State Assemblyman Raj Mukherji in the New Jersey legislature has condemned the anti-Hindu resolution approved by the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee, a branch of the New Jersey Democratic Party last month.
Sharing his statement of condemnation on Twitter, Mukherji wrote, “I condemn the Teaneck anti-Hindu resolution. The ties that bind the various South Asian diaspora communities in the US are much stronger – based on shared immigrant experiences – than the lines that divided their forebears. Let’s promote religious freedom and mutual respect.”
“I condemn unequivocally the far-reaching, overbroad, and defamatory resolution passed by the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee (TDMC) that has the dangerous potential of inciting more hate against American Hindus. I am grateful to the NJ Democratic State Committee for disavowing and condemning the TDMC resolution,” Mukherji stated.
While the TDMC resolution could have stopped at denouncing extremist ideologies and symbols of division, according to Mukherji, it instead abused an instructional opportunity by slapping unfounded accusations of terrorism and militant labels on laudable, entirely American faith-based organisations with compassionate activities. “And troublingly, the resolution could have the effect of catalyzing discrimination against Hindus in New Jersey 35 years after the Dotbuster attacks in my hometown of Jersey City instilled fear in the hearts of the elderly and other South Asian immigrants throughout the United States,” he added.
Mukherji remarked that he is devoted to recognising New Jersey’s rich variety and all members of the South Asian diaspora rather than planting seeds of discord as a senator who represents Jersey City, “which Ellis Island calls home and in whose waters Lady Liberty sits.”
On October 17, OpIndia reported that the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee, a section of the New Jersey Democratic Party, had approved a resolution labelling certain Hindu organisations as ‘dangerous hate groups’ and offshoots of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The motion urged that the government classify a number of American Hindu organisations, including the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), and SEWA International, as “domestic branches” of “foreign hate groups.”