. Disturbing too is the fact that public school curricula included religious subjects. This leads to the official and formal indoctrination of Islam in school children. Religious leaders conducted detailed religious study in schools. While non-Muslims are not required to study Islam, HAF believes there is very little are few alternative options for non-Muslim children attending public schools to escape the forced learning of Islam. The State Department report notes that non-Muslim children faced discrimination in schools, and that there were numerous instances of Sikh and Hindu students stop attending schools due to harassment from both teachers and students.

Though HAF has expressed concern in the past regarding concerted proselytization campaigns by Christian missionaries, the organization felt that the Afghan law which makes conversion from Islam punishable by death, blatantly violated an individual’s freedom of belief.

HAF expressed deep concern for the fate of Sikhs and Hindus returning to Afghanistan after years of exile. They faced difficulties in obtaining housing and land in Kabul and other provinces, according to the CRHRP, and also encountered various other acts of discrimination. The government had to provide Sikhs and Hindus land on which to cremate their dead because such land that had once belonged to them had been usurped or destroyed in the past by Muslims.

With regard to Bangladesh, the CRHRP states, “The government's human rights record remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous serious abuses.” It also states that “The law establishes Islam as the state religion.” HAF disagreed with the report’s assertion that “the government is secular”, and instead agreed that “religion exert(s) a powerful influence on politics”. HAF also noted with dismay the report’s conclusion that, “Discrimination against members of religious minorities existed at both the governmental and societal level, and religious minorities were disadvantaged in practice in such areas as access to government jobs, political office, and access to justice.” What the CRHRP fails to note explicitly is that Hindus, as the largest minority (nine percent of the total population) faced the worst discrimination in Bangladesh. HAF’s forthcoming Hindu human rights report compiled at least 480 cases of murder, rape, kidnapping, attacks on temples, and confiscation of land and property of Hindus between December 2004 and November 2005 in Bangladesh.

Hindus continued to suffer and be discriminated against, officially and otherwise. Despite promises, the government did not take any measures to implement the 2001 Vested Property (Return) Act. The reversal of the hateful Vested Property Act, under which Hindus had their property seized by the government after the 1965 India-Pakistan war, would signify significant steps towards pluralism in Bangladesh. The inability of Hindus to reclaim their entitled property due to the failure of the government to publish a list of vested property, has only caused us to conclude that Hindus are officially discriminated in Bangladesh.

With reference to Pakistan, the CRHRP states, “The government's human rights record was poor, and serious problems remained.” As the state religion is Islam, the government officially limits freedom of religion, “and the constitution requires that laws be consistent with Islam”. The CRHRP notes that all “citizens were subject to certain provisions of Shari’a, such as the blasphemy laws. Reprisals and threats of reprisals against suspected converts from Islam occurred. Members of religious minorities were subject to violence and harassment, and police at times refused to prevent such actions or charge persons who committed them.”

The president and the prime minister of Pakistan must be Muslim, and all elected members, including non-Muslims, must take an oath to “strive to preserve the Islamic ideology, which is the basis for the creation of Pakistan,” thus marginalizing and effectively hindering Hindus from freely practicing and professing their religious beliefs. The report notes that, “The Hindu community faced harassment and demands for bribes from security forces, particularly during tense periods in the relationship between Pakistan and India.” The CRHRP fails to note that the Hindu population in Pakistan has been reduced from about 15-24 percent in 1947 to less than two percent now. It also fails to note that Hindu girls are routinely kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam. HAF has highlighted one such egregious case of conversion, of three Hindu girls, in a press release in December 2005.

In Bhutan, the CRHRP notes that while the law provides for freedom of religion, the government restricted this right in practice, as Buddhism was the state religion. It notes that one major Hindu festival was declared a national holiday, but that there was only one Hindu temple in Thimphu, and the government did not grant permission to build Hindu temples, with the last reported Hindu temple constructed in the early 1990s.

There is a large Hindu minority in the Republic of Fiji. The CRHRP notes that while the government “generally respected the human rights of its citizens”, “deep divisions between indigenous Fijians (54 percent of the population) and Indo-Fijians (38 percent) continued to influence all aspects of the nation's politics”. The report notes that “racial polarization was reflected in religious differences, which were largely along ethnic lines”. While most ethnic Fijians are Christians, most Indo Fijians are Hindu, and that “break-ins, vandalism, attempted arson, and thefts directed at houses of worship, predominantly Hindu temples, continued to increase”.

Ramesh Rao, Executive Council Member of HAF, said that the State Department’s annual reports are a useful resource for all those concerned with human rights and religious freedom. “HAF looks forward to the annual reports as they supplement our own annual Hindu human rights reports”, he said.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
Support HAF - Click here to become a member