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Several members of Indian religious minority groups came together February 27, 2003 for a Capitol Hill press conference to remember the victims of last year's massacres in Gujarat , India and to address the extreme Hindu nationalist stance of India's current ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). John Prabhudoss, executive director of Washington DC-based PIFRAS, called the agenda of the Hindu nationalist movement by its common name, Hindutva.According to Zahir Janmohamed, national outreach director for the IMC-USA called Hindutva a very organized movement with training camps and school mushrooming across India. By imposing a mono-ethnic Hindu culture said Janmohamed, it affects not only Muslims and Christians, but Hindus as well. This attitude belittles the legacy of India's freedom movement, which, he stated, was &ldquo.composite. Now Indians are told that Muslims and Christians are foreign to India and should leave or conform to a Hindu way of life. The violence and injustice are ongoing and that of 57 relief camps, all but one were for displaced and injured Muslims. Perversely, the Indian government, under the draconian measures of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), has decided to charge 131 Muslims for the massacre. No Hindus have been charged. Urging the U.S. to be cautious in recognizing the BJP government, Prabhudoss called for high-level discussions in Congress on U.S. policy toward India in light of Hindu radicalism.

Reports on the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) tirades against its Muslim and Christian citizens in India. BJP president Bangaru Laxman's call for the coalition to invite the minority communities to join the party; Pressure on the Muslims and the Christians to change their religions; Allegation that the Indian Muslims are being used as spies for Pakistan.