Geneva, 2 December 2021
TEXT
Respected Chairperson, esteemed delegates and colleagues I represent the KAILASA Nation led by the Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam which speaks on behalf of 2 billion practicing Hindus around the world who do not have a voice representing them in these International Forums.
I want to specifically bring to light the attack on minority Hindu traditions inside India. Hinduism is not a monolithic religion but a collection of thousands of unique, enlightenment ecosystems called Sampradayas. In recent times many Hindu Gurus, Hindu minority traditions and Temples have come under attack by majority ideologies and a large number of traditions have virtually disappeared.
There has been no recognition of the attacks in the first place by International Human Rights groups as in these cases it is difficult for outsiders to distinguish the attackers from the attacked.
For the past 10 years the KAILASA Nation and SPH Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam, have been attacked and silenced in India as a religious minority and a linguistic minority and because extremist elements are opposed to KAILASA’s stance when it comes to the rights of women, including otherwise marginalized Dalit women, and the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ and transgendered communities.
In 2019 KAILASA approached the OHCHR presenting the case of persecution. When this document reached the Indian media a well funded defamation campaign was started by news sources supportive to the union government alleging treason and sedition on the part of Kailasa Nation. Again, a number of false cases were subsequently registered against the SPH and other KAILASA leaders and one of our university campuses for women in the state of Gujarat was razed to the ground in a matter of days by mobs with the support of the local Government.
KAILASA has since submitted a number of reports on the persecution to various forums available within the UN but without much action taken.
In June 2021 KAILASA made a submission on the attacks on the ASMT women in the session by the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the rights of indigenous women and further submitted reports on the steps to end Femicide and on Gender Justice. Later, in September, KAILASA’s report, “Media Disinformation in India” was accepted by the Special Rapporteur for the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the report on the effect of COVID on minorities and the multilateral solution to the COVID crisis was accepted by the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.
Attacks on minorities span multiple dimensions and early identification of these attacks is critical. We present the following recommendations based on our experience as a persecuted minority tradition.
The UN needs to pay special attention to attacks on Hindu Religious Minorities and other sub-traditions which can be difficult to distinguish from the majority groups but experience the same problems of persecution as other recognized minorities.
Indian Media’s unchecked hate speech against Hindu Gurus and Hindu customs needs to be curtailed – what is commonly referred to as trial by media.
The tendency of Indian Judges to overreach into the rights of minority sub-traditions in the name of reform or play to public opinion created by the media hype needs to be stopped.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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