Virtual Town Hall Focuses on Role of Federal Law Enforcement in Combating Hate and Bias Against Hindu Americans

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) recently hosted a virtual town hall event in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, focusing on the role of federal law enforcement in combating hate and bias targeting the Hindu American community. 

Michigan State Representative Padma Kuppa, the keynote speaker, touched on her work to combat hate/bias impacting the Hindu and broader AAPI community, and the importance of the community engaging with federal law enforcement and the DOJ. Kuppa’s address was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by HAF managing director Samir Kalra on the Federal response to bullying and religious discrimination, hate speech, community safety, and hate crimes. 

In her opening remarks, HAF Policy Director Taniel Koushakjian spoke about the organization’s work to address hate and bias. HAF played an instrumental role in adding an anti-Hindu category to FBI tracking of hate crimes in 2015, its seminal bullying survey, ‘Fight Hate. Educate’ campaign, and in state and federal advocacy to strengthen hate crimes reporting and training requirements for law enforcement.

“As the first and only Hindu in the Michigan legislature, I hope that speaking today on this sensitive and important topic helps other Hindus and Asian Americans of all backgrounds to stand tall, to resist bias and bullying, in whatever way they become engaged in the civic arena, and for all of us to work together to stop hate,” said Kuppa.  

Speakers included Justin Lock, DOJ CRS Special Assistant for AAPI Issues; Sarah Saenz, Acting Unit Chief with the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs Community Relations Unit; Sandra Torres, Supervisory Special Agent from the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division’s Civil Rights Unit; Laura Vartain Horn, Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California; and Sharanya Mohan, Assistant United States Attorney in the US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, in the Civil Division.

While Jewish Americans were the overwhelming majority of religiously motivated attacks, Sikh Americans, Muslim Americans, and Indian Americans also experienced alarming levels of violence.

“We’re thankful to all of the speakers for providing important insights on the work of the federal government to deal with issues of hate, bias, and discrimination and the resources available to assist the community,” said Kalra. “I look forward to many more similar events in partnership with the Department of Justice and opportunities for further dialogue and collaboration to help better protect the Hindu American community.”

A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data released last December revealed that hate crime levels in the United States have surpassed their highest levels in a decade. And continuing a trend that began in 2017, crimes against Indian Americans were also on the rise. 

According to the report in 2019 alone, a total of 8,559 hate-based incidents were reported, with 4,784 incidents motivated by race or ethnicity; 1,650 attacks were based on the victim’s religion. While Jewish Americans were the overwhelming majority of religiously motivated attacks, Sikh Americans, Muslim Americans, and Indian Americans also experienced alarming levels of violence. As per the report, approximately 219 Muslim Americans experienced hate-based incidents in 2019, the majority from White offenders, while 50 Sikh Americans and two Hindu Americans were targets of religiously motivated crimes by both White and Black offenders.

Earlier this month, a study by on the social, political, and foreign policy attitudes of Indian Americans, 50 percent of Indian Americans have been discriminated against in the past year alone. While Indian Americans regularly encounter discrimination, in the past year, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one in two Indian Americans reported being discriminated against. Discrimination based on skin color is identified as the most common form of bias.

Somewhat surprisingly, Indian Americans born in the United States are much more likely to report being victims of discrimination than their foreign-born counterparts. However, when asked to compare discrimination towards their community with that of African Americans, Hispanics or Asian people, 52 percent of Indian Americans believe that people here discriminate more against all of the other minority groups than they do against Indian Americans.

The study was co-authored by Sumitra Badrinathan, Devesh Kapur, Jonathan Kay, and Milan Vaishnav. 

Last month, President Joe Biden signed an executive order renewing a White House initiative charged with advancing “equity, justice, and opportunity” for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, including coordinating a “comprehensive” federal response to the rise in anti-Asian violence and discrimination. “For far too long, systemic barriers to equity, justice, and opportunity have put the American dream out of reach for many AA and NHPI communities, and racism, nativism, and xenophobia against AA and NHPI communities continues to threaten safety and dignity of AA and NHPI families,” the White House said in a fact sheet released then.