June begins with two celebrations close to our community and our work. We look forward to celebrating, reflecting, and lifting up the places where these stories meet — in culture, liberation, solidarity, and the ongoing work of building a more just world.

Hindus for Human Rights joined caste equity advocates and community partners for legislative office visits in the Bronx and Yonkers in support of S6531/A6920, the New York State bill to help end caste-based discrimination.

Advocates visited Speaker Carl Heastie’s office and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ district office to urge lawmakers to protect caste-oppressed New Yorkers and make clear that caste-based exclusion and harassment have no place in our schools, workplaces, housing, religious spaces, or communities.

We were grateful to stand alongside Jayshree Kamble, Swati Sawant, Joshua Abraham, HfHR member Anuraag, Mr. Rajkumar of Begampura Cultural Society of New York and others in this growing coalition.

The Fight Is Still Active

New York legislators still need to vote on A6920/S6531, a key bill that would help determine the future of caste discrimination protections across the state — and could set an important precedent for the country.

The moral and legal principle is simple: no one should be denied a job, housing, credit, or access to public life because of caste.

Your voice still matters. Take a moment today to call or message your New York state legislators and urge them to support statewide protections against caste discrimination.

Our membership isn't just about the perks -- it's about the community. When you become an HfHR member, you join a multigenerational community of likeminded activists, change makers, and diasporic South Asians all over the world who are committed to fighting hate, bigotry, and religious nationalism. 

What does it mean to be Hindu today — and where do we go from here?

Join us for our June Liberation Baithak, Hinduism Today: Where Do We Go From Here?, featuring historian, biographer, and public intellectual Rajmohan Gandhi in conversation with Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights.

Together, they will discuss themes from Rajmohan Gandhi’s newly published book, Do You Know Your Hinduism? Notes for Modern-Day Hindus, and explore how Hinduism can be consciously interpreted, questioned, and lived in a world shaped by violence, nationalism, inequality, and resentment.

This conversation will bring together reflection, critique, and dialogue to ask how Hindu traditions can still speak meaningfully to justice, coexistence, democracy, and moral courage today.

Sunday, June 14
12 PM ET / 9 AM PT
Online

Join Sadhana for Pride Satsang:  An Evening of Queer Devotion. Reading + discussion of queer Hindu devotional poems, followed by an open mic space. Open to all! June 7th, 5–6 PM PT / 8–9 PM ET.   Learn more here

2nd Annual Little Guyana Pride: Immigrant Power, Rooted in Culture. Thursday, June 11 6:00 PM , Liberty Palace, Richmond Hill, NY 11419. Learn more here

In May, Hindus for Human Rights condemned the deadly shooting at the San Diego Islamic Center and stood in grief and solidarity with Muslim communities across the country. In this political climate Muslim communities are too often treated as threats rather than neighbors.

Condemnation after violence is not enough. Our leaders must confront the systems that make this violence more likely.

Our full statement includes links to support victims, survivors, and affected families.

HfHR supporters also traveled from Long Beach, Ontario, and Los Angeles for a multifaith gathering honoring the victims of the San Diego Islamic Center shooting.

In May, Hindus for Human Rights launched a new Election Watch page to help our community understand the stakes of West Bengal’s election results and the wider concerns around democracy in India.

After reports that 9.1 million people were deleted from West Bengal’s voter rolls ahead of the election, the BJP’s sweeping victory raised urgent questions about voter access, majoritarian politics, and the future of democratic institutions.

Legendary graphic journalist Joe Sacco joined HfHR Executive Director Sunita Viswanath and Alex Kane, Senior Reporter at Jewish Currents, for a sold-out evening at The People’s Forum in New York City. The conversation explored Sacco’s work, the politics of India and Gaza, and the urgent role of journalism and art in preserving memory, witnessing violence, and keeping survivors and families at the center.

This event was part of a three-part series HfHR hosted with Joe Sacco in New York City and Washington, DC. Across all three gatherings, we were moved by the packed rooms, thoughtful questions, and the many new people who came into conversation with our work.

Watch the video of the People's Forum event

HfHR joined Union Theological Seminary’s celebration honoring Rev. Dr. Serene Jones’s 18-year presidency.

HfHR’s relationship with Union has been especially meaningful through Samadarshini, which became a Union-affiliated project thanks to President Jones’s support and belief in its mission: building an anti-caste, liberatory Hindu theology for our times.

We celebrate Rev. Dr. Jones, Union’s ongoing work at the intersection of faith and democracy, and the partnerships that help make moral imagination real.

Our co-founder Raju Rajagopal writes in American Kahani about deepening divides among Indian Americans, and how some groups claiming to speak for all Indians continue to erase Dalit history and defend casteist views.

Our Instagram explainer looks at Gautam Adani, Donald Trump, and the politics behind India-U.S. relations — from the Hindenburg Report to Adani’s growing presence in Washington.

As corruption charges against India’s richest man appear set to be dropped after a promised $10 billion investment in the U.S., we ask: what does this reveal about power, money, and accountability?

Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day honors the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed in 2009 during the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war. It is also a call to remember how global powers enabled the Sri Lankan state’s violence against Tamils — and to renew the demand for justice, accountability, and reparations for those still living with its consequences.

The Cockroach Janta Party began as satire after young Indians turned a perceived insult into a viral political symbol. In days, the meme movement drew millions of followers, channeling frustration over unemployment, corruption, paper leaks, media bias, and political arrogance into something funny, angry, and strangely powerful.