US Senators from New Jersey Condemn Bulldozer Rally after Meeting with IAMC
New Jersey: The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), a US-based organization dedicated to human rights, social justice, and pluralism, has welcomed the joint statement from US Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker from New Jersey that has unequivocally condemned a hate parade held by Hindu supremacists on August 14, 2022, in the state.
The criticism from Senators Menendez and Booker has come after IAMC, Council on American-Islamic Relations-New Jersey (CAIR-NJ), and American Muslims for Democracy (AMD) met with the two senators’ offices on Friday and urged them to publicly condemn the display of a bulldozer at the August 14 parade.
“This week, our offices met with leaders and members of New Jersey’s South Asian community who were angered and deeply hurt by the inclusion of a bulldozer in the India Day Parade in Edison last month,” the joint statement from US Senators Menendez and Booker released on Friday said. “The bulldozer has come to be a symbol of intimidation against Muslims and other religious minorities in India, and its inclusion in this event was wrong.”
In their statement, the US senators further said that New Jersey was “proudly home to some of the most diverse communities in the nation, including one of the largest South Asian communities, and all ethnic and religious groups have a right to live without intimidation or fear.”
Minhaj Khan, an IAMC leader said: “We met officials of Senators Menendez and Booker and informed them that Hindu supremacist governments in India were deploying the bulldozer to terrorize the Muslim community by demolishing their homes, businesses, and mosques out of vendetta and sheer Islamophobia. We are happy that Senators Menendez and Booker have recognized the hate in that parade.”
The parade, called to mark India’s Independence Day, featured a bulldozer with pictures of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, whose government has criminally and illegally used the bulldozer to demolish mosques, businesses, and homes of Muslims human rights defenders and protesters who have dared to criticize and challenge his anti-democratic policies. – IAMC
