Hindus For Human Rights

What happens when we stop treating Ambedkar as an untouchable icon and start engaging him as a thinker, strategist, and historical figure? HfHR Advisory Board member @AnandTeltumbde discusses Iconoclast with Sandesh Awdan in this thoughtful full-length conversation. Watch: buff.ly/XfavQxl

This weekend, our Seattle chapter came together with folks from @IAMCouncil and other allied groups to call for the resignation of election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

On #MirabaiJayanti, we remember a poet-saint whose devotion to Krishna became a radical claim to spiritual freedom. Mirabai challenged limits imposed by society, leaving a legacy in which bhakti could become both devotion and resistance Read more: buff.ly/HVeO5ha

Democracy has become an obstacle course. Jantar Mantar Chalo lets you build a protest, dodge police, evade surveillance and somehow reach the place where you’re supposed to be allowed to dissent. You can’t barricade the imagination. buff.ly/YTihMY1

What should Hinduism’s relationship with the Constitution and the democratic state look like? On Oct. 31 in Delhi, Hinduism in Public Life launches w a debate on whether the Constitution should regulate Hindu temples. Seeing Equally will also be available at the event. 📍 Constitution Club | 5 PM

Public execution is not justice. Hindu traditions ask us to recognize the dignity of life and resist cruelty, not turn state violence into spectacle. The fact that this was seriously proposed should alarm us, even after the livestream was canceled. www.npr.org

We strongly condemn the Assam government's decision to evict more than 1,000 Muslim families from Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest. Forced eviction is a cornerstone policy of apartheid, and the Assamese government is building an apartheid state to persecute Muslims  buff.ly/QCNXyl0

Hindu heritage is not Hindutva. Ahead of Jersey City’s Oct. 23 Hindu Heritage Celebration, we’re asking Council members to disclose the event’s sponsors and refuse to legitimize organizations associated with religious supremacy, hate, or exclusion. Take action: buff.ly/0wZT4Wb

A free press is part of satya, the pursuit of truth. Journalists should be able to document protests without detention, intimidation or violence. @NiemanReports looks at the pressure facing reporters covering India’s youth-led movement. buff.ly/UNH9L2q

India’s democracy is finding new life in the streets. This is a reminder that dharma is not obedience to power. It includes responsibility, conscience and the courage to speak when democratic rights are under strain. buff.ly/raXAPQN

Tomorrow: Join @DesiRainbow for We Are Not the First, a celebration of the generations of LGBTQIA+ activists and community builders who came before us, and the movements they made possible. 🗓 Oct. 22 | 8–9:30 PM ET 🏳️‍🌈 Register: buff.ly/4bml7mO

Hindus for Human Rights New Jersey chapter leader Nerisha and her husband had a great time tabling and meeting community members at @aapi.montclair Light Up Diwali in Montclair! We are excited to build an inclusive Hindu community in New Jersey.

We’re honored to join the reopening of Shri Shakti Mariammaa Temple in Queens, Oct. 31–Nov. 1. 🪔 Prayer, devotional singing, celebration and community as devotees welcome the Divine Mother back into Her home. 📍135-26 Rockaway Blvd, South Ozone Park All are welcome. buff.ly/ub2aMuF

“Young people of India have given us the most hopeful moment for a very long time.” @SalmanRushdie, via @amitavakumar in @thewire_in. This Diwali, we celebrate the courage to defend an India that belongs to everyone. buff.ly/42HNiEH

Civil society in Gujarat is pushing back against efforts to make garba a space of religious exclusion. Our traditions are strongest when they bring people together, not police who belongs. buff.ly/Ikbpj89

Dozens rallied in Philadelphia in solidarity with India’s youth-led movement for fair elections and democratic rights. Proud to see HfHR board member Ramya Devan helping bring the diaspora together to defend the vote. Read more in @PhillyInquirer: buff.ly/sVUxgJ3

We were proud to help bring New Yorkers together at Union Square in solidarity with India’s youth-led movement for democracy. As @nyunews reports, the message was clear: voting rights, peaceful protest and dissent are not privileges governments get to withdraw. buff.ly/fvG3lA6

We honor Joya Sikder, a Bangladeshi trans rights defender who has spent decades building visibility, dignity and political voice for transgender and gender-diverse communities. buff.ly/bE9nj7n

From Union Square today: voting rights, civil liberties and the freedom to dissent are not gifts bestowed by governments. They belong to the people. HfHR stands with those defending Indian democracy from repression and majoritarian rule.

We honor Gita Rani Kanu, a Bangladeshi organizer fighting for tea workers’ land rights, fair wages and union democracy. She was detained in September following a workers’ rights protest.

“We deserve more than the luck of a malfunctioning gun.” HfHR Chicago Chapter Leader Rishab, on the attempted mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora, calling for accountability, solidarity & rejecting efforts to turn communities against one another. buff.ly/2hfcnM2 #HindusForHumanRights

#Navratri2026 | We honor Imaan Mazari, a Pakistani human rights lawyer defending victims of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and state abuse despite extraordinary personal risk. Front Line Defenders buff.ly/bE9nj7n

The @nytimes profiles Neha Bora, one of the clearest young voices insisting that dissent, protest and public participation still belong in India. Dharma asks something of us in public life: courage, truth-telling, and responsibility when power closes ranks. buff.ly/AMTHdSx

Day 6 of the #WeekOfPrayerForWorldPeace holds special meaning for us, honoring HfHR co-founder Sunita Viswanath and our work. Our Hindu faith calls us not away from the world, but toward justice, dignity and care for one another. 🕊️ Watch: buff.ly/hH0ZBRi Full week: buff.ly/pQDdJxj

What does it mean to live our faith in a time of division? Gandhi’s legacy remains contested, but his insistence that religion must answer to truth, nonviolence and the dignity of our neighbors still demands reflection. A timely read from @OpenTheMagazine. buff.ly/v7oW0Hs

#Navratri2026 | We honor the women students of Delhi University demanding safer campuses and public spaces without curfews, victim-blaming or restrictions on women’s freedom. Hum Auratein Azaad Hain. buff.ly/bE9nj7n

India’s freedom struggle taught the world the power of peaceful protest. Criminalizing dissent today betrays that legacy and its democratic dharma. The world is watching. Students are not the enemy. End the crackdown and free peaceful protesters. buff.ly/qfLPfTt

Six more U.S. cities are mobilizing in defense of Indian democracy this week, from Chicago to New York, over voter-roll exclusions, the right to peaceful protest and women’s safety. Read our latest: buff.ly/2b8riOD

India’s young people are demanding answers about jobs, representation and an electoral roll revision that has deleted more than 130 million names. They deserve answers, not repression. The @FT is right: Modi cannot silence India’s disaffected youth. buff.ly/xq6RHXE

#Navratri2026 Power must answer to people. We honor Anjali Bhardwaj (@AnjaliB_), whose work helps citizens use their right to information to question government and demand accountability. buff.ly/bE9nj7n Background

This is what anti-Indian, anti-Hindu hate looks like offline. Police say a 19-yo plotting an attack on a Hindu temple had a rifle, body armor, hundreds of rounds & a white-supremacist manifesto. When Indians are called an “invasion” & Hindu gods demonic this is the result buff.ly/K998IFW

Friday in DC: Prisoner No. 626710 Is Present, Lalit Vachani’s film on the imprisonment of Umar Khalid. Oct. 16, 6 PM Bol Co-op, 716 Monroe St. NE Register: buff.ly/2AqB6ed @FreeUmarKhalid1 #FreeUmarKhalid

Development should not erase communities. We honor Divya Ahirwar, organizing with women affected by the Ken-Betwa project for fair compensation, rehabilitation and a voice in their future. buff.ly/bE9nj7n #Navratri2026

Grateful that international outrage helped overturn Anojan Sivarasa’s death sentence.“Blasphemy” cannot be an excuse to take a life. Faith should call us toward compassion and dignity. His case is not over. buff.ly/dyJ3zpV

CHANGE.ORG PETITION India’s students should be heard, not beaten, dragged away or arbitrarily detained for peaceful protest. A democracy should not fear its young people or silence those asking hard questions. Stand with India’s students. Sign and share: buff.ly/gfim5fC

A democracy needs an independent judiciary, and it also needs the right to protest, dissent and demand accountability. This @frontline_india piece examines the tensions now testing both in India, and why defending one cannot mean abandoning the other. buff.ly/XAvWwGq

NYC: Join us Sunday at 12 PM in Union Square for a rally in solidarity with people across India defending democracy, equality and justice. Featuring Abby Govindan, Aatish Taseer, Shaifali Puri, Shruti Ganguly, Sunita Viswanath & Yashica Dutt. 📍 Gandhi Statue

The death penalty cannot be a tool for enforcing religious conformity. Sri Lankan migrant worker Anojan Sivarasa faces execution in Saudi Arabia over a Facebook comment deemed blasphemous. We join @amnesty in calling for his conviction to be overturned. buff.ly/L9afw9G

#Navratri2026 No gender justice without caste justice. We honor Dalit feminist Manjula Pradeep (@ManjulaHPradeep), who supports survivors of violence and builds Dalit women's leadership.

Excellent profile by @geetapandeyBBC for @BBCNews on Neha Bora and the Gen Z movement challenging the Modi government over education, unemployment and electoral integrity. Proud to stand with Neha and this growing movement for Indian democracy. buff.ly/eyMkAOS

A powerful and necessary essay by Pramila Venkateswaran on feminism, Palestine, and the danger of selective human rights. We’re also grateful to see HfHR and our co-founder Sunita Viswanath mentioned in the piece. Read in @CounterPunch: buff.ly/kvFwSq8

NATASHA NARWAL Feminist organizer + Pinjra Tod co-founder Challenges curfews and restrictions imposed in the name of safety, defending women’s freedom to study, move, organize and speak out. #Navratri2026 #ShaktiInAction #PinjraTod #WomensFreedom

Congratulations to Jyotswaroop Kaur, and thank you to @sikhcoalition_ed Harman Singh for your years of service and advocacy. We’re excited to continue working with @sikhcoalition, a critical voice for the civil rights and safety of Sikh Americans. buff.ly/eoCIc0H

Three years of war in Gaza, in numbers, the scale is staggering.: At least 74,000 Palestinians killed, including 21,000 children. More than 175,000 wounded. 90% of the population displaced. 94% of health facilities damaged or out of service. buff.ly/BO9ATHD

#Navratri2026 | We honor Neha Bora (@neha_aisa), organizing for electoral accountability and the right to protest in India. Celebrating Shakti means standing with women who challenge power. buff.ly/bE9nj7n

Three years of genocide have left Gaza’s survivors living with trauma they cannot begin to recover from while the violence continues. Gaza writer Said Alsaloul describes what statistics cannot capture: the daily reality of survival, grief and fear. buff.ly/rnQAFQ6

Charitable status is no shield from scrutiny. @bellingcat traces $24.4m in US donor-advised grants to Ekal USA and Sewa USA, documenting RSS connections. Seva demands accountability. Hindu nationalism does not get a charitable cover. buff.ly/3lZv7di

NYC TODAY, 5:30 PM: Join us at the Gandhi Statue in Union Square for our In Defense of Indian Democracy rally. Afterward, we’ll march together to Foley Square to join the larger protest against yesterday’s ICE shooting. Bring signs, friends & your voice.

As mass voter deletions spark protests, @reporters_co finds missing public records for 1.618 million additions in Uttar Pradesh. The duty to protect the vote demands ethical, trustworthy scrutiny of who is removed and who is added. #VotingRights buff.ly/MONtYmO

India’s Supreme Court demands answers over mass voter-roll deletions, @guardian reports. Power carries a duty to uphold truth and justice. The right to vote cannot depend on those in power deciding whose voice counts #VotingRights buff.ly/g4XC0qL