Congressman calls for action against rising hate crimes against Hindus in US

NEW DELHI: Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar on Monday raised the issue of continuous attacks against Hindu temples across the United States and the growing fear of hate crimes among the community while interacting with members of the Hindu community.
During his interaction with the community, the Congressman accused local law enforcement of not taking sufficient action to investigate the recent attacks.
“We’ve seen a lot of attacks happening on Hindu temples across the United States, and we’ve seen a lot more in more recent times. And it’s time for us to seek support. There’s fear,” Thanedar said.
“Many Hindu communities are under fear. And what we’ve seen is that local law enforcement hasn’t taken enough action. We have not seen any suspects, any arrests, or any resolution to these issues,” he added.
Congressman Thanedar further said, “That (attack incident) has created a lot of fear among the Indian American community, among the Hindu community, and a lot of misinformation has been spread. And so the purpose of this resolution is to bring that to the attention of Congress and to the Biden administration.”
Another Indian-American, Vijay Sadhawal, who was present at the event, expressed his concern over the ‘bias of the American media’ towards American Hindus and said that the resolution is just the starting point to raising the voice of the Hindu community.
“We have enough Hindu Americans in the country that can actually be a steering rod, so to speak, for protecting our minority rights in this country. And yet we see that the instruments of democracy, like the media, civil society, and NGOs, seem to be biased against the Hindu population of the United States,” he said.
Notably, Thanedar also drew similarity between the recent attacks on Hindu temples in US with the attacks on Kashmiri Pandits after the 1990s during the interaction and said that he “sees a tremendous similarity that serves the institutions.”
“The striking similarity is that if I take you back to Kashmir, which is a Hindu minority region in another democracy, and I look back at the events that took place in late last century, especially after the 1980s and beyond, I see a tremendous similarity that serves the institutions that in the democracy are intended to protect you,” he said.
Earlier, Congressman Thanedar introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning Hinduphobia, anti-Hindu bigotry, hate, and intolerance which has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The resolution that Congressman Shri Thanedar introduced earlier last week reads that Hindu Americans face stereotypes and disinformation about their heritage and symbols, and have been the targets of bullying in schools and on college campuses, as well as discrimination and hate speech.
Congressman Thanedar also said that he expects bipartisan support in Congress as it reflects American values, adding that he will continue to fight against racism.