WASHINGTON: There has been a 58 per cent increase in hate crimes against South Asians and a 19pc increase in hate-motivated attacks on Muslims, a South Asian advocacy group reported on Wednesday.

Quoting from an FBI report released this week, the group called SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) warned that “hate has become the new normal for our communities” in the United States.

More than 3.3 million Muslims and 4.3 million South Asians live in the United States. South Asians are also the largest ethnic group among American Muslims.

The FBI hate crime report notes that since 2015, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by 19pc, anti-Hindu hate crimes increased by 10pc, and anti-Sikh hate crimes increased by 17pc.

These surges are on top of the historic spike in hate crimes reported in the FBI’s 2015 data, now marking the highest levels of violence aimed at our communities since the year after 9/11.

“The FBI’s hate crimes statistics underline that violence has become a fact of life for our communities,” said SAALT’s Executive Director Suman Raghunathan.

Since the 2016 US election, SAALT has documented over 205 incidents of hate violence aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Arab, and Middle Eastern Americans, a 58pc increase from the year prior.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2017