Organizational letter on Haridwar Hate Conference

Signed by 130 organizations working against India’s path to fascism, the letter will be sent to (1) State Dept., (2) USCIRF & (3) Each US Senator’s office. The text of the letter is below. While initial letter is sent, sign now, and you can be included in our follow-up. SIGN HERE.

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Between December 17 and 19, several prominent Hindu religious leaders and Hindutva aligned organizations convened in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India, for a Hindu Religious Parliament, or ‘Dharma Sansad’. Organized by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the event was held in Haridwar, an important Hindu pilgrimage site in North India, and the site of the largest religious gathering of Hindus, the Kumbh Mela.

Not Fringe Extremists:

Yati Narsinghanand leads the 400,000 member Juna Akhara, one of the largest body of Hindu Sadhus. The members of this Akhara have the power to instigate their followers & initiate action following their teachings. Altogether they may lead hundreds of thousands of Hindus who can be swayed to do their bidding. Leadership of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (All India Akhara Council) (ABAP), the apex religious body of 13 recognised monastic Hindu orders of the country, attended the event and endorsed the message.Three more genocide conventions are planned, one in Kurukshetra in Haryana, and two others in UP (Aligarh and Ghaziabad) with the same call to arms: “Shastra meva jayate: weapons/warrior power alone triumphs”.

At the conference, multiple calls were made to kill Muslims, as necessary to establish a Hindu state. Narsinghanand urged attendees to arm themselves by stating, “Economic boycotts won’t work. Hindu groups need to update themselves. Swords look good on stage only. This battle will be won by those with better weapons.”

He further incites the audience saying, “…if any youth worker is prepared to become the Hindu Prabhakaran, then before anyone else, I will give him Rs 1 crore (Rs. 10 million). If anyone takes on the responsibility to become the Prabhakaran of the Hindus, I will give Rs 1 crore, and if he continues for one year, I will raise at least Rs 100 crore (Rs. 1000,000,000) to give.”

Over three days, this event witnessed an extraordinary quantity of hate speech, mobilizations to violence and anti-Muslim sentiment, and violence against Christians. Statements made by some of the more prominent Hindu religious leaders are below.

Swami Prabodhanand:

Swami Prabodhnand Giri, Hindu Raksha Sena (Army of Hindus) National President, is a close associate of Yogi Adiyanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

“We have to make preparations,.. And I’ll tell you what those preparations are. I will make myself clear, this is the solution, and if you follow this solution, then the path is made for you… in Myanmar, Hindus were being chased away. The politicians, government and police were just standing and watching. They started by killing them by cutting their necks, and not only this, but they began to cut them in the streets and eat them. The people watching thought we are going to die, we are not going to live.”

“This is our state now. You have seen this at the Delhi border, they killed Hindus and hung them. There is no more time, the case now is that either you prepare to die now, or get ready to kill, there’s no other way. This is why, like in Myanmar, the police here, the politicians here, the army and every Hindu must pick up weapons and we will have to conduct this cleanliness drive. There is no solution apart from this.”

Sadhavi Annapurna Maa:

Sadhavi Annapurna Maa, general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha (All-India Hindu Grand-Assembly) made direct calls to genocide of Muslims.

“If you want to finish them off, then kill them… We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20,000,000 of them to win this.”

“Nothing is possible without weapons. If you want to eliminate their population then kill them. Be ready to kill and be ready to go to jail. Even if 100 of us are ready to kill 20 lakhs of them (Muslims), then we will be victorious, and go to jail… Like [Nathuram] Godse, I am ready to be maligned, but I will pick up arms to defend my Hindutva from every demon who is a threat to my religion,”

Swami Anand Swaroop:

Swami Anand Swaroop is the President of the Shankaracharya Council and runs an Ashram (monastery) in Bengaluru in South India.

On Christmas; “If people celebrate (Christmas) then they are responsible for the damage that will be done to them.”

“… if (Muslims) want to remain associated with us, you should first stop reading the Quran and stop offering namaz (Muslim obligatory prayers)”

To Hindus; “You decide that you will not buy anything from a Muslim. If you destroy them socially, politically and economically, they will begin converting to Hinduism from Islam.”

To Hindu youth; “Pick up swords, guns or whatever you have, war has been declared and it will go on till we have a Hindu nation.”

Enjoying immunity from prosecution:

Yati Narsinghanand and several of the other leaders are supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. While there are laws against incitement of violence in India, these prominent Hindu religious leaders can openly state this because they enjoy an immunity from prosecution. So far the authorities have failed to identify the speakers, even though Social Media posts of their speeches and identities are widespread.

We, the undersigned civil society organizations are deeply concerned about these calls for genocide of Indian Muslims. There are several examples of Indian Muslims being marginalized in many Indian towns and states, and there are regular attacks against the religious minority. These calls for open mass murder of Muslims will accelerate persecution and attacks.

We urge the State Department to:

1) Immediately issue a statement condemning the religious leaders and the statements they made calling for a genocide of Indian Muslims and violence against Christians.

2) Institute a rapid response team at the US Embassy in India to directly go to areas and instances of attacks against religious minorities and independently talk with victims, their families, and witnesses, and report their findings directly to the US Ambassador to India.

3) Include an expert on Indian Human Rights at any diplomatic and trade negotiation meetings with India.

We urge United States Senators to:

1) Consider the consequences of these calls of genocide against Muslims, and in light of it to advance, co-sponsor, and support the Combating International Islamophobia Act, which will establish a special envoy office at the U.S. State Department to monitor and combat International Islamophobia

We urge the United States Commission on International Religious Freedoms to

1) Immediately issue a statement condemning the religious leaders and the statements they made calling for a genocide of Indian Muslims and violence against Christians.

2) Recommend that the Juna Akhara of India be designated an Entity of Particular Concern for the next report on International Religious Freedoms

3) Hold a hearing on this growing threat of genocide of Indian Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindutva aligned groups

Signed:
National & International Organizations:
Justice For All
American Muslim Institute
American Sikh Council
ASPAIRE
Association of Indian Muslims of America
Bektashi Community Of N. Macedonia
Buddhist Solidarity Association, Washington
Center for Pluralism
Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
Council on Minority Rights in India (CMRI) Foundation
Dalit Solidarity Forum, USA
Ensaaf
Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations
Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy (GM4MD)
HBS Foundation
Hindus for Human Rights
ICNA Council for Social Justice
Indian American Muslim Council
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
International Society for Peace and Justice
International Society of Peace and Justice
Islamic Circle of North America
Islamic Society of North America
Jubilee Campaign USA
Law and Liberty Trust
Law and Liberty Trust
New York State Council of Churches, New York
North American Indian Muslim Association [NAIMA] Shia Rights Watch
Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar America
Sikh Coordination Committee East Coast
South Asia Forum for Freedom of Religion or Belief ( SAFFoRB)
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
The Islamic Institute
United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO)

Regional organizations:
ADAMS Center, Virginia
Alabama Birmingham Islamic Society, Alabama
American Muslim Society, Massachusetts
Ansaar of Worcester Inc, Massachusetts
Arab Americans of Montgomery County, Maryland
BDC-TV
Beloved Community Interfaith Network of Prince George’s County, Maryland
CAIR Office in Maryland
Coalition of Americans for Pluralism in India, Michigan
Crescent School, California
EMAAN
EnergySun Farms Inc.
Indian American Muslim Council- Indianapolis, Indiana
Indian Muslim Association of Carolinas
Islamic Center of Burlington, Massachusetts
Islamic Center of Burlington, Massachusetts
Islamic Center of Glendale, California
Islamic Center of Macon, Georgia
Islamic Center of Maryland (ICM), Maryland
Islamic Center of Naperville, Illinois
Islamic Center of Naperville, Illinois
Islamic Center Of Rhode Island, Rhode Island
Islamic Center of Riverside, California
Islamic Center of South Coast, Massachusetts
Islamic Charities dba Masjid Omer
Islamic Circle of North America- DMV Region
Islamic Community Cultural Center, New Jersey
Islamic Community Cultural Center, New Jersey
Islamic Council of New England, Massachusetts
Islamic Leadership Institute of America, Maryland
Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB), Maryland
Islamic Society of Greater Houston, Texas
Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts
Islamic Society of Greater Nashua, New Hampshire
Islamic Society of Northern Baltimore, Maryland
Islamic Society of the Washington Area, Maryland
Islamic Society of Western MA, Massachusetts
Islamic Society of Yorba Linda, California
Jamaica Muslim Center & Nusantara Foundation, New York
Kavkaz Islamic Center of California
MAS Maryland
Masjid Al Hedayah, New York
Masjid al Huda Schaumberg, Illinois
Masjid Al Islam, Rhode Island
Masjid Darul Quran, New York
Masjid e Arafat, Texas
Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition
Mohamad RasoulAllah Islamic Society
Montgomery County Muslim Council (MCMC), Maryland
Muslim American Society of Minnesota, Minnesota
Muslim Association of Cleveland East, Ohio
Muslim Association of Greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, Connecticut
Muslim Community Center, Maryland
Muslim Community of Nassau County, New York
Nafis Boston Center, Massachusetts
Naheed Fahim Foundation Inc, Maryland
Ohio State University, Ohio
Pakistani American Student Association
Parity, New York
Pax Christi, New York
Prince George’s County Muslim Council, Maryland
Qaasid News Network
Salaam Cleveland, Ohio
Salaam Islamic Center, Irvine, California
The Aafia Foundation – Maryland
The Ingram Firm, LLC, Maryland
The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Noor Center, Maryland
The Peace and Justice Coalition of Prince George’s County, Maryland
United Maryland Muslim Council (UMMC), Maryland
Windham Muslim Community Center , New Hampshire