Oct 4Hindu Teenager Burns Quran in Chicago, Extremist Links SuspectedIs India’s radical Hindu nationalist ideology in our backyard? Video which emerged this past week of a Naperville, Illinois area teenager setting a Quran aflame and throwing it on the ground has not only disturbed the local Muslim community but caused many to speculate it exemplifies increasing Islamophobic radicalization within the region’s large Indian-American Hindu community. Local sources strongly…6 min read6 min read
Apr 8Chandru Acharya: HSS-USA Director to Advise US Homeland SecurityAn interview with Pieter Friedrich by Muslim Network TV — Originally aired October 2022. Edward Ahmed Mitchell: As-salamu Alaykum. This is Edward Ahmed Mitchell here on behalf of Muslim Network TV. Very happy to be with you. We want to dive in now to a discussion of an international issue that is hitting close to home. There have been concerns…11 min read11 min read
Apr 8Hindutva in the US: The Rise of Fascism in India and Its ImplicationsAn interview with Pieter Friedrich by Peace Vigil — Peace Vigil works on peace education. Today, we’ll be talking with Pieter Friedrich, a writer and activist based in the United States. Pieter works on issues related to the rise of Hindutva in India, and especially about connections between hate in India and fundraising in the USA. Pieter is passionate…43 min read43 min read
Mar 30Time Ticking: New US Ambassador to India Promised Human Rights FocusAs Indian democracy rapidly declines, will Eric Garcetti uphold his commitment? — Quizzing US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on 6 April 2022, Representative Ilhan Omar asked: “Why has the Biden administration been so reluctant to criticize Modi’s government on human rights?” Representative Omar’s question came a little less than a year before Eric…Modi13 min readModi13 min read
Mar 20India Banned My Twitter Account For Affirming Civil Liberties in PunjabModi regime mass bans international critics of its draconian policies For the past 17 years, I’ve been researching, writing, and speaking about human rights in South Asia, with a particular emphasis on India, but it was a benign thread about the need to uphold basic civil liberties in the northwestern…10 min read10 min read
Mar 7Are Pakistani Leaders in Maryland Targeting Critics of Aruna Miller’s Hindutva Ties?Sources claim powerful Pakistani-Americans are “collaborating” with Hindutva-tied Miller and going after local anti-Hindutva activists Maryland (United States) — As allegations about ties to Hindu nationalist elements continue to dog newly-elected Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, activists who have called her out are now sounding the alarm about a strange…14 min read14 min read
Oct 4, 2022The Modi Regime’s Persecution of Indian ChristiansSpeech at “Faiths United For Religious Freedom in India” | Sacramento, CA Nearly a hundred years ago, in 1925, a new force was formed in the Indian subcontinent: the RSS. The RSS was founded to be a paramilitary. Uniformed. Armed. All male. …8 min read8 min read
Aug 14, 2022RSS’s International Wing Defeated at Californian City of MantecaCity council unanimously rescinds proclamation for Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh — The City of Manteca, California made history on 3 August 2022 when it unanimously voted to rescind a proclamation it had issued to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) following controversy that erupted the previous month over HSS’s ties to India’s Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh paramilitary. The special meeting, which…7 min read7 min read
Jul 22, 2022RSS’s International Wing Protested at City of MantecaCity in Central California will reconsider HSS proclamation — Over 50 locals attended the 19 July 2022 city council meeting of Manteca, CA, USA to protest a city proclamation passed in January which commended the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the international wing of India’s fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) paramilitary. During the meeting’s public comment period, Fateh Singh asked…3 min read3 min read
Jun 12, 2022Request to Retract False Statements About Human Rights Journalist Pieter FriedrichOpen letter to Honorable Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Reverend Jesse Jackson — Dear Honorable Secretary White and Rev. Jackson: It came as a great shock and disappointment to discover, in the early days of June 2022, that despite both of your sterling reputations as community organizers and torchbearers of the American civil rights movement, you fell victim to disinformation to the point…10 min read10 min read
