Congressional offices have heard from constituents and leaders in the Sikh, Hindu and Arab-American communities about their ongoing fear of being the victim of a hate crime," it said.
"This fear is a result of demonstrable and specific violent threats and attacks. For example, a man attempted to firebomb a Hindu Temple in New York on New Year's Day, 2012. In December 2012, a Hindu man whose attacker said she hated Hindus and Muslims was shoved in front of an oncoming subway train, resulting in his death," the letter said.
The letter also mentioned the incident in which two Sikh men in Sacramento were killed and another in New York was brutally attacked.
"We understand that, at present, the FBI does not collect specific information about these categories of hate violence, which may at times be recorded as anti-Muslim bias motivation. However, evidence suggests that all too many crimes are committed against these groups because of their religious or national identity, and not because they are confused with Muslims," according to the letter.
In a statement, the Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE) announced to join the campaign and asked lawmakers, in particular members of the India Caucus to sign the letter spearheaded by Crowley.
"We would request Department of Justice( DOJ) to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin collecting data on Hate Crime committed against Hindus, Sikhs and other minority communities of Indian Origin," said Dr Sampat Shivangi, national president of the Forum.
"IAFPE wants to reach the rest of US congress and US Senate to bring these issues in the forefront and to make the Indian American community to join these efforts in re-focusing our efforts on this burning and very unfortunate issue that we are confronting," he said.
