The 27-year-old associate director of the Hindu American Foundation, Kansara spends his days lobbying Capitol Hill for respect for Hindus at home and abroad. Kansara’s parents emigrated from Jugarat, India, to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and to the United States in 1979. He majored in government and South Asian studies at the University of Texas at Austin. After moving to D.C. in June 2011, he now works in an office on Farragut Square, explaining and defending Hinduism to those who don’t know much about it, as well as fighting for human rights. You work for the foundation advocating for human rights on Capitol Hill. Why do Hindus care so much about human rights?
I think in any religion, in any faith, the core component is human rights. Every religion tries to bring out the best in humanity. Unfortunately, there are people in any given faith who will abuse their privileges and power and use religion as a tool to divide instead of unite. Hindus — who come from a tradition of pluralism, where one faith or way of seeing the world is not necessarily the only way — are persecuted as a religious minority in some countries, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and even Bhutan, where they measure gross national happiness. HAF publishes an annual human rights report, “Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights.”
Here in Washington, D.C., my job is to liaise with the federal government and other nongovernmental organizations focusing on human rights of Hindus abroad as well as civil liberty issues of Hindu Americans here.
Domestically, the foundation works to ensure the separation of church and state is maintained at all levels of government and that religious liberty for Hindu Americans and other religious minorities is protected. HAF was in national media headlines recently for denouncing bigoted remarks from a gubernatorial candidate in Kentucky as well as a former presidential candidate.
Luckily, we do have government officials who respect and promote tolerance and understanding. In October 2011, the United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution commemorating the spiritual and cultural significance of Diwali for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. HAF worked closely with Sen. Robert Menendez, who introduced the resolution.
Your organization aims to fight false portrayals of Hindus. What are some common misperceptions?
One of the most misunderstood things about Hinduism is the conception of God. All of the different forms confuse people, but Hindus see all of these magnificent manifestations as forms of the one Divine Truth, God. That Divine Truth is worshipped by all faiths. Really God has no religion. God is above that.
Another misrepresentation is the association of Hinduism and casteism. While the caste system does finds its roots in Hindu society, it is not intrinsic to Hindu philosophy. The caste system today and its evil remnants are a corruption of what was intended to be just a very loose-ended social system providing a guide for society. But caste-based discrimination also knows no boundaries of religion, and is common to other religions in India, including Islam, Sikhism and Christianity. The foundation has published a landmark report on this very subject, “Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste, Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination.”
Your foundation has become a voice in the “great yoga debate,” with your Take Back Yoga campaign, which aims to restore yoga’s spiritual roots. But others think yoga should be accessible to all and can’t be if it’s religious. What do you say to them?
They’re absolutely correct to say that yoga is accessible to all and anybody can practice yoga. The question is: Is the instructor down the street teaching fitness yoga really rooted in what yoga truly is? Those who formulated and codified it, thus making it accessible to the world, saw it as a way to reach the Divine. As a Hindu, it’s part of my heritage and I’m proud of that. And the goal of HAF’s campaign is to raise awareness about yoga’s Hindu roots.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
At the core of Hinduism, and at my core, the value of pluralism is of utmost importance. It pervades all Hindu ideology and thought. There’s a saying in Sanskrit, and it’s “Ekam sat vipraha bahudha vadanti.” That means, “The wise call it by many names.” God has many paths to reach him or her or it, or however you wish to perceive God. No way is better than any other; it’s a personal choice.
– Liz Essley
