The Rise of HINDUstan; The Mustard Seed Project: Bridging across Polarization: Muslims & Evangelical Christians Planting the Mustard Seed for America
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Issue 50: Friday, 5 Nov 2021
THIS WEEK IN DC — U.S. Labor Department: Vaccine and Testing Mandate Coming in Days; Republicans Appear Poised to End Democratic Control of Virginia House of Delegates; In closing COP26 Remarks, Biden Pitches His $1.75 Trillion Spending Package; Supreme Court Seems Wary of NY Gun Limits; Four Dems Urge Biden to Strike Nuclear Deals with China; U.S., U.K. Lead Pledge to End Overseas Oil and Gas Financing, But with Big Caveats; Judge Sharply Questions Trump Effort to Block Records from Jan. 6 Investigators; Senate GOP Sees Youngkin's Trump Approach as Path Back to Majority; Biden Says $450K Payments to Families Separated at Southern Border are 'Not Going to Happen'; Pentagon Predicts 5 Times Increase in China's Nuclear Weapons Over Next 10 Years.
IN THIS ISSUE
* Featured Issue: The Rise of HINDUstan
* The Mustard Seed Project: Bridging across Polarization: Muslims and Evangelical Christians Planting the Mustard Seed for America
* Save the Date: MPAC's Free Virtual Convention
** The Rise of HINDUstan
By: Prema Rahman, MPAC Policy Analyst, and Amine Ben Naceur, MPAC Non-Resident Senior Policy Fellow
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Image Credit: Amit Dave / Reuters
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On September 23, 2021, a video of a photojournalist trampling a dead man shot by police in the state of Assam went viral on Twitter. The video, posted by an Indian journalist, shows a group of police officers shooting a man running towards them with a baton. The video was taken on the sidelines of the violence that took place during a demonstration by Muslims in Bengal against an “expulsion campaign” ordered by the Assam government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In this wave of evictions, more than 800 families were forcibly removed from their land and their houses destroyed by Assam security forces. In this context, the BJP has been accused by human rights activists in India of exploiting the ethnic and religious fault lines in Assam for electoral purposes and of waging a hate campaign against Muslims.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014 on the promise that he would bring to the national forefront his “Gujarat model,” characterized by high growth rates driven by private sector-led manufacturing. At the same time, a return to this model also meant the promotion of populist politics aimed at creating and nurturing a Hindu majority within a socially and economically diverse population in order to form an electoral bloc for the BJP. Part of this strategy involved creating a common enemy with Muslims first and secular liberals second. The use of violence to polarize communities in areas where the BJP faced the strongest electoral competition, including areas with high Muslim populations, is not new for Modi.
Read Full Article → ([link removed])
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Our 'Mustard Seed Project' aims to bring Muslims and Evangelical Christians in predominantly Red States to the same table, to talk, get to know each other, share a meal, and ask uncomfortable questions. Stereotypes and misrepresentations exist on both sides of the spectrum. These events help disrupt the status quo by challenging the inaccurate tropes that tend to reinforce a monolithic, intolerant, and harmful representation of Muslims and Evangelical Christians. As of today, we have organized three main events: one in Phoenix, Arizona, one in Costa Mesa, California, and one in Chicago, Illinois.
Through the voices of those who have already participated, you can read about their experiences in our blog entry, Bridging across Polarization: Muslims and Evangelical Christians Planting the Mustard Seed for America. We interviewed eleven attendees, some Muslim and some Christian who shared with us their stories about what brought them to the Mustard Seed, what they learned from participating, and how they felt sitting at a table with strangers of another misrepresented faith. The stories we collected are a testimony of the immense possibilities that God’s work opens for us when we engage to change the world, one act of compassion at a time.
Read the blog post —> ([link removed])
Upcoming:
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Save the date for MPAC’s free virtual convention on Sunday, Dec 5th! We are excited for this year’s event as we explore our collective journey as Americans, as Muslims and as a community: The Story of Us.
Reserve your free ticket → ([link removed])
GOOD TO KNOW
* Historic wins ([link removed]) for Muslim, Black mayoral candidates in Metro Detroit. What it means
* Hamtramck City Council will ([link removed]) be all Muslim, likely first in US, in January
* Shahana Hanif makes ([link removed]) history as the first Muslim woman elected to the New York City Council
* Bergen's Shama Haider makes history as first Muslim elected ([link removed]) to NJ legislature
* Facebook let an Islamophobic conspiracy theory flourish ([link removed]) in India despite employees' warnings
* Warnings of violence before Jan. 6 precipitated ([link removed]) the Capitol riot
* Muslims among most ([link removed]) generous in overall US population
* Iran to rejoin ([link removed]) nuclear talks on Nov. 29
- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -
Oct 31, 1759 - Earthquake in Safed, Palestine kills hundreds; Nov 1, 1911 - The first aerial bomb is dropped by an Italian pilot on Turkish troops in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War; Nov 1, 1922 - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk takes Constantinople from Mehmed VI, proclaiming the Republic of Turkey and bringing an end to the Ottoman Empire; Nov 2, 1841 - Akbar Khan successfully revolts against Shah Shuja in Afghanistan; Nov 2, 1898 - Theodor Herzl arrives in Jerusalem; Nov 2, 1953 - Pakistan becomes islamic republic; Nov 3, 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Muslim caliph, is killed in Medina by Lu'lu, an enslaved Persian captive; Nov 6, 2018 - Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) are the first Muslim women to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
Oct 31, 1922 - Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) becomes premier of Italy; Oct 31, 1941 - Mount Rushmore Monument is completed in South Dakota, designed by Gutzon Borglum; Nov 1, 1210 - King John of England begins imprisoning Jews; Nov 1, 1977 - US President Jimmy Carter raises the minimum wage from $2.30 to $3.35 an hour, effective from 1st Jan 1981; Nov 2, 1859 - American abolitionist John Brown found guilty of murder, inciting slaves to revolt, and treason against the Virginia Territory during his raid of Harpers Ferry Armory, and sentenced to hang; Nov 2, 1907 - US banker J. P. Morgan locks over 40 bankers in his library to force them to find ways to avert New York banking crisis; Nov 3, 1394 - Jews are expelled from France by Charles VI; Nov 3, 1783 - George Washington orders Continental Army disbanded; Nov 4, 1879 - African American inventor Thomas Elkins patents the Refrigerating Apparatus; Nov 4, 1904 - First stadium built specifically for football (Harvard Stadium); Nov 5, 1937 - Adolf
Hitler informs his military leaders in a secret meeting of his intentions of going to war; Nov 5, 1946 - John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) elected to US House of Representatives; Nov 6, 1869 - First US college football game, players used their hands or feet, Rutgers 6 Princeton 4; Nov 6, 1913 - Mahatma Gandhi arrested for leading Indian miners' march in South Africa.
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