'We are Tabrez! Justice for Tabrez!,' protest in Dallas against lynching in India

Indian Muslim community protested in Dallas, Texas against recent attacks against Muslims and other religious minorities in India.

The gathering of about 200 people at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas chanted, ‘we are Tabrez! Justice for Tabrez!" in reaction to the June 17 fatal beating of Tabrez Ansari, a report in Dallas News said.

Syed Ali, vice president of the Indian American Council, said members of the Hindu nationalist groups have lynched dozens of Muslims in the last five years. ‘This is a very dangerous trend. As members of the Indian diaspora who are living in this very prosperous country we should come together to demand action from Congress.’

Sharib Haroon, a board member of the Dallas-Irving chapter of the Indian American Council, said religious minorities have long faced backlash in India but now government officials are encouraging hate crimes. ‘This is not new, but the machinery and the impunity were not there before,’ he told the paper.

The gathering in Dallas was part of a nationwide protest that also included Houston, New York City and Chicago.

The organizers called for the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom to raise India to the highest level of concern and use trade as leverage to prevent human rights violations in the country. ‘This is the foundation of our democracy,’ said Hadi Jawad, the executive president of the Dallas Peace and Justice Center. ‘You call, and you say to the member of Congress, to the senator, that you want India to be in the spotlight ... that you demand Indian leaders are held accountable,’ according to the report