Washington,
D.C. (June 6, 2013) -- A Hindu monk offered the opening prayer for the
House of Representatives and the birth sesquicentennial of Swami
Vivekananda, considered Hinduism's first ambassador to the West, was marked
in the Congressional record Tuesday morning. These two historical firsts
led up to a gala celebration attended by over 300 as the Hindu American
Foundation (HAF) marked its tenth year of advocacy on Capitol Hill. A
parade of Senate and House leaders took turns at the podium of the ornate
Caucus Room of the House Cannon Building and lauded the Foundation's
accomplishments over the years.
"The dividends of a decade of investments in education, advocacy, and
tireless interactions with every level of our nation's government were on
display throughout HAF's full day of events," said Mihir Meghani,
M.D., Co-Founder and member of the HAF Board of Directors. "A Hindu
prayer given on the floor of the House, and the words of Swami Vivekananda
offered by Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) inspired a remarkable day and will
carry us into the next decade of tireless work."
For the tenth consecutive year, over fifty delegates representing HAF
fanned out in teams visiting dozens of congressional offices on the Senate
and House sides of the U.S. Capitol on June 4. Delegates asked legislative
leaders in direct meetings to begin a congressional letter to Secretary of
State John Kerry, calling on the incoming Nawaz Sharif government of
Pakistan to take concrete steps to ease the continuing tragedy of religious
persecution and violence faced by Hindus, Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims, and
Christians there. They also called for the House Foreign Affairs and Senate
Foreign Relations Committees to host congressional hearings on the
retaliatory violence faced by Hindus and Buddhists in Bangladesh in the
wake of recent verdicts against Islamist leaders implicated for their roles
in the 1971 genocide during Pakistan's partition. Delegates covered
domestic issues as well, articulating uniquely Hindu perspectives on the
pending immigration legislation.
At noon, HAF delegates gathered in the gallery of the House of
Representatives within the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. On a joint
invitation of Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI),
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, spiritual head of Kauai's Hindu Monastery
and Publisher of the Hinduism Today magazine, offered a Hindu invocation to
open the day's House proceedings.
"The tragic Boston marathon bombings, still vivid in all our minds,
implore us to advocate the humanity of a nonviolent approach in all of
life's dimensions. Hindu scripture declares, without equivocation, that the
highest of high ideals is to never knowingly harm anyone," said
Bodhinatha, becoming the first Hindu sannyasin, or monk, to offer the
opening prayer for Congress. Chairman Royce, of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, took to the House floor after the invocation to thank
Bodhinatha, while acknowledging HAF's decade of advocacy and work on the
Hill.
As the gala reception got under way, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) accepted
HAF's Friend of the Community award while affirming his commitment to
ensuring that the FBI mandate a separate category for the tracking of data
for hate crimes committed against Hindus - a position long advocated by
HAF. Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY), Democratic co-chair of the
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, similarly was awarded
for his work on pushing for the anti-Hindu hate crime data category on the
House side. Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) accepted the third HAF Friend of
the Community Award for his commitment to promoting promoting pluralism and
inter-religious dialogue, and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), the first
Hindu American elected to Congress, was recognized for her history-making
win.
"Our government leaders are hearing from Hindu Americans in a
sustained, consistent way for the last decade, and the results are
showing," said Suhag Shukla, Esq., HAF's Executive Director and Legal
Counsel. "Our commitment to the community is to continue these
efforts, expand them, and usher in a new generation of Hindu American
leaders making a difference in political engagement."
Among the evening's other awardees were Professor Sachi Dastidar from State
University of New York Old Westbury, who received HAF's Dharma Seva Award,
Professor Ved Nanda from the University of Denver, the Pride of the
Community, and Professor Arvind Sharma from McGill University with HAF's
Mahatma Gandhi Award for the Advancement of Pluralism. Finally, HAF's
inaugural Award for the Advancement of Dharmic Arts and Humanities went to
Kanniks Kannikeswaran for his pioneering work in the Indian American choral
movement and whose locally-based choir performed sacred Hindu songs
throughout the evening's celebration.
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