.jpg&h=342&w=635&zc=1)
By India Tomorrow News,
Washington, D.C., 09 April 2014: A United States based Indian-American group has condemned the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) for opposing the Congressional hearing on the plight of the religious minorities in India and for obfuscating the issues around violence against minorities.
The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) claims HAF has consistently served as apologists for the violent politics of the Sangh Parivar in the United States. The group also says that the HAF’s position on the plight of religious minorities in India is diametrically opposite to that of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Human Rights Watch, Advocates for Human Rights, and also notable human rights activists like John Dayal. According to the CAG, this fits a pattern followed by Hindutva organizations where concern for minorities in India is projected as “bias” against Hindus.
“While being vocal about the situation of Hindu minorities in other parts of the world, HAF appears to be considering Christian, Muslim and Sikh religious minorities in India as somehow less worthy of having their plight known to the American public,” said Dr. Raja Swamy, a CAG spokesperson.
Mr. Alex Koshy, another CAG spokesperson added that “It is deplorable that an organization claiming to stand for pluralism and human rights stridently opposes any scrutiny of the situation of religious minorities in India.”
In a report titled ‘Affiliations of Faith (Parts I and II)” back in December 2013, the CAG tried to prove that contrary to its claim as a human rights organization, the HAF is primarily a front for the Hindu Nationalist movement known as Hindutva led by the RSS in India.