SABA-NC condemns the
brutal attack on Swami Ji Harish Chander Puri, a Hindu priest living and working in Queens, New York. Witnesses say the attacker shouted “this is my neighborhood,” during the incident. We stand in solidarity with Swami Ji Puri and the South Asian community in Queens during this difficult time. We encourage the New York Police Department to investigate the attack fully and investigate the actions taken by the suspect as a hate crime.
This incident occured just days after President Trump published the inherently racist tweets directed at members of Congress via his Twitter account and the subsequent xenophobic rhetoric encouraged at his political rallies. Such hurtful and hateful rhetoric has no place in the American political discourse. We stand by the House of Representatives condemnation of the inappropriate language and racist tropes espoused by the President through those tweets.
SABA-NC respects, embraces, and celebrates the diversity within our community and within the nation as a whole. We call upon our leaders to do the same and to encourage civil dialogue between members of different political spheres and ideologies.
