Anti-Defamation League Meets with Hindu Leaders

Front row, from left (seated): Sanjay Jain, Ramesh Patel, P.C. Sharma, Jay Harberg, George Gibson, and Venugopal Menon; Standing, from left: Mark Levine, Jodi Bernstein, V.K. Dorai, Dev Mahajan, Eugene Tunitsky, Ramesh Parikh, Martin B. Cominsky, Vijay Pallod, Rishi Bhutada and Susan Shaw.

Front row, from left (seated): Sanjay Jain, Ramesh Patel, P.C. Sharma, Jay Harberg, George Gibson, and Venugopal Menon; Standing, from left: Mark Levine, Jodi Bernstein, V.K. Dorai, Dev Mahajan, Eugene Tunitsky, Ramesh Parikh, Martin B. Cominsky, Vijay Pallod, Rishi Bhutada and Susan Shaw.

By Dena Marks

HOUSTON: Nine leaders of Houston’s Hindu community met with Anti-Defamation League (ADL) staff and lay leaders to talk about ADL resources and creating ongoing relationships.

The meeting was prompted by the community’s interest in ADL’s resources on bullying and fighting hate both inside and outside of the schools. ADL was instrumental in working with Humble ISD, where they helped with the discrimination and atrocities against Hindu students.

ADL staff and lay leaders presented information about anti-bullying programs, No Place for Hate, and various A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE Institute trainings. This intensive program has been adopted by 35 Humble schools and we hope that the discrimination events of the past are not going to be repeated. Hindu participants at the meeting also heard about ADL’s relationship with law enforcement, security trainings and resources, hate crimes training and interfaith work.

In turn, the Hindu leaders provided information about their organization and faith institutions, media outlets and interfaith relationships. Among those from the Hindu community at the meeting: Devinder Mahajan, Rishi Bhutada, Ramesh Patel, Ramesh Parikh, Sanjay Jain, Vijay Pallod, P.C. Sharma, V.K. Dorai, and Venu Gopal Menon. ADL leaders who participated included George Gibson, Jay Harberg, Mark Levine and Eugene Tunitsky.

The Mission of Hindus of Greater Houston is to promote and protect Hindu solidarity among all Hindu organizations and temples, www.Hindusofhouston.org. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) www.adl.org fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry in the U.S. and abroad through information, education, legislation, and advocacy. ADL serves as a resource for government, media, law enforcement, educators and the public.