HASC applauds DOJ efforts to track anti-Hindu hate crimes & urges FBI to implement it

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