HAF’s 9th Annual Hindu Human Rights Report Release with Bodhinatha as Guest Chaplain

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) formally releases its 9th annual Hindu human rights report, Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Please join us for this unique press briefing and an opportunity to meet elected officials, community leaders, and members of the press.


Date: Wednesday, June 5
Time: 9:30am – 11:30am
Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St NW, Washington, D.C. 20045
RSVP: Jay Kansara, jay@hafsite.org or 202-223-8222

Featuring a new and distinct layout, HAF’s ninth annual Hindu Human Rights Report highlights violations against Hindus in nine countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago – and the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. The report provides detailed accounts of human rights violations in the areas of violence against women, forced conversions, mass violence, temple destruction, socio-political ostracization, economic and political marginalization, and discriminatory laws. To view HAF’s past human rights report, please click here.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami will be guest chaplain for the US House of Representatives and give the opening prayer on June 4, 2013. As guest chaplain, Bodhinatha will offer a short prayer just after 12:00 noon as the House begins its session. The invitation has come through Representative Ed Royce of California’s 39th District., inspired by the work of the Hindu American Foundation and timed to be part of their Tenth Annual Advocacy Day. HAF will host a Congressional reception for Senators and Representatives that same evening. Additionally, they will conduct personal meetings with individual members of Congress to present HAF’s legislative concerns, including the mistreatment of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, immigration reform and gun safety legislation.

Bodhinatha will be the third Hindu guest chaplain to give a prayer before the US Congress. The first was Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala of the Siva-Vishnu Temple of Parma, Ohio on September 14, 2000, to open the House of Representatives on the day that the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, addressed a joint session of Congress. The second guest chaplain was Rajan Zed of Reno, Nevada, who opened the US Senate on July 12, 2007, at the invitation of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

This press briefing is open to all HAF supporters. Be a part of this important event as HAF brings national attention to the plight of Hindu minorities around the world.

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