Symbols of hate can never be disguised as symbols of celebration
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organization (FIACONA) opposes anti-Muslim float at India Day Parade August 18, 2024, in New York City
August 4, 2024
The Honorable Governor Kathy Hochul
Executive Chamber
New York State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
The Honorable Mayor Eric Adams
Mayor of the City of New York
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams:
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) is profoundly alarmed by the inclusion of an anti-Muslim float at the India Day Parade scheduled for August 18, 2024, in New York City.
This float, organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) in collaboration with the office of the Indian Consulate, the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), and the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), starkly contradict the intended values of inclusivity and respect that New York City and the state of New York uphold. The VHPA, an offshoot of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has been designated a “militant religious organization” by the CIA’s World Factbook.
Inordinate government funding went into the infrastructure and inauguration of the Ram Temple in January 2024 by India’s Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has heightened religious tensions, leading to widespread violence instigated by “triumphant Hindu mobs,” as reported by the Washington Post.
The newly built Ram Temple stands on the ruins of the historic 1528 Babri Mosque in the town of Ayodhya, which was deliberately demolished on December 6, 1992, by over 150,000 Hindu supremacists, triggering nationwide uprisings and the deaths of thousands, predominantly Muslim families. In November 2019, the Supreme Court of India awarded the site to Hindu supremacists for the construction of the temple, further legitimizing an act of violence against Muslim places of worship.
In August 2022, Hindu supremacist groups similarly provoked the India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey, into a hate event, by displaying a bulldozer symbolizing the demolition of Muslim homes and Christian churches in India, alongside images of Prime Minister Modi and other Hindu supremacist leaders. This incident was condemned by both U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez.
As Christians, we see firsthand the violent scapegoating and targeting of thousands of churches, schools, and community-based social outreach ministries that meet people’s essential needs, by organizations associated with the VHP and BAPS. These entities continue to function with national impunity even with international condemnation. We applaud Human Rights Watch which says the Indian government has not only failed to protect Muslims and other minorities from attacks, but authorities in India have now adopted laws and policies that systematically and proactively discriminate against Muslims and stigmatize critics of the government.
As Christians, we have initiated an Open Letter signed by over 300 clergy and lay leaders from across denominations and traditions condemning religious persecution in India, and growing Hindu supremacist religious nationalism in the U.S.
And as Christians, we have a profound responsibility to speak prophetic truth to power, having witnessed countless, generational burnings and bombings of churches by white supremacists, who target African American congregations, sacred spaces that provide sanctuary and hope. We stand with Indigenous and Native peoples whose sacred sites have repeatedly been desecrated and appropriated in attempts to erase their spiritual traditions in the name of religion. The devastation of the Babri Mosque and the subsequent erection of the Ram Temple compound these sorts of injustices because they perpetuate still another ethnonational agenda that is contrary to the global community that New York City and its people aspire to.
To stand by as our Muslim siblings experience similar attempts at erasure in India and see it legitimate in the U.S. makes Christians complicit.
Symbols of hate can never be disguised as symbols of celebration.
We respectfully request that your offices rescind the invitation for the Ram Temple float to be present in the India Day Parade and we further ask that you publicly and unequivocally repudiate the actions of the VHP and BAPS.
Thank you for your commitment to justice, fairness, and a genuine spirit of inclusion.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Neal Christie
Executive Director
FIACONA
Washington, DC
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Contact:
Neal Christie
FIACONA—Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America
2022854544
NealChristieUMC@gmail.com
This article is originally published on https://religionnews.com/2024/08/06/symbols-of-hate-can-never-be-disguised-as-symbols-of-celebration/
