Inside This Newsletter

GERMAN DEPORTATION ORDER ON AFGHAN REFUGEES UNCONSCIONABLE

RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF VICE AND VIRTUE DEPARTMENT POSES RISK TO AFGHAN HINDUS

HAF CONGRATULATES AMERICAN DEVOTEE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLE IN ORISSA

HAF REACTS TO TERRORIST ATTACKS ON MUMBAI TRAINS

HAF COMMENTS ON HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT REPORT
 

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German Deportation Order on Afghan Refugees Unconscionable

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 18, 2006) – In a June 28, 2006 memo sent by Senator for Internal Affairs, Mr. Udo Nagel, in Hamburg, Germany, it is noted that Hamburg will immediately begin to offer voluntary return to Afghan refugee families obligated to leave Germany, and if the refugees decline the offer, Hamburg would deport the refugees against their will. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) demanded the immediate rescission of this order.

"This cold-hearted government order ignores the prevailing conditions in Afghanistan, which seems to be fast returning to a state of lawlessness and violence. The German threat to deport Afghan refugees comes despite the U.S. State Department’s advice to German authorities to reconsider the fate of the refugees", said Ramesh Rao, Member, Executive Council, Hindu American Foundation.

Among the many Afghan refugees are Hindu-Afghan refugees who will face even more dire conditions if they return voluntarily to Afghanistan or are deported to Afghanistan. In a recently released report on Hindu human rights, "Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights (2005)", HAF stated that many Hindus currently do not send their children to school in Afghanistan fearing persecution and ridicule. Hindu temples and Hindu crematory grounds have been occupied by Muslims, and the Afghanistan Government under President Hamid Karzai is seeking to re-open the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a Taliban era office that meted out medieval forms of harsh punishment for acts considered offensive according to Sharia law.

"The U.S. State Department should immediately oppose the proposed German measures and encourage a more humanitarian policy for a people that have suffered too much already," said Ramesh Rao.

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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Re-establishment of Vice and Virtue Department Poses Risk to Afghan Hindus

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 18, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) expressed deep concern over a proposal by the Afghan government to reestablish the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The proposal was passed by the cabinet of President Hamid Karzai and will soon be considered by the Afghan Parliament.

Under Taliban rule, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice gained notoriety for its stern and often brutal enforcement of the ultra-conservative Islamic Sharia law. Men were beaten for trimming their beards, and women were publicly punished for wearing partially transparent socks, exposing their wrists, hands, or ankles, and when not accompanied in public by a close male relative.

Most alarmingly for Hindus, the same Ministry, under the Taliban, required Hindus to wear specific identification tags and prohibited the building and maintenance of Hindu temples. Hindu women were also forced to wear conservative Islamic garb covering themselves completely.

In a recently released report on Hindu human rights, “Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights (2005)”, HAF stated that many Hindus currently do not send their children to school fearing persecution and ridicule. Human Rights Watch warned that the re-establishment of the Vice and Virtue department may further limit access to educational institutions for vulnerable groups, especially women.

“Hindus in Afghanistan are already facing discrimination at many levels,” said Pawan Deshpande, member of the HAF Executive Council. “Rather than focusing on building a more open society, the proposed moral policing can only make the current situation even worse.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF Congratulates American Devotee for Construction of Temple in Orissa

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca (July 14, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) applauds the twelve year effort of American Julian Parker to have a temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath constructed at Kuansh village in Orissa, India.

The thirty-year-old Julian Parker, who has been a devotee of Lord Jagannath since childhood, came to India in 1993 to further his religious pursuits. Unfortunately, the Jagannath temple in the city of Puri, Orissa does not allow foreigners to enter, even if they are devotees of Lord Jagannath.

Therefore, Parker took it upon himself to build a temple devoted to Lord Jagannath which would be open to all. After over a decade of persistence, the 35-foot tall temple was finally inaugurated last month. The $56,000 required to build the temple was raised through donations, with Parker contributing half the cost himself.

"There are so many Jagannath bhakts (devotees) across the world. When they are not allowed inside the temple, they feel bad like I did. So I have built this temple," Parker told CNN-IBN news.

His plans do not stop with just building this temple. Next year, Parker plans to complete the traditional Rath Yatra, a festival when the murti of Lord Jagannath is taken out of the temple and paraded through the streets of Puri. He plans on building even larger temples if the just completed proves to be popular.

Several temples in the state of Orissa continue to have discriminatory practices. In November, HAF protested the denial of entry to another American-born Hindu into another temple in the city of Bhubaneswar. HAF also earlier condemned multiple incidents where Harijan devotees were barred from entering temples in other villages in the same state. In one case, the Scheduled Caste Hadi community took a similar approach to Parker and built their own temple in response to the unjust treatment meted out by temple authorities.

“Discrimination has no place in Hinduism, especially in a place of worship,” said Jay Patel, Member of the Hindu American Foundation Executive Council. “We support the creative efforts of Mr. Parker to make Hindu religious places free of discrimination against any devotee based on ethnicity, color or caste.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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HAF Reacts to Terrorist Attacks on Mumbai Trains

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) expressed horror and outrage over coordinated terrorist attacks on commuter trains in Mumbai, India early today. Synchronized bombings on at least seven different suburban trains killed nearly 200 people and injured hundreds more. The attacks in Mumbai followed five bombings in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir earlier the same day that killed six others.

“Today, we join all Americans in condemning the murder of hundreds of innocent victims in Mumbai, and pray for a speedy recovery for the injured,” said Mihir Meghani, M.D., President of HAF. “The brutality of these terror attacks highlights the ruthless potential of foreign-based terror groups operating in India, and the harsh reality that India is a frontline nation in the international war against terror.”

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Al-Qaeda affiliates operating from Pakistan, including the notorious Lashkar-e-Toiba, are widely implicated in today’s blasts due to their extensive coordination in Mumbai and Kashmir. These latest strikes follow the pattern of other recent attacks, including those on major Hindu temples.

The network of Al-Qaeda surrogates working with Pakistani support is documented extensively in the second annual Hindu human rights report released by HAF on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago.¹ The report documents several attacks in 2005 on both Indian Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir carried out by the Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Islamist groups. The Lashkar is considered a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department.

“It appears that the people of India may be once again facing the grim specter of Islamist terror that they have come to know too well,” said Aseem Shukla, M.D., member of the HAF board of directors. “We urge the international community to stand with India in outrage, solidarity and a collective determination to eradicate this global evil.”

¹http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/reports.htm#hhr2005

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HAF Comments on Hate Crime Statistics Act Report

TAMPA, FL - The Hindu American Foundation represented Hindus as a part of a diverse coalition of civil rights, educational and religious submitting comments to the Department of Justice on its implementation of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA). Enacted by Congress in 1990, the HCSA requires the Justice Department to acquire data on crimes which "manifest prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" (coverage was expanded to include disability in 1994) from law enforcement agencies across the country and to publish an annual report of its the findings. 

On April 21, 2006, the Department of Justice requested feedback from the public on existing Hate Crime Incident Report and Quarterly Hate Crime Report forms that are used in the implementation of the Act.  In a letter to Gregory E. Scarbro, Unit Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the HAF joined groups such as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, Interfaith Alliance, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in commending the FBI in its implementation of the HSCA thus far and providing suggestions for improving the data collection process.

Among the specific recommendations made for improving the annual report was to provide additional specificity in the Bias Motivation section, under Ethnicity/National Origin. The current form provides a box only for “Anti-Hispanic” and “Anti-Other Ethnicity.”

Because the FBI report, Hate Crime Statistics 2001, documented that the number of hate crimes directed at individuals on the basis of their national origin/ethnicity doubled ­­-- from 911 in 2000 to 2,098 in 2001, the coalition recommended that the FBI include at a minimum, the “Anti-Other Ethnicity/National Origin” line to include a line that specifies “Anti-Arab,” the “Religion” section to include a line for “Anti-Sikh” and “Anti-Hindu,” and the “Sexual Orientation” section to include “Anti-Transgender,” as examples of such crimes.  The specific language regarding anti- Hindu crimes was included upon the recommendation of the HAF, which provided evidence of hate crimes affecting this particular community over the past year.   

“As we grow more diverse as a nation, the issue of race relations and hate crimes can no longer be discussed in terms of black and white,” said Suhag Shuka, Esq., counsel for HAF.  “Detailed reporting of hate crimes affecting specific ethnic and faith communities will allow local law enforcement to recognize and distinguish far more easily an ordinary crime from one that has been motivated by hate.”

For further information: Please contact HAF.
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