In a move that has alarmed many in the Hindu American community, major Christian denominational bodies are partnering with a controversial Muslim organization IAMC to launch a series of seminars explicitly targeting Hindu political and social ideology, framing it as a primary threat to religious freedom.
The seminar series, titled “Religious Nationalisms” and supported by the California-Nevada Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, is being organized by the New York State Council of Churches’ “The Religious Nationalisms Project” (TRNP) in partnership with the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC). The events, scheduled across Northern California, list “Hindutva as a central case study,” alongside Christian nationalism.
A Targeted Seminar Series
The seminars, scheduled for late November in churches across the Bay Area and a Sikh Gurdwara, are being marketed as educational. However, the framing has been criticized by Hindu advocacy groups as prejudicial and divisive. The events promise to show the “local impact” of Hindu nationalism and provide “concrete action steps” for congregations to address its “harm.”
This partnership is not an isolated incident. It follows a joint statement issued in June 2025 by the NYSCC and TRNP, which condemned a Hindu event in Dallas and broadly vilified “Hindu supremacist” groups. The statement, signed by over 30 Christian leaders, used strong language to equate the Hindu political ideology of Hindutva with hate and violence, making sweeping allegations about its role in India.
The IAMC: A Terror-Linked Partner
The choice of partner for these seminars has intensified concerns. The IAMC has a documented history of anti-India activism and has been accused by researchers of having links to groups and ideologies hostile to India’s integrity.
Who Is IAMC?
To jog our readers’ memory, remember who Congress scion Rahul Gandhi met with during his 2023 US visit? Concerns arose when Gandhi was photographed with Sunita Vishwanath, a US-based activist linked to anti-India initiatives like the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference. Vishwanath is associated with groups like ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America), known for ties to Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami and promoting anti-India propaganda.
Reports allege that coordinators of Gandhi’s events, such as Tanzeem Ansari and Mohammed Aslam, are connected to ICNA and its affiliate organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. ICNA has glorified Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, a proponent of Kashmir’s separation from India. Another coordinator, Minhaj Khan, is linked to the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an anti-India lobbying group. IAMC has been accused of spreading fake news to incite communal tensions and lobbying against India in international forums.
IAMC had engaged US lobby firm, paying them USD 55K Dollars for Lobbying the USCIRF against India in 2013-14, during Dr. Manmohan Singh Govt itself.
(6/10) pic.twitter.com/OeT3YlbCge
— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) May 30, 2023
IAMC’s Executive Director, Rasheed Ahmed, also leads IMANA (Islamic Medical Association of North America), implicated for alleged misuse of funds involving links to Pakistani officials and terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba.
IAMC’s Exec Dir Rasheed Ahmed is the Exec Dir of another Jamaat affiliated ‘charity’ front Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA), which exploited India’s goodwill & raised millions of $ during peak Covid in name of helping India & siphoned off all the money
(7/10) pic.twitter.com/wgfJ4nrTan— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) May 30, 2023
The IAMC is a problematic organization with links to Pakistan-based terror groups. It is known for peddling anti-India propaganda in the international arena and also lobbies with US leaders and bodies against Indian interests.
The IAMC had reportedly collected funds for the cause of Rohingya Muslims and used it to pay Fidelis Government Relations (FGR), a US-based lobby firm for getting India blacklisted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Awards To Leftist Journalists
In June 2022, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to be the largest advocacy organization for Indian Muslims in the US, awarded ₹3 lakh in prize money to several Indian journalists and media outlets through its Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism (HRRF) Awards. The winners included journalists from Newslaundry, The News Minute, The Caravan, The Wire, Scroll.in, and The New Issue Magazine (UK), as well as news portals Mooknayak and Article 14. The awards recognized reporting on issues like anti-conversion laws, persecution of Muslims during COVID-19, and human rights in Kashmir.
The IAMC has also been criticized for its links to Pakistan-based terror groups and anti-India lobbying efforts, including funding campaigns to blacklist India internationally. The organization has also been accused of violating India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which prohibits foreign funding of media professionals.
Connection With USICRF
During a February 2023 IAMC event, USICRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck advocated for classifying India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern.’ He asserted, “The Indian government at the local, state, and national level continues to create policies that negatively impact Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities…Application of these policies has created a culture of impunity for national campaigns of violence against Muslims and Christians. The U.S. must designate India a country of particular concern. We at USCIRF continue to press President Biden and congress to do so.”
Stephen Schneck frequently attends events organized by the Jamat-e-Islami front, IAMC.
Connection With Banned Organisations
The IAMC is very intricately connected with organizations/Jamaat fronts such as ICNA, Justice For All, SIMI, IACSJ, etc. IAMC’s Sheikh Ubaid is friends with Abdul Malik Mujahid, who headed the Islamic Circle of North America, the US front for Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan. It also reportedly has links with the banned Islamist organization Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
For many Hindu Americans, the NYSCC’s decision to ally with IAMC signals a move away from genuine interfaith understanding and toward a politically motivated coalition built on a one-sided condemnation of Hinduism’s political expression.
The New York State Council of Churches is joining a Muslim group to tour California—not to promote solidarity & peace—but to target peaceful Hindu Californians.
This isn’t interfaith solidarity, this is an ambush.@GovKathyHochul, your NY Office of Faith-Based and Community… pic.twitter.com/Y0aqeQDZ5r
— Suhag A. Shukla (@SuhagAShukla) November 13, 2025
Indian Christians shaking hands with White Christian Nationalism Task Force and IAMC
I don’t think I need to explain this. https://t.co/kBGUriHhfb pic.twitter.com/tucXZk6mJE
— Shawn Binda (@ShawnBinda) November 14, 2025
A Pattern of Collaboration
This alliance appears to be part of a broader pattern where certain segments of the Christian and Muslim leadership, often at odds elsewhere, are finding common cause in opposing the rise of Hindu political consciousness. The seminars represent an institutionalization of this collaboration, bringing the resources and pulpits of mainline Christian churches to an agenda long championed by the IAMC.
Hindu community leaders have expressed dismay, arguing that this partnership unfairly demonizes an entire community and its beliefs while ignoring the persecution faced by Hindus in various regions. They see it not as a pursuit of justice, but as the formation of a selective coalition that singles out Hindus for criticism, potentially fueling prejudice against the millions of peaceful Hindu Americans who simply wish to practice their faith and preserve their culture without being labeled “supremacist.”
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