Hindu and Dharmic Americans Condemn the Shooting at Sikh Gurudwara

HASC urges Dharmic American houses of worship and community to build self-protection capacity

We at the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) are deeply saddened by the attack on the Sikh temple in Milwaukee on August 5, 2012 and the senseless death of six innocent devotees and wounding of the brave responding police officer who answered the call of duty.

We send our condolences to the families impacted, to the Sikh community of Milwaukee and to the Sikh community all over the country as they cope with such loss and tragedy.  We express our full support to the Sikh community, and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in this difficult time, to combat these acts of violence.  

HASC is concerned about ongoing domestic terrorism and hate crimes, especially as this shooting follows another recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.  We have seen many Dharmic people, particularly the Sikhs, impacted since 9/11; with Sikhs alone reporting over 700 hate crime incidents. There is no justification for these acts. This is especially so in a place of holy worship and amongst innocent and unarmed civilians.  

This tragedy highlights the importance of our community to train itself and build capacity to better protect itself. In the coming days, HASC will work with public officials to assist the Dharmic community and offer all possible assistance to the Sikh community.  HASC has been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security and the White House to assist in their outreach efforts to the community and places of worship and is expanding this effort in light of the recent tragedy.  In fact on August 15^th, New Jersey’s Department of Homeland Security will hold a Surveillance Detection and Suspicious Behavior Training.  This course will provide training on the knowledge and skills necessary to detect hostile surveillance conducted against critical infrastructure and identify suspicious behavior.  

HASC urges all Dharmic places of worship to hold prayer vigils and offer acts of Seva and solidarity for our Sikh brethren. In times of such tragedy we rise above about what differentiates us and bring to the forefront what unites us. Regardless of our faith, whether we identify as Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Jewish, in moments like this, it is our duty as human beings to come together and stand in unity.

Harsha Nahata, HASC’s Next Generation Seva Leader and a junior at University of Michigan eloquently expresses our sentiments "This past weekend, August 3^rd – 4^th, at the HASC conference co-hosted with the White House, we learned about the importance of interfaith work, and of increasing awareness especially of the Dharmic (Eastern) religions. We also learned the importance of using these connections to impact the communities around us by making social change. We heard from many inspirational speakers, one of whom was Valerie Kaur from Groundswell. Valerie traveled the country post 9/11 collecting stories from Sikh Americans around the country facing discrimination and hate violence. Her work is all the more necessary after today's events in Wisconsin…….I'm not Sikh. I grew up in a Jain household. But even so, for me the impact is no different than what it would be if it was a Jain temple that was targeted. It isn't a matter of faith, as we talked about at the HASC conference and at the White House Briefing; it is a matter of basic humanity. Of spreading love and compassion, not fear or hate. It's a matter of standing together with a community that has been and continues to be unfairly targeted. It's a matter of standing in unity with people who were innocent victims of circumstance and irrational malice.’

We at HASC express our deep sorrow and condemnation for the tragedy and stand with the Sikh community in this difficult time.

Hello America! The Hindus Are Here And We’d Like to Help You!

An overview of our upcoming White House conference, and what this work means to me (i.e. Saumya Arya Haas). Read the full article at Huffington Post.

Photo by flickr user dcJohn

“Through HASC's mission, I have found a way to make my Hinduness part of my American life, and to see that my religious heritage inspires innovative solutions for issues and challenges of the society I live in. I feel less isolated. I've realized that the light cast by Hindu-American lamps travels beyond our own small concerns and community, and that we are not adrift, but rather carried by currents of our own time and place, our own country.”

Deploring Anti-Hindu Remarks of Kentucky’s Gubernatorial candidate with Call to Action: Let us Build Bridges of Understanding in Kentucky and around the World

Hindu American Seva Charities urges Hindus and people of all faiths to come together and turn the narrative around and make it an opportunity for generating better understanding of our culture and heritage through seva, interfaith seva. Let us show Kentucky and the world what Hindu values are and bring the divine, godly qualities to the forefront. Let us honor all the teachers and educators with tilak- GuruSeva, honor the veterans/military and invite our neighbors to come to our homes and temples and learn about our faith, yoga, traditions, food, our very way of life. Let us keep the Diwali light of knowledge and goodness burning brightly. Let us shower the world with Hindu acts of kindness, at every occasion, every festival with UtsavSeva.

We, Hindus, are the people of illustrious heritage of yoga, Meditation, of highest concepts of spirituality, of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence, of Ayurveda (Holistic health concepts) and so much more. As documented in Phil Goldberg's American Veda, Hindu thought has contributed greatly to American spirituality. Today yoga is ubiquitous and accepted everywhere and it is as much a Hindu spiritual practice as putting a tilak for ground breaking ceremony. Its roots are undeniably in Vedic Hindu tradition. Let us take control of our own narrative and bring the positives to the forefront. We are proud to be Hindus. Let us work collaboratively with people of all faiths to serve all and solve the problems of the country.

Hindu America Seva Charities is appalled at the lack of acceptance and tolerance displayed by the Republican candidate, David Williams, when he criticized Governor Beshear for taking part in a Hindu groundbreaking ceremony of an India based company that is undertaking the construction of a $180 million manufacturing plant and promises 250 jobs in Kentucky. Williams, a state senator, criticized the Governor’s involvement in the ceremony as an act of “idol worshipping” which is against his faith.

It is deplorable that Hindus are seen by some fundamentalist leaders as "idol" worshipers, with a strong negative connotation. Therefore, it’s important to explain what is Murti puja, a core element of Hinduism. Hindus believe that God is transcendent (beyond every thing) as well as immanent (in every thing), ie: omni-present, every where, in everyone and everything, including all humans, animals, birds, trees, the oceans, and so forth. Murtis were created to help humans focus their minds on something tangible. The purpose of murti puja is to facilitate meditation and to promote harmony and brotherhood. It is impossible for humans to conceive of the transcendent God. Whatever human mind could imagine about God, would be deficient and flawed. Therefore, Hindu sages approved of images, expecting that it will help the common person to connect to God. Our scriptures say that Murti worship would be meaningless if the worshipper does not think of the transcendent God (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29).

The xenophobia that many Hindus have faced, and still face, is coming to the surface in political forums. Hindus must deal with it publicly and strengthen the Hindu American identity on many fronts - through education, through interfaith collaboration, and through seva (volunteer community service).

Seva is our community social responsibility which enables (and ennobles) our youth and adults to put their faith in action and be better understood - people to people. Hindu American Seva Charities is trying to do just that and help our youth not only feel comfortable in their faith skins, but be proud of their heritage. As one example: In Wichita, Kansas, after 9/11 some Hindu kids were abused and called Osama's kids. The Hindu temple is afraid to put a sign outside. Lately, on HASC's initiative, Rema Venkatsubban, working as AmeriCorps VISTA, engaged many youth and adults to build interfaith bridges on many fronts, feed the homeless, and bring the issues to the political decision makers to help diffuse the "otherness".

Let our call to action be for building communities, for becoming the problem solvers of critical problems facing our country and create more jobs like those in Elizabethtown. Let us turn the narrative to show the world the true Hindu spirit of ahimsa and seva!