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OPINION to the Internal Revenue Service; and c) the effects of funding recipients’ work” (http:// www.sacw.net/article9057.html; http://www. sacw.net/IMG/pdf/US_HinduNationalism_ Nonprofits.pdf). In the California textbook controversy of 2005-2006, the Vedic Foundation and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh’s educational wing, the Hindu Education Foundation, led an effort to insert edits into California textbooks that foregrounded Hindu nationalist priorities and downplayed gender and caste oppression in Ancient India. d) Since the textbooks controversy, the Hindu American Foundation has become a voice for Hindu nationalist interests to U.S. politicians.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTS DETERIORATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA
On April 5, leading Indian-origin American civil rights organizations welcomed the State Department’s 68-page Annual Report on Human Rights in India. Released on March 30 by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, it detailed the Modi government’s massive violations of civil liberties, as well as its failure to prevent such violations and hold the perpetrators accountable. The statement’s signatories included Hindus for Human Rights, the Dalit Solidarity Forum, the International Christian Concern, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), India Civil Watch International, Students Against Hindutva Ideology and the Federation of Indian Christian Organizations of North America. This report documents unlawful and arbitrary killings; torture, arbitrary arrest and detention; impunity for police, paramilitary and military violence; persecution of Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and Christians; attacks on the news media and the internet and site blocking; criminalizing free speech and restricting freedom of expression; excessive curbs on NGOs; and restrictions on academic freedom. It also highlights the brutal police crackdown on the “legitimate and peaceful protests” by students at Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Milia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, which the government “portrayed as terrorist activities.” The Delhi police also “selectively pursued cases against Muslims and anti-CAA protesters.” Arvind Rajagopal (professor, media studies, New York University; author,
“Politics After Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India” [2001]) said the report was especially significant as it was the new administration’s first such report, adding, “We expect that President Biden will act on this report and raise the issues of human rights abuses with the Indian government.” Rasheed Ahmed (executive director, IAMC) said, “The Modi government’s discriminatory citizenship law, the persecution of Muslims and other minorities, the pogrom against Muslims in Delhi and the manufacturing of criminal cases against Muslims for the violence, and the judiciary’s failure to provide justice all clearly indicate an alarming decline in civil liberties.” In its annual report on global political rights and liberties, the U.S.-based nonprofit Freedom House downgraded India from a free democracy to a “partially free democracy” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/11/ india-democracy-freedom-house-narendra-modi-rana-ayyub/; https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/ democracy-under-siege). The Sweden-based V-Dem Institute’s latest report on democracy said India had become an “electoral autocracy” (https:// www.v-dem.net/files/25/DR%202021. pdf). And in March, India — described as a “flawed democracy” — slipped two places (to 53) in the latest Democracy Index (published by The Economist Intelligence Unit). The report noted, “The BJP’s ideological approach leans towards Hindu nationalism, mixing social conservatism with a more aggressive foreign and security policy. Its growing dominance of national and state governments has thus challenged India’s secular tradition” (https://country. eiu.com/india). The US Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the State Department to place India on a list of “countries of particular concern” for the second consecutive year, based on the sharp escalation in violations of human rights and religious freedom there. One wonders if all of this will cause Biden and Harris to have their administration investigate the complicity of some Hindu Americans and U.S based Hindutva-oriented nonprofit organizations in supporting fascism in India. ih Shakeel Syed is a freelance writer and public interest campaigner.
48 ISLAMIC HORIZONS JULY/AUGUST 2021
Do We Need Ethical Inves
Halal and ethical screens are n BY MUSTAFA UMAR
E
thical investing is on the rise in the U.S. “Impact investing,” “socially responsible investing” (SRI) and “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) screens are now common terms in the finance industry. Today, ethical investing makes up over $1 out of every $4 under professional management in the U.S. This amounts to over $12 trillion in assets under management yearly, according to a 2018 survey by the U.S. Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (www.ussif. org/blog_home.asp?display=118). They also reported a 38% increase from just two years prior. Muslims have generally focused on halal (a.k.a. Sharia-compliant) investing. With the rise in ethical investing, the similarities and differences between the two models — halal and ethical — need to be understood. Both models forbid investments in pornography, gambling and alcohol. For example, halal models forbid investing in banks; ethical models do not. Ethical models forbid investing in companies that cause massive pollution; halal models do not. Let’s say that Maryam wants to invest in
