April 2, 2021 – Former US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard took to Twitter on Friday to flag the religious persecution of Hindu religious minorities of Bangladesh. Calling upon the world to work towards Islamist extremism, the former US presidential candidate also condemned the systematic murder, rape of Bengali Hindus by the Pakistani Army.
Raising concerns about the genocide of millions of Bengali Hindu as a result of their religion and ethnicity, Tulsi said that March 25, 1971 marked the day when targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh by the Pak army began.
“It began in Hindu neighborhoods and villages, first at Jagannath Hall, which was a Hindu dormitory in Dhaka University, where five to ten thousand people were killed on that first night alone,” Tulsi was quoted saying in the video.
She also recalled how this persecution went on for 10 months resulting in 3 million deaths, uncountable rapes, and a situation that forced almost 10 million people to flee the country.
In her video, Tulsi Gabbard mentioned US Senator Ted Kennedy’s visit to refugee camps who observed the genocidal campaign against Hindus.
She said that persecution of Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh did not end with Bangladesh’s independence, it continued far beyond and led to the fall of the Hindu population in the country from 33 to a mere 8 percent.
She said the recent attacks against Hindu temples in Bangladesh in the wake of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the country, whereby scores of extremists destroyed trains, set buildings, and press clubs ablaze.
Making her case, she finally appealed to the leaders of the US and other countries to observe corrective measures against such extremists whose ideology holds that all non-Muslims and other heretical Muslims need to be purged from the face of the earth. She warned that if timely measures are not taken then the jihadist would continue to spread terror throughout the world.
Earlier in an interview with Fox News, Tulsi Gabbard had linked “cancel culture” a term used to describe the backlash faced by people who say or do offensive things to extremist groups like Isis and Al Qaeda.
Reproduced directly from: https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/politics/tulsi-gabbard-flags-religious-persecution-of-hindus-in-bangladesh-by-pakistan-army/ar-BB1ffXK1
Dear friends,
February 26, 2021 marked the one-year anniversary since the inception of our not-for-profit organization, Hindu Forum Canada (HFC). We are very proud of our accomplishments and achievements over the last year despite the unrelenting Covid-19 pandemic. During these trying times, HFC stood resolute and continued to deliver for Hindu-Canadians and Canada.
HFC was founded to provide an organization where we can work on our four-fold goals, namely:
- To fight Hinduphobia in its many forms
- To work towards a more favorable representation and overall image of Hindus and Hinduism
- To nurture strong ties and mutual understanding between two great democracies: Canada and India
- To serve the Community and our beloved country, Canada
With our four-fold goals serving as our guiding light, we have pursued the following initiatives to name a few:
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- We conducted community and political outreach efforts to all Canadian MPs and MPPs, city politicians and media outlets to better inform them about India’s Citizenship and Amendment Act (CAA), which was criticized unfairly and incorrectly. We wanted Canadians to know about the true spirit of CAA which was only facilitating citizenship of persecuted Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This act was not stripping the rights of citizenship of any other community which was false propaganda spread by forces unfriendly to India.
- We requested municipal governments across Canada to temporarily grant permission to Hindus to broadcast sacred hymns and devotional music from temples during Covid-19 lockdowns. Many cities generously granted our Hindu communities this permission.
- HFC has set up a regular Hindu Food Bank for the needy, homeless and for shelters homes across the GTA.
- In order to appreciate and serve our frontline workers, we have redeployed our Food Bank meal delivery service at various locations in the GTA.
- HFC arranged an LED Truck Tour across the GTA on November 26, 2020 in remembrance of the horrific Mumbai Terror Attack (26/11) and reminded Canadian Politicians to seek justice for the 2 Canadians who were killed and several Canadians who were injured during that terror attack. HFC’s petition on Change.org received over 8000 signatures.
- HFC arranged another LED Truck Tour across the GTA on January 19, 2021 in remembrance of the Kashmiri Hindu Genocide and Exodus.
- HFC arranged several protests outside the Chinese Consulate and Pakistani Consulate in order to raise awareness regarding the brutal persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China and Christians, Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan.
- HFC was able to secure 2 letters of solidarity and recognition from Conservative MPs Bob Saroya and Warren Steinley condemning cross border terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir.
- HFC also enlightened Canadian Politicians across all parties about negative propaganda against the new Farm Laws in India. We also produced a professional informational video to dispel myths about the Farm Laws which was very well received.
- Upon observing the biased and ill-conceived petition submitted by Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu (on behalf of some of her constituents) regarding the Kashmir dispute, HFC immediately sent her a stern letter requesting her to retract her petition as it did not represent ground realities. MP Gladu promptly conceded the incorrect points of the petition and issued a formal apology to the Canadian Hindu and Indian Diaspora.
- HFC put up over a dozen billboards across the GTA thanking India and PM Narendra Modi for providing vaccine does to Canada in its time of need.
- HFC has set up a free transportation service for seniors to and from Covid-19 Vaccination Centres.
- HFC requested the Toronto District School Board to take action against a teacher who used Nazi slurs for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. TDSB performed a thorough investigation and asked the teacher to remove such hateful symbols from his website.
- HFC took action against a realtor who was using hateful remarks against Hindus on his social media pages.
- HFC has begun assembling a team of successful lawyers to help take legal actions against those individuals and groups which perpetrate and propagate hatred against Hindus.
- HFC has written numerous letters to Canadian media outlets who seem to maliciously target Hindus and the peaceful philosophies which are the bedrock of Hindutva.
- HFC has set up a Hindu Voters Portal (a database and scorecard system) in order to assess Canadian Political Parties and their respective understanding towards the needs and wants of Hindus and Hinduism.
- HFC has written letters to all faith-based organizations in Canada to seek their partnership to fight Hinduphobia
In closing, we hope and trust we will continue to have your unwavering support as we continue to work and serve the Hindu and Canadian community based on our four-fold goals and focus areas. We look forward to our future collaborations and efforts to improve the representation and perception of Hindus and Hinduism in Canada.
Your ongoing support for Hindu Forum Canada’s mission is deeply felt and appreciated. If you have any questions, concerns, or are looking for additional details about this document, please contact us at (647) 749-9444, (416) 624-5009, or email us at info@hinduforumcanada.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors, Hindu Forum Canada
HFC03121/T/AB/RF/T
(March 28 2021 – Toronto) Hindu Forum Canada is deeply saddened by the senseless and racially motivated killings of 8 people (6 of whom were Asian women) in the city of Atlanta. We condemn these heinous acts of barbarism in the strongest words. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims – May God give them strength to get through these difficult times.
It is highly unfortunate and disheartening to observe that even in the 21st century with all of our human progress, we still see a subset of humankind suffering from the deadly disease of racial and colour discrimination. The terrible acts of hate in Atlanta should serve as an eye opener with regards to racist tendencies which manifest in many forms involving multiple racial groups in North America.
We should also note that the United States is not alone in observing anti-Asian hate crimes. Canada has also been observing its fair share of anti-Asian hate crimes. In fact, brave members of the Asian community in Canada have come together to tabulate the recent perceived rise of xenophobic and racist crimes perpetrated against Asians coined as ‘Covid Racism’. One can visit their website which has been tracking alleged ‘Covid Racism’ crimes since March 17, 2020 (https://www.covidracism.ca/timeline). To date (March 28, 2021), 976 incidents have been reported. According to a CTV report, the top anti-Asian crime hot-spots include the following cities in descending order of reported crime magnitude: Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Our Asian community is not alone in bearing hate-motivated crimes. In the last few months, the Hindu South Asian community has been on the receiving end of crimes motivated by Hinduphobia. The incident types include and are not limited to: Hindu temples being vandalized; homes of Hindus being vandalized; doxing; physical abuse and intimidation; verbal assaults; mass boycotts of Hindu businesses and false business reviews on Google etc. These hurtful and senseless acts have occurred in cities like Brampton, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton to name a few. Suffice it to say that as a fellow victimized racial and religious group, we understand and deeply empathize with our Asian brethren and stand in solidarity with them.
Where there is hate, there is also justice and empathy on the flip side. Our community stands united as one and shall definitely defeat hate. The Covid Racism organization has been doing a very commendable job in its data gathering and positive activism to affect change and restore harmony in the community. Hindu Forum Canada would like to congratulate and lend its full support to Covid Racism where and when it is requested.
As we build on the positive momentum of Covid Racism’s work, Hindu Forum Canada would like to commend the swift responses by responsible politicians like Honorable Conservative M.P. Bob Saroya (Markham-Unionville) who has demonstrated great leadership in his constituency which has seen a spurt of anti-Asian incidences. Mr. Saroya and his local law enforcement and provincial/municipal counterparts have led by example by conducting thorough investigations, community outreach efforts and catching culprits in a timely manner.
We would like to reiterate that Hindu Forum Canada would be more than happy to work closely with and lend its support to any governmental/non-governmental organization which is working towards increasing inclusiveness, harmony and synergy between all segments of Canadian society.
On a closing note, we would like to leave you with a Sanskrit excerpt from the Upanishada-s (distillations of the revered Veda-s of the Hindus) which should serve as a call for global unity:
ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghucetasām।
(This is mine, that is his, say the small minded)
udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam॥
(The wise believe that the entire world is a family)