Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) joined 14 civil rights and faith-based organisations in co-signing a letter to the US Senators, Representatives, State Governor, and other elected officials demanding an investigation by FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Department of Justice into the Texas-based Hindu supremacist group, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF), that recently organised a fundraiser for, among other causes, demolishing churches in India.
Co-signed by the Federation of Indian American Christian Organization in North America (FIACONA), North American Church of God, Southern Methodist University (SMU) Human Rights Program, Amnesty International – Dallas, World Without Genocide, Center for Pluralism, Genocide Watch, IAMC, Limitless Church, Justice for All, Hindu for Human Rights, North Texas Peace Advocates, Good Citizens of DFW, North Texas Islamic Council, the letter was sent to Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; Representatives Michael C. Burgess, Pat Fallon, Van Taylor, Terry Meza, Collin Allred, Marc Veasey, Jake Ellzey, Michael Cloud; Governor Gregg Abbott and Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney.
GHHF, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation, recently circulated a flier for a fundraising event, listing one of the causes as demolishing what they call “illegal churches” in Tirupati, a city in India’s state of Andhra Pradesh.
“We find it extremely disturbing and dangerous that the GHHF would so openly advertise their goal to cause such great harm to Indian Christians, who already face enormous persecution on a daily basis,” said the letter.
The GHHF has a history of demonising Christians. In 2014, the organisation wrote a letter to India’s Minister of Education urging her to revise the educational curriculum and teach children about the “heroism” of Nathuram Godse, the Hindu supremacist and member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a fascist paramilitary group, who murdered Gandhi. The letter further accused Christians of “stabbing the nation”, converting Hindus with “deception and allurement”, and putting Hindus in danger of becoming “sacrificial lambs.”
In 2020, the GHHF hosted an event in Plano, Texas to support discriminatory anti-minority legislation passed in India, advocating that Muslims and Christians be stripped of their minority status. The group also funds a number of religious conversion programmes in India to convert Christians and Muslims to Hinduism.
With a population of nearly 28 million, Christians are India’s second-largest minority group. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, Christians have been subjected to extreme violence. Discriminatory legislations like anti-conversion laws have enabled Hindu extremists to shut down churches and physically assault Christians with impunity. In 2021 alone, Hindu extremists carried out 800 hate crimes against Christians.
“We urge you to use your platform as elected officials to forcefully condemn this blatant and brazen display of anti-Christian hate and bigotry. We also urge you to… [seek] immediate investigative and legal action against the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation for violating its 501c3 status by funding hate and enabling violence against religious minorities in India,” the letter adds.
