HASC applauds DOJ efforts to track anti-Hindu
hate crimes and urges FBI to implement it
- Community recommendations slowly coming to
fruition –
Washington, D.C. December 13, 2012: HASC
applauds the DOJ directing FBI to include the "Hindu" category in
tracking hate crimes and urges the FBI to expand the South Asian category and
to explicitly track crimes against Hindus and Hindu and Sikhs and against all
Dharmic (Eastern Traditions) places of worship. We have also asked DOJ and FBI to change
their website to identify Hindu and Sikh as a separate category as the South
Asian category does not reflect targeted faith crimes.
Anju Bhargava observed:
"Serving on President's Advisory Council, I was part of a
sub-committee making recommendations to enhance Inter-religious
Collaboration and bring forward the concerns of our community in the Council's
report “New Era of Partnerships: Advisory Council on Faith-based
and Neighborhood Partnerships Final Report of Recommendations . We brought these issues to the highest level and
recommended that Department of Justice and Homeland Security to
reach out to the Dharmic American community to understand their needs in
addition to responding to the needs of the Muslim community following 9/11 tragedy. See pages 81-86, specifically recommendation 7.
Subsequently I
recommended DHS and DOJ create a separate category to track crimes against the
Hindu and Dharmic community and expand the South Asian category. HASC
appreciates the effort of data collection advocated by other organizations,
especially SAALT. And now I am also coordinating with the US
Department of Homeland Security. In this capacity I have further urged DHS and
DOJ to collect relevant data for our community and increase education of the
Dharmic faiths. This
recommendation has also been supported by other organizations, especially Hindu American Foundation as well. Today, HASC is working with our Dharmic
faith communities at the grass roots level to implement these recommendations
such as by organizing training programs with DHS for our Dharmic community,
especially in light of the Oak Creek Gurudwara shootings. "
We are delighted that the
communities' ongoing efforts are finally coming to fruition. The Hindu and
Dharmic community is becoming an integral part of the American landscape. HASC
aims to continue the community development and capacity building efforts for
the Hindu and Dharmic people and places of worship.
We are delighted that the communities's ongoing efforts are finally
coming to fruition.
Exceprt
from: “New Era of Partnerships: Advisory Council on Faith-based and
Neighborhood Partnerships Presents Final Report of Recommendations " - Recommendation 7 of Inter-religious Cooperation.
..... Some non-Muslim Americans, including Hindu, Jain, Sikh
and Buddhist Americans, also have experienced
civil rights violations in the wake
of the 9/11 attacks.24 After September 2001, the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of
Justice noted that Arab, Muslim, Sikh,and South-Asian Americans, as well
as people who were
perceived to
be members of those groups, had
been the victims of “increased
numbers of bias-related assaults, threats, vandalism and arson.” Accordingly, the Civil
Rights Division launched an initiative
“to work
proactively to
combat violations of civil rights laws” against
these Americans. Its initiative is
aimed at reducing the incidence of these bias-related assaults, threats, vandalism, and arson as well
as prioritizing cases involving discrimination against these Americans in employment,
housing, education, access to
public accommodations and facilities,
and other areas. After September
2001, the Civil Rights Division
of the Department of Justice noted
that Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South-Asian Americans, as well as people who were perceived to
be members of those groups, had been
the victims of “increased numbers of
bias-related assaults, threats, vandalism and arson.”25 Accordingly,
the Civil Rights Division
launched an initiative “to work proactively to combat violations of civil rights
laws”
against these Americans.26 Its initiative is aimed at reducing the incidence of these bias-related
assaults, threats, vandalism, and arson as well as prioritizing cases involving
discrimination against these
Americans in employment, housing, education, access to public accommodations and facilities, and other areas.
The Council recommends that the Department of Justice continue this emphasis and work with the Department of Homeland Security as well as faith-based and community groups to hold townhall meetings to discuss citizen concerns on civil liberties."
18 Pew Research Center
19 Id.
20 Id.
21 Gallup and the Muslim West Facts
Project, Muslim Americans: A National Portrait, March 2009.
22 Gallup and the Muslim West Facts
Project, Religious Perceptions in America: With an
In-Depth Analysis of American Attitudes Toward Muslims
and Islam, January 2010.
23 Id.
24 Khyati Joshi, The Racialization of Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism in the Unites States
