US excludes Hindu body from inter-faith meetings

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, October 8

A fallout of the Nijjar murder as well as some other killings celebrated by Hindutva’s key board warriors has been the exclusion of the one of the most influential Hindu organisations in America from Washington’s collective confabulations with minority faith groups.

Nijjar murder fallout?

• At the US Department of Justice’s inter-faith meeting on August 1, the Hindu American Foundation was not invited
• The Nijjar murder as well as those that took place before that and were claimed by Indian nationalist groups seem to have hastened the decision

At the last US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) joint monthly meeting with Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, and Hindu Communities on August 1, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) was not invited following months long representations from other Indian minority groups.

The Nijjar murder as well as those that took place before that and were claimed by Indian nationalist groups seem to have hastened the decision to keep out HAF in order not to jeopardise the wellbeing of relatives of Muslim, Sikh and even some Hindu groups that participate in the closed-door meetings of US DoJ meetings with Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, and Hindu Communities (MASSAH), said sources.

But the HAF said it is yet to learn why it was excluded for the first time from the MASSAH meeting. “If you’re referring to being excluded from the MASSAH meeting, we’ve asked why we were excluded but have yet to receive a reply,” HAF spokesperson Mat McDermott told The Tribune.

In representations that began in January, Indian minority groups who have been critical of New Delhi have expressed the fear that HAF is connected to the Indian government and its presence at MASSAH could compromise the safety of the families back home of other participants.

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