Meet Mira Trivedi, the Indian-American student in New Jersey who urges schools not to call Hitler’s symbol a “swastika”
Mira Trivedi of New Jersey grew up seeing the “swastika” symbol used on every sacred occasion. When she was studying the Holocaust in eighth grade, her teacher referred to Hitler’s symbol as a “swastika.” Trivedi said she had always known Hitler’s symbol was called the swastika, but hearing it from a teacher was different.She walked up to the teacher and told her that they were two different symbols and needed to be corrected. “The teacher told me, ‘You know, Meera, a lot of students have come to me and pointed this out. But I don’t think there’s a need to change it,'” Meera said. She recounted her uphill battle to correct a false interpretation of a religious symbol that only fueled more hatred for Hindus in the United States. Now that Meera has reached 10th standard, she has a group of Hindu and Buddhist students united behind her.Meera, who is also a member of the Hindu Alliance of North America, said she initially faced backlash for her activism as many of her peers questioned why she was pushing such an agenda. “But my point is, if we don’t speak up for our sacred symbols, then who will? One day, our religious symbols will be taken away and they will put us in jail for using that symbol,” Mira said. Her parents, who were born in India, supported her every step of the way.“My father helped me collect all the differences between the swastika and Hitler’s Haken Cross. He sent me photos from our family album, and when I mailed them to the school authorities, we drew a ‘swastika’ on the photo,” she said. Some teachers were also very open and helpful, but they acknowledged their limitations in changing the nomenclature and advised Mira to contact the district authorities.Mira made a presentation to the authorities and is now waiting for changes to happen.As Indians and people of Indian descent face difficulties in the United States, misinterpretations of religious symbols can spark more hatred. Meera said she faced subtle bullying because of her religious beliefs – as Hindus worship cows and Ganesha, known as the elephant god – but this must end now.
