Our 2019 Advocacy Day Was a Success! Read and See the Story Inside
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A publication of the Hindu American Foundation NEWS JUNE 2019 | V.13-1 OUR 2019 ADVOCACY DAY WAS A SUCCESS! READ AND SEE THE STORY INSIDE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY Suhag A . Shukla, Esq Taniel Koushakjian MANAGING DIRECTOR & CFO DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Sheetal Shah Mat McDermott IN THIS ISSUE MANAGING DIRECTOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR Samir Kalra, Esq Tejus Shah 2019 ADVOCACY DAY MEET THE INTERN CLASS OF 2019 . .5 . SENIOR DIRECTOR OF ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERSHIPS OF PROGRAMS WAS A SUCCESS! . 2-3 EDUCATION Seetha Aiyar Aesha Mehta DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR POLICY Holi Hai! Presenting the HAF Holi Toolkit . 6. Shereen Bhalla, PhD OF DEVELOPMENT Krishna Parmar WATCH: The History of the Kashmir Conflict . 4. Exciting Education Updates . 6 . DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS OFFICE MANAGER Jay Kansara Deidra Prather COMMUNITY HAF IN ACTION . 7 CALIFORNIA To Use or Not To Use? Guidelines for ADVOCACY DIRECTOR Commercial Use of Hindu Images . 4. Easan Katir A NOTE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY . 5 . Arjun Bhagat LEADERSHIP COUNCIL Rishi Bhutada Rachita Chandak Pawan Deshpande Arvind Chandrakantan Mihir Meghani Nikhil Joshi, Esq Rajiv Pandit Raman Khanna Aseem Shukla Kavita Pallod Fred Stella Swaminathan Venkataraman OUR 2019 ADVOCACY DAY WAS A SUCCESS! On June 24, our delegation of Kashmir has been overlooked 80 Hindu Americans took the by the international community,” issue of terrorism in Kashmir noted HAF Board Member Rajiv to over 100 Congressional Pandit, himself a member of the offices during our 16th Annual Kashmiri Pandit community, now Advocacy Day. Dozens of living in Texas. Hindu Kashmiri Pandits from Over 300 people attended the around the country joined reception to honor this year’s our delegation to provide first awardees which included: hand accounts of the situation in Kashmir and advocated ✚ Bansi Pandit for passage of H.Res. 408 Dharma Seva Award (Condemning the Feb. 14 ✚ Subhash Kak, Ashok Koul, Pulwama Terrorist Attack in Arti Tiku Kaul the Indian State of Jammu Award for the Advancement and Kashmir). Delegates also of Dharmic Arts and advocated for the passage Sciences of H.R. 2123 (The U.S.-India Enhanced Cooperation Act ✚ Vijay Sazawal, Deepak of 2019). Ganju, Sunil Fotedar Award for the Advancement In a first, this year’s Capitol Hill of Hindu Human Rights Reception was co-hosted by HAF and the Indo-American ✚ Representative Brad Kashmir Forum, with the Sherman (D-CA) partnership of Kashmir Hindu Friend of the Community Foundation — all groups ✚ Ambassador advocating for justice for Sam Brownback the Hindu Kashmiri Pandit Mahatma Gandhi Award for community. Advancing Pluralism “For too long the religio-ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley of 2 | HAFNEWS | JUNE 2019 If you listen to the mainstream media tell pants or shorts; footwear, of any type Washington University, and I began to the story though, you’ll get none of that. and material; swimwear; door mats, rugs; A NOTE FROM study the growing and diverse number alcohol, meat; yoga mats, skateboards, of ethnic advocacy organizations in So HAF took action. We’ve released two POLICY anything where the image is likely to be THE DIRECTOR Washington, DC. videos of a three part series that presents destroyed through normal intended usage, the facts about the conflict of Kashmir. What I learned was that the Hindu and intended to be stepped upon; anything Search for “Hindu American Foundation” OF PUBLIC Indian American community is a lot like WATCH: The History intended to be placed in spaces reserved on YouTube to find the first two videos. the Armenian American community for defecation, or placed on or near bodily POLICY – strong family values, a unique and of the Kashmir organs of reproduction and elimination. ancient cultural identity anchored by Conflict Growing up in South Florida as an a religion with a profound ancient CAUTION: American of Armenian descent, and the One of the biggest myths about Kashmir tradition, a proud (and often overlooked) MAY CAUSE OFFENSE great grandson of genocide survivors, is that it’s disputed territory. It’s not. It’s an people who had contributed richly to I know first hand what life is like for a integral part of India. COMMUNITY Bath towels, shower curtains, dish human civilization – and it has huge second generation American. towels; mouse pads; leather items; any potential to be a driving force for sound Its political leaders may have changed US policy that reflects our shared vision item with significant material modification After graduating from Florida Atlantic many times, but for centuries Kashmir has To Use or Not To for a better, safer, more inclusive world. of a Deity (placing non-traditional items University with a BA in Political Science, been an integral part of the geography in the hands of Nataraja, for example); I moved to Washington, DC in 2006, where and cultural milieu of India. Use? Guidelines for It’s therefore my honor and privilege to Whether it is advancing US policy on any item that is likely to get regularly dirty I joined the Armenian Assembly of America, join HAF to advance our common cause. Capitol Hill and with the Administration, It’s been a renowned center of Hindu and Commercial Use of through normal intended usage. the largest Armenian advocacy organization I see great value in the mission of raising accurate awareness of Hindu Buddhist learning, of the arts and material in the US. I was proud to advance several Hindu Images “promoting dignity, mutual respect, and Americans, Hinduism, and India in the culture, going back millennia. GENERALLY ACCEPTABLE: LESS pieces of legislation, some of which pluralism.” That’s another way of saying academic and think-tank spheres of In June, HAF released general guidelines became law, related to human rights, In 1947, Pakistan (and the departing British) LIKELY TO CAUSE OFFENSE “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” influence, or simply expanding the HAF for manufacturers, retailers, and marketing international religious freedom, and wanted to force the merger of Kashmir footprint in our nation’s capital, I am departments for where images of Hindu Shirts, hats, pins, stickers; magnets; U.S. foreign policy issues in Congress. with Pakistan, leading Pakistan’s military HAF has many impressive state and excited to be a part of the HAF family. deities and other religious symbols shawls; wall hangings, decorations, and federal accomplishments in our brief to invade and occupy much of the state. During my 10+ year career on Capitol shouldn’t be used, not only to avoid causing decals; phone covers, laptop covers; tote history and it is my goal to expand on that Taniel Koushakjian Kashmir’s ruler at the time then appealed Hill, I earned a Master’s Degree in offense, but to be culturally respectful with bags; vegetarian food products (keeping success and help take HAF to new heights. Director of Public Policy, HAF to the newly independent state of India for Political Management from The George iconography that over 1 billion Hindus in mind that eggs are not traditionally help and decided to legally join India. around the globe consider sacred. considered a vegetarian food by many And just a few decades ago the Hindu Hindus), vegan food products. Kashmiri Pandit community was ethnically DON’T DO IT : cleansed from their ancestral home in the WILL CAUSE OFFENSE Valley of Kashmir. Bathmats, toilet seats or seat covers; underwear (men’s or women’s), socks, MEET THE INTERN CLASS OF 2019 Shoumik Dabir Kali Luthra Dev Desai This year’s cohort of outstanding University of Texas at Austin American University Marquette University undergraduates spent eight exciting weeks in our nation’s capital, thanks to the generosity of Professor Dinesh O. Shah. His $50,000 donation provided these young leaders with unparalleled experience in Hindu American and public policy advocacy. Take a moment Naman Gupta Akesh Shah Komal Kamdar to meet our interns. Emory University Boston University University of Virginia Nidhi Patel University of Michigan 4 | HAFNEWS | JUNE 2019 HAF Holi Toolkit HAF Holi Toolkit If there’s something strange in your Rangoli Coloring Activity neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Rangoli is an art form in which patterns are created on the floor or the ground HAF H HAF Holioli TToolkit using materials such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or flower petals. They oolkit HAF are usually made during Diwali, Holi, and other Hindu festivals. Directions HAF Holi Toolkit HAF Holi Toolkit Step 1: Listen Step 2: Identify & Find Step 3: Locate and Color Part 3: Color and Its Significance Listen to the teacher say the word and Identify the color vowel, then find the Locate the printed word on the rangoli repeat the word with a full-body gesture Holi Toolkit corresponding pencil or crayon and color in the areas accordingly. to indicate stress. (e.g. “lila, lila, GREEN TEA, lila!”). The condo board said, “Our policy does not permit any The depiction of some Gods When a condo board as blue toned is an example of the importance of symbolism in Holi Fact Sheet White is composed of many colors and hangings above doors.” Yet, mezuzahs adorned many of the Hinduism. Blue, the color of the sky, represents the limitlessness of the has special significance in Hinduism Holi is a Hindu festival celebrating the start of spring, which is the season of hope sky and universe. as it represents purity, new in NY told a Hindu f Many Hindu beginnings, and death. Those in ngoli e rang ra s oli color of water, Bluewhich is isalso life- the t prayer rituals call doors in hallways. The board refused to dialog with the family.