A recent report released by the California Civil Rights Department, based on the findings of the yearlong California vs Hate campaign revealed that Hinduphobia and incidents spurred by the anti-Hindu sentiments have risen sharply in the United States of America. Anti-Hindu incidents ranked second after Anti-Semitic incidents and surpasses incidents spurred by Islamophobia.
“Anti-Semitic (36.9 percent), Anti-Hindu (23.3 percent) and Anti-Muslim (14.6 percent) were the most cited reasons for reports related to religious targeting,” the California vs Hate Data showed. The data has been gathered on the basis of calls recived by the California vs State which is a non-emergency hate incident and hate crime reporting system.
The systems findings showed that it received 1020 actual reports of hate based on the information provided by the individual reporting the act and that four out of six people who reached out to them agreed to follow up for care coordination services, including direct and ongoing support accessing legal aid or counselling.
“Nearly 80 percent of the California Counties were represented, including all ten of the states most populated counties,” the report said. The CRD Report released on May 20, show that out of 1020 reported hate incidents, 580 of them have been verified. The report states that 35 percent incidents were motivated by race and ethnicity, 15 percent by gender identity, and nearly 11 percent by sexual exploitation. However, it doesn’t specify the exact percentage of hate incidents caused due to hostility towards religion.
“The report confirms what we already knew: Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu incidents are more relevant than previously reported. At the HAF we have seen an uptick in the reports of hate crimes and bias incidents from community members, particularly towards the latter half of the 2023 and beginning of 2024,” Samit Kalra, Managing Director of Policy and Programs at the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) while speaking to US based newspaper.
The Vijay Sherawali Temple in Hayward, California and Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple in California Newark were vandalised by miscreants who sprayed anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti on the temple premises. The rise in anti-Hindu hate incidents align with the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report which recorded 22 hate crimes against Hindus in 2022. Critics argue that hate crimes are often underreported due to voluntary law enforcement reporting and the high burden of proof needed to charge crimes.
Democrat US House of Representative Shri Thanedar from Michigan in April introduces a new legislation in the House of Representatives aimed to condemn Hinduphobia as well. He said “Today, I am seeing in the United States substantial increase in the number of attacks on Hinduism, a lot of misinformation being circulated. Having practiced Hinduism, having grown up in a Hindu household, I know what Hinduism is. It’s a very peaceful religion. It’s not a religion that attacks others, it’s not a religion that is aggressive against others.”
