April 14, 2020

Ambedkar Jayanti & Other April Updates

Namaste Dear Friend,

We send this newsletter on the holy and (usually) festive occasions of Easter, Passover, and Tamil New Year (Puthandu). This year, however, we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic that has taken far too many lives already, and we can’t see the end of it. We send greetings to all who are observing these holy days. We share a beautiful Passover reflection by Hari Venkatachalam, a board member of our sister organization, Sadhana. This reflection gives us much hope and solace, and ends with the Passover blessing, “This year we are enslaved. Next year we will be free.”

With Easter and Passover in mind, we also share this video of our dear advisory board member T.M. Krishna from the Concert For Peace, which took place at the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Mumbai earlier this year. Here, Krishna ji sings a Christian song from Kerala in the Malayalam language.

Many of us have been either on lockdown, or sheltering at home these past few weeks. But as we are only too aware, too many people around the world do not have homes, jobs, and food to stay alive. Hindus for Human Rights board members have been speaking a lot about the undeniable and unacceptable disparities starkly visible all around us. We pledge to be guided by Gandhiji’s Talisman in all our endeavors, and ensure that our efforts reach the neediest among us.

Webinars

Last Saturday, April 11th, HfHR co-facilitated a webinar --"Response to Hate and Hunger at the time of COVID-19"--featuring two frontline activists in India: HfHR Advisory board member Faisal Khan and veteran civil rights activist Arundhati Dhuru. Both Faisal and Arundhati, who are involved in daily relief efforts and advocacy in this time of COVID-19, shared their experiences doing relief work, their views on whether government resources are reaching the neediest, and how all of us around the world can help. With the help of our Advisory Board, HfHR will soon be coordinating a fundraising effort to support relief work all around India. Technology unfortunately failed us this time, and we weren’t able to record the webinar.

Our Next Webinar: On Saturday, April 18th, 11a.m. ET/8:30 pm IST, Dr. M. Taruj Ali, pulmonologist in Richmond, VA, and Dr. Dinesh Saralaya, respiratory physician in Leeds, UK, will speak to us about the "COVID-19 Pandemic: Current Advances and Fights by Nations Around the World."

All are welcome! Please share widely.
ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/8658411821

Fighting Against Bigotry During COVID-19

We have publicly condemned the opportunistic use of the Corona Virus pandemic to inflame discrimination and violence around the world, including anti-Asian racism within the U.S., xenophobia and Islamophobia in India, troubling reports of discrimination against Hindus and Christians in Pakistan in food aid distribution, and the deadly terrorist attack during this pandemic by ISIS on a gurudwara in Kabul, which killed 25 Sikh Afghans.

This pandemic is a time when we must all be united and engaged in helping the neediest among us. There is never a good time for hate, certainly not now.

Helping Protect the Most Vulnerable

When India’s lockdown was announced, HfHR launched a fundraising campaign to support the Dalit & Adivasi families and migrant workers supported by the Kerala NGO, RIGHTS. We chose this community because of our trust in the leader of this organization, Ajay Kumar; because Kerala is the Indian state with the largest number of COVID-19 cases; and because as progressive Hindus who stand against caste, it is a priority for us to be partners and champions of efforts that serve and empower Dalit communities. We are pleased to report that our fundraiser raised $5,000, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, and this funding was transferred directly to community members served by RIGHTS. We have published regular reports on what was achieved with your generous support: over 200 hand-washing stations installed throughout Dalit and Adivasi colonies and villages; medicines for hundreds of elderly and chronically sick; community kitchens that fed thousands of stranded migrant workers; unconditional cash transfers to over 60 women in distress; and wage payment to 20 Dalit women who produced thousands of masks which were distributed for no charge. Our heartfelt thanks to all those who made donations.

HfHR is in close touch with organizers of relief efforts throughout India. Our own board member Giri has been engaged in providing relief to waste pickers and other day wage laborers in Delhi. Most of our India-based advisory board members are involved in local grassroots relief efforts. We are very concerned because the lockdown in India has been extended until May 3rd, with no additional resources announced for the poorest of the poor. In a day or two, we have decided to publish detailed information about the relief efforts we know and can vouch for, so that our supporters can donate to these initiatives directly.

Arrest of Dr. Anand Teltumbde on Ambedkar Jayanti

We close this newsletter with heavy but valiant hearts. It is Ambedkar Jayanti today, and a few hours ago, human rights defenders Dr. Anand Teltumbde and Mr. Gautam Navlakha have been taken into arrest on fabricated charges related to the Bhima Koregaon incident in 2018. Please read our statement protesting these arrests and expressing our solidarity with Dr. Teltumdbe, Mr. Navlakha and all political prisoners in India. In January, HfHR board members Sunita and Giri spent a day with Dr. Teltumbde and his wife Rama ji. We learned so much from them about the condition of democracy and human rights in India. We were incredibly moved by their generosity of time and spirit, and the encouragement they gave us. We have expressed our love and solidarity to Anand ji and Rama ji. If you would like to express your love, support, or solidarity, as well, please reply with your messages for Anand and Rama ji and we will compile them and send them along.

On Ambedkar Jayanti and every day, we commit ourselves to human rights struggles in India and beyond. We are committed to being a part of the movement to free all political prisoners in India. As progressive Hindus we reject caste entirely, and are committed to building a world where caste is annihilated and all humans enjoy equality in access to resources and human dignity. While these may be lofty aspirations, we will inch closer to the world we envision in the work we do every day.

Please Join Us!

We want to build HfHR, and that means we need you! If you are a Hindu who yearns for a more just and equitable world, we'd love to hear from you.

Write to us
Volunteer
Start a chapter
Since you are probably locked down with your families, maybe have a family dialogue on CAA (here is an excellent PRIMER created by HfHR board member Raju Rajagopal)
And of course, MAKE A DONATION!

We work to achieve justice and peace through compassion. We choose to have hope, and to work hard to make our hopes for that better world become real. Please join us and make us strong, and help us to work towards achieving lokasamgraha (the well-being of all).

--HfHR Board
Deepak, Giri, Punya, Raju, Sunil, Sunita