Coalition Letter on Rutgers CSRR's "Hindutva" Report

A Broad Coalition of Organizations Slams Attempts by Privileged Progressive Academics to Target the Hindu Community and Advance Bigotry In the Name of Equality and Religious Pluralism

Friday, July 11th. New Jersey. On May 28th, The Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights released a report titled “Hindutva in America: An Ethnonationalist Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism” – a repackaging of propaganda previously used to target US based Hindu organizations and individuals, accusing them of violence, Islamophobia, and even supporting terror. 

The bulk of the material recycles cherry picked anecdotes and tired tropes that have been proven wrong over and over again (the most recent rebuttal by StopHinduDvesha is published here). Our letter sheds light on the backgrounds of those behind the “report” and a recently held event with the same title. While they pretend to be progressive, “anti-fascist,” and claim to stand for truth and justice, these individuals and organizations have a history of supporting terrorism and antisemitism, peddling Hinduphobia, and supporting calls to dismantle Hinduism. 

Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights (RCSRR)

• RCSRR is currently under investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee for “promoting anti-Semitism, individuals who justify violence against Israel, terrorist sympathizers, and advocates of domestic radicalism.”
• RCSRR has also received condemnation from both sides of the aisle, including NJ Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer. In a press release on December 14, 2021, Gottheimer cited several problematic examples of RCSRR’s activities:
  • In September 2021, which marked the 20th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in US history, the RCSRR invited speakers who have ties to terrorist organizations like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
  • Another event hosted Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) — whose officials have connections to Al-Qaeda and Hamas networks.

Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR)

• Both the IAMC and HfHR have a long history of anti-Hindu activism, including working closely with individuals like Pieter Friedrich, who holds extremely hateful views about the LBGTQ community (his 2003 essay, for example, is titled “Homosexuality: A Hate-filled Lifestyle”), and has been called out by none other than Reverend Jesse Jackson for death threats and hate speech against Hindu Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. 
• HfHR regularly partners with or platforms those with direct links to terror groups. They also publicly extol and draw inspiration from rankly antisemitic individuals—even those who have denied the Holocaust or spread theories that blame Jews for 9-11.
• IAMC’s events have included speakers with a history of support for terrorism. In addition, its officers have openly defended terrorists and extremist groups:
  • In 2003 and 2008, IAMC’s conferences featured Asim Ghafoor, a spokesperson for three charities shut down for links to terrorism. For instance, the Global Relief Foundation (GRF), shut down by the United States Government in 2001 for links to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. A US Treasury Department memo outlined GRF’s role in funding terrorism extensively, including  “…the shipment of material to a terrorist organization operating in the Kashmir region and through financial transactions with a Texas-based charitable organization. Most recently, in May 2025, Ghafoor pleaded guilty to filing false taxes from 2012 and 2016, resulting in a tax evasion of $354,634. Ghafoor is scheduled to be sentenced in September and can face up to three years imprisonment.
  • In 2014, Ajit Sahi, IAMC’s Advocacy Director called ISIS and Hamas as “freedom fighters” and a “people’s movements [who] had no choice but to take up arms.” He even tweeted: “A US citizen has the right to kill trespassers on his land. But the Taliban and ISIS are terrorists when they shoot the invader?”
  • Dr. Shaik Ubaid, IAMC’s founding president, was the Associate Editor of The Message, a newsletter of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). CNA’s October 1997 edition of The Message prominently featured an exclusive interview with Syed Salahuddin Ahmed, the Supreme Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a terrorist organization that advocates a violent armed struggle against India in Kashmir. In the December 1997 edition of The Message, ICNA openly glorified Jibril Abu-Adam (born Lawrence Nicholas Thomas) as a “shaheed” (martyr) in the name of Jihad in Kashmir. Abu-Adam, who trained at terrorist camps in Pakistan, was killed in a skirmish in Kashmir along with other terrorists who had crossed over from Pakistan.
  • The CAIR connection: IAMC works closely with the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” by the United States Government in the 2007 United States vs. Holy Land Foundation, the largest terror financing case in US history. Following the trial, the FBI suspended formal contacts and relationships with CAIR. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) placed CAIR on its terrorism list and in 2023, the White House slammed CAIR for Executive Director Nihad Awad’s comments following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Furthermore, several states – Florida, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas – have introduced resolutions calling on law enforcement and governmental agencies to avoid and suspend all interactions with CAIR.

Professor Audrey Truschke and Professor Dheepa Sundaram

• There is a plethora of information about Professor Audrey Truschke and her bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. And previous reports have detailed how Truschke, Sundaram and a host of South Asian academics “cry Hindutva” while espousing venom against Hindu deities, practices, and individuals, including stalking the parents of young Hindu women on LinkedIn.
  • Most infamously, Truschke has called Rama, one of the most revered Hindu deities, “a misogynistic pig,” even while falsely claiming that she was merely paraphrasing the work of Professor Robert Goldman of UC Berkeley, a reputed scholar on Hinduism (Goldman has denounced Truschke’s comments). This is not a question of her personal opinion on Hindu deities, but her dishonesty in misrepresenting sacred texts and their well established English translations.
  • She has also claimed that The Bhagavad Gita, the most well-known Hindu text around the world which inspired many world leaders, “rationalizes mass slaughter” of human beings, and has falsely compared a horrific gangrape incident in India to an instance in the popular Hindu text The Mahabharata, suggesting that the text rationalizes rape and other social problems in India.
  • In 2021, more than 75 major Hindu temples and spiritual organizations sent a complaint to Rutgers University, raising concerns about Truschke’s open bigotry and demonization of Hinduism in the name of academic freedom. Are these 75 temples and spiritual organizations considered “Hindu extremists” for speaking up against anti-Hindu hate and a desecration of their religion?
  • In September 2021, Truschke and Sundaram, along with the IAMC and HfHR, sponsored and supported the “Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference,” where speaker after speaker openly targeted Hinduism – comparing it to Nazism and calling it a threat to democracy, equality, and brotherhood. One speaker described Hindutva as “spreading the tentacles of Hinduism in every society.” Another professor singled out and targeted five Hindu last names, calling them supporters of violence and essentially putting a target on every Hindu student with those last names. The same professor then went on to say how Hinduism inspired Nazism. And during the conference, Sundaram falsely equated popular Hindu festivals like Durga Puja to caste oppression. Even while these academics and organizations continue to claim that Hindutva is different from Hinduism, the conference speakers made it clear that there is no difference between the two. None of the organizers denounced these speakers – thus confirming the hollowness of their argument that Hindutva is different from Hinduism.
  • The constant attempts to link Nazism with Hinduism also explains the report’s focus on the Swastika (p.24) and accusing Hindu groups of “misguided swastika propaganda” for presenting research that showcases how Hitler’s symbol was called the Hakenkreuz (“hooked cross”) and not the sacred Swastika. Interestingly, while Truschke and company target Hindu groups, some of the most important and pioneering research on this has been produced by Japanese Buddhist monk Dr. T.K. Nakagaki and Jewish scholar Jeff Kelman. Are these two “Hindutva extremists”?

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)

• SALDEF has been an open supporter of the Khalistan movement, a dangerous transnational movement that has been responsible for terrorism and targeted killings of Hindus and Sikhs. In 1984,  Khalistani organizations issued a call to “kill 50,000 Hindus” at an event in New York. Khalistani violence led to the Kanishka Air bombing by Khalistani extremists, the largest terrorist attack on Canadian soil and the worst aviation terror incident prior to 9-11. Sadly, this year marks the 40th anniversary of that terror attack.

Supporters of the Khalistan movement in US have been targeting Hindu temples in the US and Canada with distressing regularity. 5 temples have been vandalized in 14 months in the US, yet we find the RCSRR report make no mention of these, even as they seek to defame the Hindu organizations fighting for protection of Hindu temples and individuals.

A Note on the Sponsors of the RCSRR

Rutgers CSRR lists four official sponsors of the Center staff. If the Hindutva report seeks to judge Hindu community in America by the alleged company it keeps, it is only fair to measure CSRR by the actual people funding it.

• NJ Muslim Lawyers Association –  The First Amendment guarantees the right of association to all. But it is entirely hypocritical for a religion based association to turn around and criticize Hindu Americans for forming groups such as the Coalition of Hindus of North America, the Hindu American Foundation, etc.
• The Law firm of Awad and Khoury –  Abed Awad, the partner of A & K has funded a report that criticizes the leadership of Hindu Advocacy organizations such as CoHNA and HAF for their activism during their time as students. But in a wide ranging interview, Abed Awad acknowledges his Palestinian roots, consistently refers to Israel as “settler colonialist project,” his own activism as a student in Palestine and how he brought that activism to his US campus as a student at Saint Peters College in New Jersey.  In his own words: “[Organizing with the Palestinian American Community Center] was a no-brainer for me. We started organizing as students back in 1987, 88 and that has driven my political activism.”
• The Law Firm of Rajeh Saadeh LLC is listed as another sponsor. The report he sponsored accuses Hindu Americans of discriminating against minority groups. But Mr. Saadeh sued his own Bar Association, accusing them of reverse discrimination. He claimed that the Bar Association’s attempt to increase diversity on its Board by appointing LGBTQ and senior citizens lawyers was discriminating against him, as a Palestinian American Muslim. The Appeals court dismissed his claims and shut him down. But the suit laid bare his hypocrisy in opposing affirmative action for groups he personally disapproves of.
• Law Firm of Lloyd and Mousilli – 46-year-old Mr Mousilli was arrested at Houston International Airport in November 2024 and charged with sexual performance by a child. The charges are based on photographic evidence of Mr. Mousilli in a sexual relationship with a 16 year old girl he solicited on the Bumble App.

Academic Freedom or Academic Tyranny?

The authors of the report put themselves beyond any criticism by invoking “academic freedom.” They are quick to dismiss any pushback as an attempt to silence academic freedom. This fraud is entirely intentional. By hiding behind the garb of “Academia,” people such as Audrey Truschke and Dheepa Sundaram pass off their personal opinions and prejudices as some sort of incontrovertible scientific fact. Without the powerful name of Rutgers University protecting them, this report would be seen as the political hit job that it is – sponsored by political activists with a known record of supporting terror groups and extremists (and a person accused of sex with a minor child) and pushed by so-called academics.

This is a new and disturbing trend on American campuses. Like the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown, the RCSRR is just another activist group hiding behind the host university. The Georgetown group is mostly funded by the Qatari Government. The RCSRR is funded by a group of Palestinian American lawyers. Both have one and only one purpose – provide a “safe” medium for people to express their antisemitism and Hinduphobia. 

When analyzing the checkered and dangerous backgrounds of these organizations and individuals, it becomes evident that the real threat to American values and democracy are not Hindu organizations who are known for their long-standing work in the communities that they reside in. Instead, it is those with documented evidence and history of sympathizing and working with terrorists and extremists.

The undersigned call upon policymakers, educators and other stakeholders to reject the false targeting and portrayals of reputed Hindu organizations and instead take note of the dubious nature and motives of the people behind the “report.”