L to R – Sitting – Morris Grunill, Fort Bend Church; Dr. Zahra Jamal, Rice University; Rev Gregory Han, IMG –Interfaith; Jason Plotkin, Jewish representative; Shri Kedar Thakker, BAPS Mandir Admin; L to R – Standing – Vijay Pallod, Kim Milstead (Dept. of Justice), Harpeet Mocha (Dept. of Justice); Tara Narasimhan; Bhawna Luthra, Gopal Agarwal, Partha Krishnaswamy; Girish Naik; Sreemathy Ranga, and Raj Shah.

 
Wed, Apr 24, 2019

On 6th April, Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) hosted a first-of-its-kind Forum on “Understanding Hate Crimes and Protection of Places of Worship” for faith based and community leaders to learn how to prevent and respond to hate crimes against places of worship. 

Facilitated by the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Services (CRS), it held presentations by representatives from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Harris County District Attorney’s office, FBI Houston Field Office, Department of Homeland Security and Harris County Sheriff’s Office. 

About 40 faith based organizations attended the forum which was held at the Houston Durgabari Society. 

The event touched on four issues: Hate Crimes Prosecutions Overview, Hate Crimes Statistics and Symbols of Hate, Preventing and Responding to Active Shooter Situations and a Panel Discussion on Protecting Places of Worship by Interfaith leaders.