About a fortnight ago in the U.S.A, a long awaited journey for Hindus and people of Indic faiths, culminated in the announcement of a significant, social and political milestone – the official declaration of the launch of a “Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain (HBSJ) Caucus” in the U.S Parliament.
In the U.S, a caucus is a type of a ‘special interests’ group that works to lobby for, legislate for and defend the interests of the group (ideological, industrial, business, religious Etc) for which it came into existence.
Earlier this year, U.S Congressman of Indian origin, Mr. Shri Thanedar, a Democratic party representative elected from Michigan state, announced plans to form a ‘Hindu Caucus’ in the U.S. Congress, that would bring like-minded lawmakers together for the benefit of American citizens of Hindu and Indic-faith backgrounds. One of the stated aims of the proposed caucus is to ensure that people of non-Abrahamic faiths are not discriminated against and that there is no hate or bigotry against this demographic group in the country.
Representative Thanedar’s declaration of plans for the creation of a Hindu caucus and his subsequent inauguration of such a group for all Indic faiths is a significant achievement for the immigrant Indian community, Hindus from all over the world and people of Indic, non-Abrahamic faiths like Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, indegenous spiritual traditions, that do not have the same religious beliefs of Christianity and Islam.
The HBSJ Caucus has been successfully created with bipartisan support from members of the U.S Parliament of both the Republican and Democratic parties. A united Hindu/ Indic voice, will finally be heard, loud and clear, amidst concerns of rising discrimination and acts of violence against the people of Indic faiths, their property and their business interests.
The caucus will also, hopefully, have a positive impact on the important but vulnerable and fluctuating U.S -India relationship, in a changing world order. Another crucial expected outcome of presenting a united Hindu front and being represented by a bi-partisan, politically approved Hindu Caucus, is to reign in lop-sided, biased and exaggerated reports of purported injustices on minorities in India, the ground reality of which, is often distorted by christian and muslim groups, motivated by vested interests and a religious-conversion agenda.
The USCIRF (US Commission for International Religious Freedom), supposedly an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government agency created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),
often prepares and publishes annual reports on indices like “religious freedom” and “minority rights” in nations around the world. These reports are presented to both houses of the U.S Parliament (the House of Representatives and the Senate) for further discussions. For a long time now, Indians (Hindus in particular), have complained that the USCIRF and similar organizations, behave more like representatives of vested-interest groups from within and outside India, claiming a lack of religious freedom for Minorities.
An American legislator-led legitimate “caucus”, representing the interests and grievances of the Hindu and Indic faiths, can help with a fact-finding mission on the ground realities in India. This group can help with the presentation of unbiased, factual data while discouraging falsified or exaggerated religion-related information showing Indic religions in poor light, at the alleged behest of religiously and politically motivated groups, lobbying for sanctions against India.
For over five decades now, Indians in the U.S have stayed away from publicly or politically displaying, emphasizing or seeking attention for their Eastern faith, their culture and traditions – Hindus and other Indic, non-Abrahamic faiths did not come together to discuss the common problems faced by them and try forming a group that would defend their cause or address their grievances in a public, social or political forum. This is a far cry from religious groups like the Muslims in various non-muslim nations including the U.S, who band together fairly quickly – they are vocal, present themselves as a homogenous group with special needs and form political alliances to defend their interests while staying united as a single voting block. They attempt to assert their rights, seek better representation across various fields, market their religion and traditions and even defend the political or economic goals of their native, muslim lands.
In contrast, the Hindus made no such efforts, since the early days of sizeable immigration to the U.S from the 1960s onwards. Some reasons for this tendency are:
1) Hinduism and other Indic faiths do not naturally gravitate towards groupism, social or political activism as quickly as the Christians and Muslims tend to do.The very nature of their philosophical beliefs, their broad minded tolerance of all spiritual traditions, respect for all faiths and their acceptance of all religions as different paths to the same Divine entity… does not compel them to form a separate, visible, bold, united group to represent themselves as a unique or special group from the general population.
2) Their history, belief system, their spiritual masters along with the primary intent of their faith (Union with the Divine) did not and does not encourage, emphasize or insist on active political participation, like Islam or Christianity.
3) Generations of Hindus influenced by a utopian Gandhian Idealism of
un-limited tolerance for other religions without expectong the same from them as well a skewed Nehruvian policy on “secularism” that advised and even instructed the Hindus
(through school education or court-ordained legistation) to stay away from attachment to their philosophical beliefs and customs while simultaneously promoting a strong and distinct sense of religious identity among the minority religions of Christianity and Islam… Between the politics of the Congress party, the Communist parties of India and all self-proclaiming “secular” parties, several generations of Hindu Indians were alienated enough from the spiritual traditions of their ancestors, that they barely identified themselves as a proud, distinct, homogenous social group called Hindus. Hence, little social and political will, to form a Hindu grouping of any kind when they emigrated to foreign shores in search of educational and employment opportunities.
4) The Hindu or Buddhist governments of the immigrant community’s native nations, were not forthcoming in lending asisstance of any kind to their expat, diaspora populations, for the establishment of religious centres or the promotion of their culture, abroad.
5) The Indian immigrants to the U.S tend to be educated, hard working people striving for economic prosperity in a foreign nation. As is their natural, civilizational tendency, they are typically law-abiding citizens who contribute to the economic prosperity of the host nation, their adopted country…
without drawing any attention to themselves for any reason other than economic. They tend to assimilate into the local culture and contribute positively towards it rather than alienating themselves from the local population and refusing to assimilate. Unless necessary and for the right reasons, they do not immediately begin to group together to declare themselves a special group demanding special recognition or special privileges.
The Hindus and other Indic faiths in the U.S, have finally risen to the occasion, at this historic moment. The recent creation of the HBSJ Caucus denotes the following:
– this ethno-religious group’s significantly larger numbers now, across the length and breadth of the U.S.
– their improved participation and influence in America’s educational, economic/business and political spheres of life.
– their higher-than-average economic prosperity, their positive contributions to American innovation, R&D and the Technical sector.
– their recent recognition and public admission of several reported instances of discrimination, bullying and sometimes violence on members of this group and their business interests.
– a Hindu re-awakening on foreign soil along with the community’s acceptance that second and third generation Indian-Americans (children and grand children of Indian immigrants) need better awareness of their native identity, roots and spiritual traditions before they fall prey to the non-tolerant beliefs of the more aggressive and proselytizing religions.
– a renewed, refreshed sense of pride in themselves as Indians and Hindus/Buddhists/Sikhs/Jains/Tribal ; a resurgent pride in their way of life and beliefs, coinciding with a more confident India, proud of its unique heritage, asserting its rights and not afraid of wielding its economic and military clout on the world stage.
Wishing the newly inaugurated, better-late-than-never Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain (HBSJ) Caucus,
much success on the shores of the World’s most powerful nation. Let’s hope the Hindu, Indic Caucus in the U.S, eventually makes a difference in U.S domestic and International policies, besides addressing the issue of overt and subtle prejudice towards Eastern, non-Abrahamic spiritual traditions. The time is ripe. Cheers!
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