This report deserves careful reading and consideration

The Hindu American Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political organizations or entities. HAF seeks to serve Hindu Americans across all sampradayas (Hindu religious traditions). HAF has established itself as a well-respected and credible voice for Hindu-Americans. Our focus continues to be on educating the institutions that shape American public opinion and policy in America about the perspectives of Hindu-Americans.

Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora:A Survey of Human Rights 2005

HAF’s second annual report on human rights abuses against Hindus in 2005 covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The 105 page report individually documents over 500 incidents of murder, arson, rape, desecration of temples, usurpation of property and other forms of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. According to the report, Pakistan witnessed a spate of Hindu temple destructions, kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Outside of South Asia, the report notes that despite comprising 38% of the island nation’s population, Hindus and their religious institutions are routinely attacked in Fiji. The report highlights the persecution of Afghanistan's Hindu minority and the involuntary deportation of the exiled Hindu refugees from foreign nations. The report also addresses the continued ethnic cleansing of Hindus in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir as a result of Islamic militancy.

Executive Summary: HTML PDF Press Release: Second Annual Report on Hindu Human Rights Released on Capitol Hill Press Release: Endorsements of HAF's Second Annual Human Rights Report Campaign: Human Rights Report: HTML PDF Date Released: June 27, 2006

Everyone who is concerned with obtaining the necessary human rights and privileges for people of all religions should be indebted to the Hindu American Foundation for bringing into the light the serious discriminatory practices and unacceptable behavior which in any way makes for insensitive treatment of Hindus and their faith. The impressive scholarship and challenging research in the Hindu American Foundation’s study provides a unique foundation to secure long overdue attention to the concerns of the Hindu community. All of us who are concerned with the true meaning of human rights must lend our support to the Hindu community whenever and wherever ignorant and cruel judgments isolate and demean Hindus and any other minority which is suffering, even briefly, pain, indifference and antagonistic assaults. Ernest H. Weiner Executive Director, Northern California Region American Jewish Committee

Citizens of South Asian Indian origin and/or descent constitute an increasingly important element within the rich tapestry of the American republic, both for their own individual contributions to the communities in which the live and work and for their reinforcement of the strategic links between the United States and India, the two largest democracies in the world. Many of these individuals, as the overwhelming majority of Indians, hail from the Hindu tradition, one of humanity’s oldest expressions of religious aspiration and the third largest religious community in the world.

In this context, the publication of Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights (2005) is a very significant event. As the second such annual report by the Hindu American Foundation, it represents a major milestone in the history of the Indian American—particularly its Hindu American component—community as it joins other ethnic and religious groups in bringing its concerns to the public square. On this achievement, the reports authors and the farsighted civic leaders sponsoring their work should be congratulated.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the report raises a number of worrying concerns about one ancient faith community’s experience with contemporary challenges to that most basic of human rights, the unalienable right to freely pursue through the religion of one’s heritage or choice the eternal riddles of the human condition: What is humanity? From whence does it come? To where is it headed? This report deserves careful reading and consideration by scholars, policymakers, and all men and women of good will. Dr. J. Peter Pham Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs Harrisonburg, Virginia