Press Release
DALLAS, TEXAS — The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), the nation’s largest Indian-American Muslim advocacy organisation, and Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas) have strongly condemned the calls for an economic boycott of Dallas Muslims made by a Hindutva leader at a local event.
The hateful remarks were delivered by Kajal Singhala, also known as Kajal Hindustani, known for her Hindu extremist views and who has a long and well-documented record of inciting violence and hate against Christians and Muslims. She spoke on June 29 at an event organised by the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA)—two US-based Hindu nationalist nonprofits known for spreading anti-Muslim and anti-Christian hate.
According to a statement published on GHHF’s website summarising Singhala’s speech, she repeatedly referred to Muslims as “jihadis” (a slur used to demonise and dehumanise the Muslim community) and called on attendees to boycott Muslim-owned businesses in Dallas.
“She [Kajal Hindustani] also stressed the importance of supporting Hindu carpenters, milkmen, plumbers, electricians, and others, and not giving business to jihadis [slur for Muslims] to save a few rupees, because that money could be used to harm your fathers and brothers,” the GHHF statement reads.
On July 3, an interfaith coalition of local Muslims and Christians filed a police complaint urging authorities to investigate the event as a bias-motivated hate incident.
“Kajal Singhala’s speech was hateful, dangerous and a direct incitement to economically marginalise an entire community based on their religion. This is the same dangerous rhetoric that has fuelled violence in India, and it has no place in a city like Dallas. We call on our elected officials, law enforcement, and federal agencies to take this threat seriously and act before such imported extremism causes real harm here in our country,” said IAMC President Mohammad Jawad.
“The Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-TX, DFW) has long condemned and repudiated hate speech in all of its forms, whether by a person, an organisation or a State. We continue to condemn it as new messengers of hate emerge,” said Mustafaa Carroll, Executive Director CAIR-TX, DFW.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.
