NEELA PANDYA
WASHINGTON: Alarming as it may seem, but it is the finding of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in USA that there have been 12 documented incidents and 14 offenses against Hindus in the US in 2018. This is an increase from 11 reported incidents in 2017 and 10 incidents in 2016, marking the third straight year of increased violence targeting Hindu Americans.
The FBI 2018 Hate Crime Statistics Report revealed that hate crime incidents decreased slightly last year, from 7,175 in 2017 to 7,120 in 2018. But in the case of Hindus, there has been an increase and that is disturbing
“While the reporting, collection, and analysis of hate crime incidents in the US has vastly improved, a large gap still remains given the voluntary nature of the program as well as the stigma associated with reporting these types of crimes to the police. This leads to skewed data which makes it difficult to track and thus appropriately respond to hate crimes,” said Samir Kalra, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) managing Director
In 2013, following an increase in attacks on Hindu temples and individuals, and due to the work of HAF in partnership with other groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, the FBI created a separate category to track hate crimes against Hindus. Since then the team has been working to close the gap through legislation, by directly training law enforcement on Hinduism and anti-Hindu hate, and by educating Hindu temple leaders in America with the HAF Temple Safety & Security Guide.
For instance, HAF supported the No Hate Act (S.2043/H.R.3545) currently pending in Congress, and has supported this legislation since it was first introduced in 2016. In addition to HAF’s advocacy on Capitol Hill, the foundation worked tirelessly in California to advocate for the passage of a series of bills that strengthen the process of hate crime reporting as well as train law enforcement on how to identify, address, and report violence that is motivated by hate.
The expanded anti-hate crime legislation came just months ago, when 13 year-old Dhriti Narayan was attacked, along with her brother and father, in Sunnyvale, California.
HAF is working to help track incidents of identity-based or bias-motivated intimidation, threats, harassment, and violence being experienced in our communities through its Bias-Motivated Crime Data Collection Form.
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