(Image source from: Zee News - India.com)

The raising hate crimes against Hindu Indian-Americans has prompted the United States-based Hindu American Foundation (HAF) to launch a nationwide campaign to raise awareness on the Hinduism and bring down the cases of bullying following the religion.

Titled "I am Hindu American", the campaign includes a social media campaign, a 30-second public service announcement and a companion website to provide resources about Hinduism and Hindu Indian-Americans.

During the campaign, the organizers would boost awareness and clear up common stereotypes and misunderstandings about Hinduism through social media networks across the nation.

"The goal of 'I Am Hindu American' campaign is to drive online conversation by putting a face on the Hindu American community. Despite the fact that Hindus are one of the most successful minority communities, knowledge about Hindus and Hinduism is very low among the U.S. general public. Our own data shows that one in three Hindu-American students report being bullied for their religious beliefs," Suhag Shukla, the executive director and co-founder of HAF, said in a statement.

He said that most of the bullying cases were based on misperceptions about Hindus and the narrative needs to be changed.

Hate crimes in the U.S. increased by about 17 percent in 2017 as compared to 2016, according to the FBI.

He said that Hinduism has contributed a lot towards the daily activities of humans.

"There are many Hindu contributions to our daily lives: from yoga and meditation to the decimal system as well as an understanding of the law of cause and effect known as karma," the statement said.

-Sowmya Sangam