On Tuesday, December 20, the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the defamation go well with filed by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) towards Hindus for Human Rights co-founders Sunita Vishwanath and Raju Rajagopal, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) govt director Rasheed Ahmed, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) chairman John Prabhudoss, and Rutgers University professor Audrey Truschke.
The HAF had accused them of conspiring to defame the inspiration. Al Jazeera journalist Raqib Hameed Naik was named as a co-conspirator however not a celebration in the principle lawsuit.
US District Judge Amit Mehta though dismissed the defamation go well with filed by HAF, famous that Hindus for Human Rights co-founder Sunita Vishwanath’s declare that HAF has mother or father organisations in India is “plausibly verifiably false.” The court docket additionally noticed that among the statements given by Rutgers University professor Audrey Truschke about HAF Board member Rajiv Pandit are “arguably verifiably false.”
Excerpt from the court docket order (Image tweeted by HAF)
In its lawsuit, HAF had contended that its “reputation, and ability to raise funds has been injured due to the defamatory statements given by the defendants. The court agreed to HAF’s allegation that the foundation suffered “torturous injury” within the district as a result of allegedly defamatory statements.
Concerning the defendants named within the lawsuit’s declare that none of them stay within the District of Columbia, the choose dominated that “Plaintiff must establish that defendants themselves transacted business in the District of Columbia, which it has failed to do.”
According to the court docket’s ruling, the Hindu American Foundation’s defamation lawsuit towards Prabhudoss is futile as a result of the group didn’t plausibly assert that his claims are “verifiably false.”
Prabhudoss had advised Al Jazeera that US authorities watchdog teams and human rights organizations ought to be aware of the misappropriation of funds raised for Covid-19 by “Hindu supremacist groups.”
On this, the court docket noticed that Prabhudoss’s declare is a “statement of opinion.” “He was just stating his views about how certain organizations should respond to what in his opinion is misappropriation of funds. The said statement is not actionable as defamation as an expression of a subjective view is not plausibly false and cannot undergird a claim of defamation.”
HAF’s declare of civil conspiracy was additionally rejected because the court docket mentioned that civil conspiracy is just not a standalone tort and “thus fails unless the elements of the underlying tort are satisfied.”
Court order
On the decision, HAF’s Executive Director Suhag A Shukla in a press release mentioned, “It is incredibly disappointing that, despite the fact that Vishwanath and Truschke, among others, were found to have made verifiably false statements attacking HAF, the judge dismissed our legal action on procedural grounds. We remain convinced that the defendants’ false and malicious statements about HAF constitute actionable defamation, and we have every reason to believe that they will continue to spread their malicious lies.”
“We continue to believe that the defendants’ false and malicious statements about HAF constitute actionable defamation and have every reason to believe that they will continue to spread their malicious lies. We will not be deterred in serving our community.” — @SuhagAShukla
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) December 21, 2022
.@SuhagAShukla: We know, because the court docket discovered, that H4HR, IAMC, FIACONA & Truschke lie about HAF, and we consider, they usually conspire towards many Hindu American people and organizations on this nation…We won’t ever hesitate in defending our repute towards hateful lies”
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) December 21, 2022
The HAF though dissatisfied with the decision, feels “vindicated” because the court docket famous that false statements about HAF have been certainly made.
Background of the case
The lawsuit was filed in May 2021, following the publication by Al Jazeera of an article by Raqib Naik highlighting 5 Hindu American organizations, together with the HAF, that obtained COVID-19 aid funding within the type of loans and grants. According to the report, which cites knowledge from the Small Business Administration (SBA), these organizations, which allegedly have “ties to Hindu supremacist and religious groups,” have obtained a complete of $833,000 in federal funding.
In its grievance, HAF alleged that the defendants used the ‘Coalition to Stop Genocide in India’, a US-based group, as cowl to make extra defamatory claims about HAF and demand the US authorities launch an investigation into HAF and different Hindu organizations for purportedly utilizing Federal funds to “sponsor hate” in India
On April 2nd, 2022, controversial ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke shared an article printed by Aljazeera, whereby it claimed that 5 organisations have obtained US federal aid funds to the tune of $833,000. The article alleged that the organisations have hyperlinks to ‘Hindu supremacist groups’.
Citing the mentioned article, Audrey Truschke alleged that the teams are identified for participating in violence, stifling tutorial inquiry, and selling spiritual bigotry. She listed the names of the 5 teams talked about within the article and alleged that they’re linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
One of the teams talked about within the article was the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), which is predicated in Washington DC. As per Aljazeera, HAF obtained $378,064 in PPP loans and $10,000 in EIDLA from US federal aid funds. The different organisations included Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, Infinity Foundation and Sewa International.