America’s Georgia Assembly has passed a resolution condemning ‘Hinduphobia’ (prejudice towards Hinduism). It has become the first US state to take such a legal measure.
Condemning Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu bigotry, the resolution states that Hinduism is the world’s largest and oldest religion and is practiced by 1.2 billion people in more than 100 countries. The resolution stated that this religion incorporates diverse traditions and belief systems with values of acceptance, mutual respect and peace.
The proposal was introduced by Representatives Lauren McDonald and Todd Jones from Atlanta’s Forsyth County. A large number of Hindu and Indian-American communities live in Atlanta.
The resolution states that the American-Hindu community has made major contributions in diverse fields such as medicine, science and engineering, information technology, hospitality, finance, education, manufacturing, energy and retail.
It states that the community’s contributions to the fields of yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, food, music and the arts have enriched the cultural fabric and been widely adopted in American society and have improved the lives of millions of people. Is.
The resolution states that in the past few years, several cases of hate crimes against Hindu-Americans have been registered in many parts of the country. According to the resolution, Hinduphobia has been fueled by some “academicians who advocate destroying Hinduism and alleging violence and persecution on its holy scriptures and cultural practices”.
The move on this proposal is being spearheaded by the Atlanta chapter of the ‘Coalition of Hindus of North America’ (COHNA). It organized ‘Hindu Advocacy Day’ on 22 March at the ‘Georgia State Capitol’. It was attended by about 25 public representatives, including members of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
“It has been a great honor to work with McDonald and Jones, as well as the other public representatives who guided us through the entire process of passing this resolution,” said COHNA Vice President Rajeev Menon.
