ALERT: On April 10, @csustudents passed a resolution to add caste as a protected category.
Although as Hindus, it is our dharma to stand against caste discrimination, we must oppose groups that call for the total destruction of Hinduism to combat caste discrimination.
EL has:
> Allied with those who have said Hindus are the "sick people" of India
> Falsely tied Hindus to police brutality in U.S.
> Degraded Holi as "casteist" & linked sexual violence to Hindu festivals
> Encouraged students to compare Indian politics to the Holocaust
Here, we examine the motives and track records of such groups & members have on Hinduism. It's important for us all to educate ourselves on the impacts this can have on the Hindu diaspora.
It's our duty to stand up for our faith when those call on it for total destruction. The @csustudents must #Rescind1201.
Satyameva Jayate 🕉️
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"We are sorry for the hurt that members of the Hindu community have been experiencing in relation to recent events. Our commitment to inclusion includes religion, not just the right but the freedom to celebrate as an individual or community without fear."
"We know that the sacred traditions of Hinduism are central to the identities that define Hindu individuals, families, and communities. We abhor the vile messages and threats that are being directed at Hindu students, and call for an immediate end to them."
We are once again disturbed by the systematic and institutionalized racism that Rutgers’ South Asian History Department harbors. They have chosen to defend Professor Truschke by diluting her neocolonial work as simply “controversial.”
Truschke must stop tokenizing the minorities that have read her work as a means to excuse the trauma that she causes to the Hindu community.
Additionally, Truschke does use “radicalized attacks on religious communities'' by white-washing the genocides that Hindus have faced and by glorifying the tyrants that caused those genocides, which has resulted in trauma for the Hindu students who have had her as a professor.
Many young Hindu Americans who were admitted to Rutgers University are now questioning their decision to attend. An anonymous high school senior shares his beliefs in a thoughtful, constructive manner.
"I’m a Hindu-American high school senior (Class of 2021), and an admitted student to Rutgers University. I’ve been watching the past few days play out, and I feel scared."
I began to question whether Rutgers was a place where I would be welcome, where I could proudly practice my beliefs. If I attempted civil discourse about Hinduism, like Hindus on Campus did, would I too be silenced and labeled a hate-monger for respectfully stating my beliefs?
We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers - a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion - continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter.
To re-iterate: we welcome academic freedom & pursuit of scholarship. We don't welcome a professor tweeting that our deities are misogynist pigs, that our texts endorse rape, & that Hindu orgs supported the assault on the US capitol.