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An Indian-American Democrat Congressman has joined a group of Hindu leaders and organisations to call out the growing “Hinduphobia” in the United States.

Shri Thanedar is seeking to fight the growing hate crime against the Hindu community in the US, reported news agency PTI.

On Wednesday, representatives from various Indian-American organisations convened at the US Capitol for a gathering organised by HinduAction.

“We see a lot of Hinduphobia,” Thanedar, a Democrat, said at a meeting with Hindu leaders and organisations.

“We see California SB403 (the bill banning caste discrimination) and that’s just the beginning. The attacks on our temples and attacks on Hindus all over the world… We need to fight this phobia, bigotry, and hatred. There should be no place for hatred in America, no place for hatred against people’s religious rights,” he added.

Suhag Shukla, representing the Hindu American Foundation, highlighted the prevalence of anti-Hindu bias, particularly on college campuses.

She pointed to a recent rise in hate crimes and a lack of familiarity with Hinduism among law enforcement.

Shukla also raised concerns about institutionalised discrimination, citing California’s SB403 as an example.

“The perpetrators that have been caught on video with all the temple attacks that I’ve mentioned, all the street attacks that I’ve mentioned, the statements that were made during the commission of the attacks, the nature and content of the graffiti all point to the Khalistan movement,” she said.

“When there are people from within the Sikh community who are speaking out against this movement, they’ve been physically attacked,” Shukla said.

Canadian Member of Parliament Chandra Arya, of Indian-origin, also condemned the vandalism of the Gouri Shankar Mandir, a Hindu temple in Brampton, Canada, as a hate crime in Parliament, stating, “Hinduphobia turns into physical attack.”

PERSONAL STORIES OF FACING HATE

Sunder Iyer, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a victim of targeted hate, told participants that he discovered how a civil rights agency can engage in racial profiling and harmful stereotyping of Indian-Americans.

“I respectfully ask the members of Congress to allocate a budget within the Department of Justice to investigate the California Civil Rights Department and for the greater good of America. An agency that does not represent the truth harms all Americans. Several of my colleagues at Cisco and many other companies across California will be willing to give testimony. They must not live their lives in fear and their voices must not be suppressed,” Iyer said.

Tejal Shah of the Hindu Temple Empowerment Council spoke about the emotional distress caused by recent attacks on Hindu temples.

She mentioned that temple priests undergo mental distress, shock, and trauma, noting that in some instances, perpetrators of these attacks remain unidentified, with the police in one case refusing to file a report, as she detailed assaults on several temples.

HinduAction and the Namaste-Shalom Multifaith Alliance later came together in a joint statement, calling on Congress to officially acknowledge the growing problem of anti-Hindu hatred through a resolution.