The Namaste-Shalom Alliance: Hindu Nationalism & Zionism in Washington D.C.

10.23.23
Participants: World Hazara Council, Nachmann Mostovsky (Amariah), Meitei Association, Asra Nomani, Sundar Iyer (Cisco case), Richard Horowitz

The Briefing

On October 23, 2023, several people representing different ethnic and religious communities gathered for a Congressional Briefing at the Rayburn House. The briefing was hosted by Rep. Max Miller (OH) & organized in part by the pro-Hindutva PAC HinduACTion with Executive Director Utsav Chakrabarti

The goal was to discuss the October 7th resistance against Israel, rising anti-Semitism and “Hinduphobia”, and the vetoing of California bill SB403 (the bill that would have introduced protections against caste discrimination into California state law). The bill was unanimously approved by the eighty-member Assembly, only to be struck down at the last minute by Governor Gavin Newsom who caved to powerful Indian financial donors.

The speakers spoke of creating a “Namaste-Shalom alliance” that would rally against anti-Semitic & anti-Hindu hate crimes. The common thread was Islamophobia; all speakers targeted Islam as a supposed global threat collectively targeting their communities.

The Speakers
The speakers included far-right Zionist commentators, representatives from Hazara and Meitei organizations, the defendant in the Cisco caste case, and members of Congress. The briefing was moderated by Se Hoon Kim, a Senior Correspondent at GlobalStratView.

The first speaker was Asra Nomani, a right-wing author who has advocated for government surveillance of Muslim communities, spoke about her book Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance that is Destroying America’s Freedom.

She was followed by speaker Nachman Mostofsky, head of nonprofit Amariah, who opened with highly extremist Zionist rhetoric. According to him, Hamas controls “Hamasistan” and all they and Students for Justice in Palestine want is to kill Jewish people. He referred to “a culture of violence that must be eradicated” — clearly indicating Islam. Accompanying him was Richard Horowitz, a lawyer who said people saying Israel bombed hospitals were wrong due to the position of the blasts.

The next speaker was a representative from the Meitei community of India who accused the Indian American Muslim Council of canceling her invite to a congressional briefing on the genocide in Manipur, India. She stated that people were reducing the genocide to a religious conflict and that Meiteis are being unfairly targeted due to Hinduphobia because many are Hindu.

For context, in May 2023, the majority-Hindu Meitei community began attacking the majority-Christian Kuki-Zomi communities in Manipur. While it is true that both Indian and American mainstream commentators do not address the complexities of regional Indigenous politics or history, it is common practice for the upper-caste Hindu right to use whatever historic dynamics and oppressions are present to facilitate broader anti-Christian and anti-Muslim violence.

The next speaker was Rahela Kaveer, a representative of the World Hazara Council. She spoke of what she and other Hazara women suffered at the hands of the Taliban. Her conclusion was that the Taliban was representative of all of Islam and that this, like Nachman Mostofsky said, was the characteristic of a “globally violent culture”.

Sundar Iyer was the final speaker. Iyer was the defendant in the 2020 case brought against digital communications company Cisco Systems for caste discrimination. Iyer claimed that Hinduism was now a punching bag and that the 2020 case had assigned him a caste and religious identity even though he is an atheist (note: one’s caste identity doesn’t change according to when one is actively practicing a religion or not). He also stated that being anti-Israel is the same as being “Hinduphobic,” and that Equality Labs, a Dalit feminist civil rights organization, was anti-Semitic and anti-Hindu because they supposedly said that Jewish people killed Jesus (there is no record of Equality Labs saying this).

The main visit was from Congressman Shri Thanedar, a Democrat from Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. Congressman Thanedar is the creator of the Dharma Caucus (a supposed Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain caucus). Sikh and Buddhist organizations have spoken out against their inclusion and have stated that no permission was given.

He spoke of being proud to start the Hindu Caucus and of the need to unite against “Hinduphobia”. In terms of Israel, Thanedar clarified that he felt Hamas needed to be eliminated to prevent them from ever regrouping. Thanedar also repeated common Zionist talking points about protecting Palestinians from Hamas.

George Santos was the only other Representative who attended and he echoed similar rhetoric.

The meeting then concluded with a reification of the “Namaste-Shalom Alliance” and a vigil for Israel in Lafayette Square Park.

The Briefing Follow-Up:
Youtube — Utsav Chakrabarti • Hindu, Jewish, Multi-faith communities with Israel • Congressional Briefing
Participants: HinduAction PAC, Sree Iyer, Se Hoon Kim

Participants have been planning since 2022 to “coordinate with like-minded allies” An alliance was apparently made between Hindus & Hazara communities in 2022, which then coalesced even further on October 7th..

Activists protesting for Palestine are seen as the activists previously protesting “against Hindus”. A piece of rhetoric used was that the “terrorists” are looking at India as the “last frontier to conquer” but Israel stands in their way. India is apparently the “only civilized state” in the “Caliphate Belt”.

Speakers emphasized that there is a growing alliance of “pro-Hamas” groups (ex. Equality Labs, Indian American Muslim Council, JVP) that seeks to target Jews, Hindus, and Hazaras. Speakers claimed that Hindus for Human Rights, Equality Labs, and JVP are funded by Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC).

Conclusion
The Namaste-Shalom Alliance is not a new phrase. It is a phrase that was echoed by S Jaishankar, India’s Minister of External Affairs, and Yair Lapid, Israeli Opposition leader, when they co-wrote an essay in 2022.

As this alliance strengthens in the United States, those committed to fighting these Hindutva and Zionist forces must unite around this shared struggle as well.

Sources
Congressman Thanedar’s Briefing Speech
Summary of Briefing
Times of India Report