#BREAKING: HAF's Executive Director @SuhagAShukla writes to presidents of 41 universities reportedly co-sponsoring the controversial Dismantling Global Hindutva event.

The partisan political event targets Hindu students and puts their safety at risk. 1/
hinduamerican.org/press/universi…
“The DGH organizers trade on the prestige of your institution’s name to host, not an academic conference, but a partisan event related to politics in India. The event platforms activists...[that amplify].. Hinduphobic discourse even while denying the existence of Hinduphobia." 2/
The DGH website mentions no academic organizers & specifically defines the event as nakedly political with an intention to "dismantle" the current government of India.
Universities have clear political neutrality statements that oppose sponsorship of partisan political events.3/
Hindutva is not Hinduism, anonymous organizers assert. So what is Hinduism for them? 👇

"heterodox, continuously under contestation, and often contradictory"

"Hinduism has rightly been critiqued for the deep inequities in Indian society, most importantly for the caste system"4/
DGH #Hinduphobia:
-Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation" "contradictory.”
-conflate Hinduism with caste.
-erase Hinduism's inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!
Speaker list includes activists who:

-equate Hinduism with caste bigotry
-deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia
-support the violent Kashmir militancy
-deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir)

6/
We demand that the safety of Hindu students be ensured leading up to the DGH event. @SuhagAShukla:

“Hindu students are targeted and report feeling under attack for opposing Hinduphobic depictions of their religion in the classroom and for opposing anti-Hindu hate on campus.” 7/
Today, @HinduAmerican announced that it will launch a grassroots campaign to enable students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university ostensibly co-sponsoring the DGH event. Details released shortly. Please join @HinduAmerican & take action!

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More from @HinduAmerican

16 Sep
#READ: @HudsonInstitute releases bombshell report documenting that there are 55 interlinked Khalistan & Pakistan groups operating in the US.

While the #Khalistan project is known to be supported by #Pakistan, this is the first to expose ties in the US.
1/
hudson.org/research/17268…
This report by @Aparna_Pande @husainhaqqani exposes ties including those mediated by convicted ISI spy Ghulam Nabi Fai with D.C. based Khalistan groups.

This section highlighting a network of Khalistan activism tied to @standwkashmir, @IAMCouncil and OFMI is a must read. Image
Worth noting that @HinduAmerican previously exposed ties of OFMI's Bhajan Singh Bhinder, subject of a federal investigation for allegedly attempting to smuggle missiles to "free Khalistan," with a California @TheDemocrats leader and Pieter Friedrich.
hinduamerican.medium.com/why-the-democr…
Read 5 tweets
10 Sep
Hello @HannahEP @guardian

You cover us and label us without even reaching out for comment. Doesn't look like you visited our website either.

What a stunning lack of journalism ethics

See our positions hinduamerican.org/issues/
Rightwing? No. Leftwing? No.

We're @HinduAmerican
We support freedom of expression and freedom of thought and belief. We also believe in the goodness of humanity to knowingly demonstrate kindness & compassion (ahimsa), while also being truthful (satya), thoughtful (viveka) & objective (vairagya).

hinduamerican.org/issues/haf-pol…
We support policies which promote the ethical treatment of animals, ecological conservation, and stopping climate change.

hinduamerican.org/issues/hinduis…

hinduamerican.org/issues/hinduis…
Read 8 tweets
9 Sep
#REVEALED: Many @dghconference speakers previously promoted #AntiSemitic petition.

@abhashankar1 reports #DGH speakers endorsed a statement saying:
-"Zionist Israel is the only state in the world that is NOT a state of its own citizens"
-Israel is an "inherently racist state"
Patwardhan, Sundar & Krishnan signed petition calling on India to join "socialist" Cuba & Venenzuela in "de-recognizing" & sanctioning Israel, calling it a "Zionist apartheid state."

Krishnan promoted PFLP that US designates a foreign terrorist org (FTO)
investigativeproject.org/8988/speakers-…
Criticism of India & Israel is fair game. But the collapsing of that criticism into grossly #AntiSemitic & #Hinduphobic tropes by radical activists is outrageous and must be condemned.

Instead, #DGH platforms the activists at an event supported by depts at dozens of schools.
Read 5 tweets
25 Aug
#Scoop: As promised, releasing more of @dghconference's "secret" list of co-sponsors.
❎Not a single co-sponsor is an expert in the study of Hinduism.
❎DGH sponsors have no competency to define Hinduism. That's why DGH attacks on Hindutva are transparent #Hinduphobic tropes
Univ. admins. are dissociating, but stating that the DGH event is an academic meeting, thus support faculty.

Academic??
-"Dismantle" implies activism/violence.
-Indian communist politician is speaking.
-Hinduism is defined in contradictory, Hinduphobic terms.

List! 🥁...
-Global Legal Studies Center, University of Madison-Wisconsin
-Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley
-South Asia Institute, UT, Austin
-South Asia Program, Cornell
-Program in South Asian Studies, Princeton
-Centre for South Asian Civilizations, U Toronto, Missi.
2/
Read 8 tweets
23 Aug
#UPDATE: HAF's campaign to write to 41 universities ostensibly co-sponsoring the DGH event resulted in over 650,000 messages being delivered in less than 24 hours, overwhelming the system. The official DGH website has been down all day.

Where are we now? (Thread)
Three universities--Dalhousie, Princeton, and University of Mass-Boston--have confirmed that they are not sponsors and asked that their logos be removed.

3 other logos were removed from the DGH site before it went down.

We'll still be following up with others. 2/
THANK YOU to everyone who took action on our original campaign. You've made your voices heard and have made a BIG impact. 3/
Read 4 tweets
2 Jun
In celebration of #Pride2021 , we’re sharing a Hindu perspective on homosexuality. (Thread)
While the equal religio-spiritual potential of all individuals is key to understanding a Hindu basis for dignity for LGBT persons, so too is the way in which Hindu religious texts and teachings are approached.
Read 6 tweets

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