Minnesota needs our help now more than ever. In the aftermath of the killing of Alex Pretti -- the second murder in one month by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis -- ICE continues to terrorize the city and its inhabitants. 

From mutual aid to supporting organizations leading legal support efforts, there's a wide assortment of ways to help Minnesotans. 

Help impacted immigrant families pay their rent. Crowdfund for communities in need. Stand with Minnesota. 

Please consider donating directly to immigrant and refugee families through the GoFundMe links below, and supporting Somali community-led mutual aid like Isuroon Halal Food Assistance.

Even small gifts help families stay fed, housed, and connected to critical support right now.

"In these times—which have been catastrophic here, there, and everywhere—I have been saying that our prayers need to leave the temples, and our temples need to become the places where the crisis is happening. I have been saying, echoing Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, that we need to be praying with our feet. So with those thoughts of prayer and houses of worship and pilgrimage in my heart, of course I had to respond to the call to go to Minneapolis."

Our Executive Director Sunita Viswanath delivers a moving speech on her experience as part of a delegation of over 1000 faith leaders who headed to Minneapolis to join actions against ICE.  

On Friday, January 30th, Hindus for Human Rights' staff took part in a nationwide shutdown to express our solidarity with those impacted by ICE's cruel actions and to demand, by withholding our spending power, an end to ICE's funding. 

We joined thousands of organizations -- and thousands more individuals -- around the country in pledging to day of no work, no school, and no shopping. By shutting it down, we're saying enough is enough -- we refuse to continue on as normal until ICE, Border Patrol, and Trump's racist agenda are kept in check. 

Last Friday our NYC Advocacy Organizer Vrinda Jagota spoke alongside faith leaders at an anti-ICE protest before we marched with DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving)—thousands in the streets, refusing silence.

That same moral clarity carried into the Faith in Action vigil this week, where HfHR's Thrisha Mohan offered words and prayer rooted in a Hindu truth: the sacred lives in each other, so no human being is illegal.

Watch and share both clips—each one shows what it means to bring our values into every space.

HfHR was part of and spoke at the Interfaith Center of New York's Multifaith Mondays in Columbus Circle. This week was a vigil for Alex Pretti. At Columbus Circle, people of all faiths and no faiths brought candles, prayers, silence, and song, the air heavy with the kind of grief that comes with the normalization of state violence. 

Read more about this powerful -- and somber -- gathering on our blog. 

 Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
Location: Online (link shared upon RSVP)

Hindus for Human Rights invites you to our first Baithak of 2026: a must-attend conversation on Hindu–Unitarian Universalists (Hindu-UUs)—South Asian Americans blending Hindu heritage with UU’s pluralistic, justice-centered spiritual life. Beyond the stories, we’ll ask what this “both/and” path can teach all of us about building communities with deeper belonging, ethical clarity, and a future beyond caste and inherited hierarchies.

Our Executive Director Sunita Viswanath writes about her recent journey to Minneapolis with MARCH (Multifaith Anti-Racism Change and Healing), and how this journey parallels Hindus for Human Rights' journey to Selma, Alabama last year, as well as Dr. King's original call to action in 1965. 

"...for Hindus, the divine is present in all of us, the poor and rich, black and white, oppressed and oppressor; and it is our dharma (religious duty) to see God in every stranger we encounter. It is only when we see the world with such a radically inclusive vision that we can achieve Dr. King’s Beloved Kingdom."

January 26th marked India's Republic Day -- a celebration of India's Constitution and the country built upon this sacred document. 

This year, we recommend a new way of viewing Republic Day: as a yearly appointment with a promise to uphold the Constitution and its very values. 

The Constitution did not arrive as a decorative artifact at the end of independence. It arrived as a plan for governing life after catastrophe: the aftermath of colonial rule, the violence and displacement of Partition, and the brutal clarity that a new nation would either build equal citizenship or reproduce old hierarchies with fresh uniforms. 

January 30st, 2026 - NYC: “From Shadows to the Stars,” A Rohith Vemula Tribute:

Ten years after the institutional killing of Rohith Vemula, we gather to remember his legacy, reflect on the impact of his words and resistance, and collectively envision what comes next. Hosted by Yashica Dutt, author of Coming Out as Dalit. Learn more here.

January 31st, 2026 - Talkin' Bout a Revolution with HfHR NYC: 

Join Hindus for Human Rights’ New York City Chapter as we head to Pyaari Azaadi’s exhibit, which seamlessly blends art, activism, & community. We’ll grab lunch after the exhibit! Learn more here. 

February 1st, 2026 - Prayers of Resistance with Sunita Viswanath: 

What does it mean to pray in a time of injustice? In this session, Sunita Viswanath reflects on prayer not as passive longing, but as embodied resistance—a prayer that moves through feet, hands, voices, and lives. Learn more here. 

February 8th, 2026 - Phoenix, AZ Chapter Meeting:

The Phoenix Chapter of Hindus for Human Rights invites community members to a local chapter meeting focused on connection, organizing, and shared values. Meet Deputy Executive Director Sravya Tadepalli along with other HfHR members from the greater Phoenix area, and learn more about ongoing and upcoming work. Learn more here.

February 15th, 2026 - South Bay Homebound Screening and Discussion: 

Join the South Bay Chapter of Hindus for Human Rights for a screening and discussion of Homebound (2025). The film explores friendship, migration, and dignity against the backdrop of social and economic precarity. The screening will be followed by a facilitated conversation connecting the film’s themes to questions of justice, belonging, and human rights. Learn more here.

Our Executive Director Sunita Viswanath details her journey as a part of MARCH (Multifaith Antiracism, Change, and Healing), a two day multifaith delegation to Minneapolis that included education, nonviolent resistance, and participation in protests and rallies, including Minneapolis' general strike. Sunita writes, "MARCH had one ask: Go back to our communities and share what we witnessed." 

All month long, Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti has been sharing powerful, firsthand reflections from his human rights delegation to Palestine/Israel—naming the daily realities of military control, apartheid, and land dispossession with clarity and moral urgency. His insights on movement restrictions, unequal treatment, and population replacement offer a grounded, lived understanding of what “apartheid” means on the ground. Rev. Manish will join us as a featured speaker at the Baithak on January 31st—don’t miss this chance to hear directly from someone bearing witness in real time.

See details above and be sure to sign up.

Our Executive Director Sunita Viswanath writes about her experience as a part of a multifaith delegation protesting in Minneapolis, MN against ICE, and how the lessons she learned on the ground in Minnesota can be applied back to India's eroding democracy and the constitutional promise we make every Republic Day. 

India’s Supreme Court has denied bail to student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, extending more than five years of pretrial detention under UAPA—even as other co-accused received bail. Hindus for Human Rights responded with a statement condemning UAPA’s use to chill dissent and calling for due process and their immediate release.