No mention of Hindus in the US Proclamation on Religious Freedom 2024

Ms Rati Agnihotri is an independent journalist and writer currently based in Dehradun (Uttarakhand). She has extensive experience in broadcast journalism. She has worked across radio and digital media. She is regularly contributing news analysis videos to a nationalist news portal with a considerable YouTube presence.

Even as India has just witnessed the historic Shreeram Temple Pranaprathishtha ceremony in what can be regarded as the first example of the culmination of a peaceful socio-political and legal movement to reclaim a country’s cultural and civilizational space from the clutches of colonization, Hindus continue to be harassed and intimidated worldwide. Temple attacks in the west are on an alarming rise.

According to various media reports, 6 temples have been attacked in the US State of California over the past 2 weeks. According to a recent news report published by NDTV, Ritesh Tandon, the Democratic candidate running for elections to the US House to represent California’s 17th Congressional District called out Californian Senator Aisha Wahab, alleging inaction after the spate of temple attacks in California.

CA State Senator Ritesh Tandon has also posted on X in this regard – “In the last two weeks, six Indian temples have been vandalized, five of which are in Wahab’s District. There has been no response from Senator Aisha Wahab. Today, we held a protest rally in front of Senator Wahab’s office, seeking a meeting with her or her staff. Unfortunately, despite it being within office hours on a working day, the office was closed. This situation highlights the use of your tax dollars and suggests it might be time to consider a recall”.

Even as Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu hatred is on an alarming rise in the west including the US, the Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day 2024 recently issued by the White House conveniently omits any reference to Hindus or Hindu Dharma.

The US celebrates the National Religious Freedom Day on 16th January every year. It’s a day that commemorates the signing of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on 16th January 1761.

The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, a document written by Thomas Jefferson declared the right of everyone to practice the religion of their choice and the right to express their religious beliefs without the fear of discrimination or persecution. Since then, the US has adopted 16th January as the National Religious Freedom Day.

The Proclamation issued by the White House recently to commemorate the day mentions the persecution of Jews and Christians. It also mentions Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in clear terms. There is a passing mention to Sikhs as well. But shockingly enough, the document has no mention of Hindus or Hinduphobia. Hindus get casually clubbed together in the vague category ‘South Asian’ in the document.

What does the Proclamation say in one of its stanzas ?

“In 2022, I established a new inter-agency group to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination within the United States. Last May, my Administration released the first-ever United States National Strategy to counter Antisemitism, which outlines more than 100 new actions we are taking to raise awareness of Antisemitism, protect Jewish communities, counter Antisemitic discrimination, and build solidarity across diverse communities. We are also developing the first-ever United States National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination in the United States, which will address the scourge of hate against Muslims in America. The strategy will also address hate against Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities, among others. Meanwhile, we continue to work with all communities to identify, prevent, and disrupt threats”, says the Proclamation in one of its stanzas.

What about the hate crimes against the Hindus ?

Even as Hindus form a small but powerful and influential minority in the United States, it’s shocking that a Religious Freedom Proclamation issued by the US President doesn’t consider it necessary to talk about the hate crimes against the Hindus or even include a sentence about Hinduism.

Unless the US President has been living under a rock, the alarming rise of Hinduphobia in the west, the sharp increase in hate crimes against Hindu Americans as meticulously documented by various Hindi American organizations, the threats openly issued by Khalistani terrorists like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to Hindus, and the spate of Hindu temple attacks in the US, all these issues can’t go unnoticed.

The US Government even verbally condemns temple attacks in the US. But it still doesn’t deem Hindus worthy of inclusion in its official religious freedom proclamation. US citizen Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun openly issues threats to Hindus living in the west. Yet, the US Government seems more worried about his safety than the safety of the Hindu diaspora in the west he is casually threatening.

The Religious Freedom Proclamation mentions in detail the Hamas attack on Israel and the rising wave of Antisemitism in wake of that. It specifically points out the rising attacks on Christians in some countries. The proclamation also mentions Islamophobia in detail, and as indicated in the quoted lines above, the US President established an inter-agency group in 2022 to counter Islamophobia. Then, what makes the US President think that discrimination and hate crimes against Hindus and Hinduphobia are not worthy of inclusion in the religious freedom document ? Is it a symbolic message for the Hindus that their “native” and “polytheistic” religion is not worthy of similar attention as bestowed on monotheistic religions like Islam and Christianity ? Is it a message to Hindus that Hindu lives don’t matter ?

Is US really a custodian of human rights ?

The US portrays itself as a custodian of human rights and religious freedom worldwide. In the Religious Freedom Proclamation, it specifically mentions that as a world leader, the US is making constant efforts for making it possible for people worldwide to practice their faith without any fear.

Why then does the US not condemn genocide of Hindus in Islamic majority countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh ? The document pointedly talks about the increased attacks on Christians in ‘some countries’. When it claims to evaluate the religious freedom scenario of not just the US but the world, why does it fail to mention the issue of Islamic attacks on Hindus and the Khalistani threats to Hindus ?

The grassroots level Hindu advocacy organization Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) raises this issue in its post on X.

“The recent ‘Proclamation on Religious Freedom, 2024’ by President Biden lacks any mention of Hindus. This is a shocking omission of a minority faith that is facing increasing attacks in the US. … The Hindu American community is in shock and trauma at the open and repeated violation of their sacred places of worship. CoHNA is disappointed at how hate against Hinduism raises little to no concern among our lawmakers.

We request White House and @DHSgov to take immediate measures to recognize and address the growing Hinduphobia in the country”, says CoHNA.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) does constant propaganda against India by painting a false picture of minority oppression in India. The USCIRF recently expressed “extreme disappointment” on the US State Department’s supposed failure to designate India as a country of particular concern.

Commissions like the USCIRF that come under the US Government are at the forefront of peddling vicious anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda

Even as the US claims to officially condemn the rising Hindu temple attacks in the US, its actions tell a different story. Commissions like the USCIRF that come under the US Government are at the forefront of peddling vicious anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda. The Islamist-woke lobby of the US is in a hyperactive mode as bills are being introduced in different US States to target Hindu Americans in the name of caste.

The ostensible intent of such proposed legislation is to ban caste discrimination in the US, but the real intent, it seems, is to demonize Hindus and perpetuate systemic bias against Hindu Americans.

One such legislation was vetoed by the Californian Governor Gavin Newsom a couple of months back on the grounds that laws banning discrimination based on ancestry already existed in the US and they adequately covered caste-based discrimination, therefore framing a separate law regarding this was unnecessary.

The blatant omission of any reference to Hinduphobia or crimes against Hindus in the recently released US Religious Freedom Proclamation 2024 puts an official stamp on the complicit role of the US State in normalizing Hinduphobia in the west.

(Courtesy : hindupost.in/world/no-mention-of-hindus-in-the-us-proclamation-on-religious-freedom-2024/#)

The Hindu American community is in shock and trauma at the open and repeated violation of their sacred places of worship !