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By Sunita Viswanath and Raju Rajagopal

Special to The Selma Times-Journal

We traveled recently to Selma, Alabama, to join the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965 and the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

In Selma, we were warmly welcomed by Rev. Mark Thompson and other civil rights leaders as fellow heirs to Dr. King’s legacy—received as Hindu family members standing alongside a broad, diverse movement committed to justice and equality. We had the opportunity to hear from the indefatigable founding couple of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Sen. Hank Sanders and Atty. Faya Rose Toure. We were also welcomed by warm-hearted citizens of Selma who embraced us in the streets, asked us where we had traveled from and why, and even greeted us with “Namaste.”

The powerful protest songs that filled our weekend—“Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom” and “We Shall Overcome”—remain deeply resonant. Etched in our minds anew are the images of Americans brutally assaulted after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state troopers wielding batons and tear gas, simply for peacefully demanding their right to vote.

That violent day marked a turning point in American history, prompting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to issue a compelling call:

“While rageful violence continues towards the unarmed people of Selma, while they are assaulted with tear gas and batons like an enemy in war, no citizen of this country can call themselves blameless, for we all bear responsibility for our fellow men. I am appealing to men and women of God and goodwill, white, black and otherwise, if you believe all are created equal, come to Selma, join our march against injustice and inhumanity. We need you to stand with us.”

Responding to Dr. King’s urgent call, courageous Americans from every corner of the country, diverse in race and background, arrived by the hundreds. Together they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and onward to Montgomery, rallying at the Alabama State Capitol. Their determined efforts paved the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act just five months later.

As we traveled to Selma last week, it felt as though we ourselves were answering Dr. King’s call sixty years later. We came as immigrants, deeply aware of the debt we owe the civil rights movement. The civil rights protections we benefit from today were won by the protest, resistance and immeasurable sacrifice during the civil rights era, and we stand in solidarity with all those who continue to fight for justice.

We came as Indian Americans, paying homage to India’s own historic movement for freedom—a campaign rooted in nonviolent resistance pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi, which in turn influenced Dr. King’s strategy of nonviolent protest.

And we came as Hindus whose faith teaches us that the same God resides in each and every one of us, regardless of race or religion. The “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (sacred human family) invoked in our oldest scripture, the Rig Veda, is none other than Dr. King’s “Beloved Kingdom.” This shared legacy calls us to show up when freedom is threatened, in either of the two largest democracies on Earth: India and the United States.

Dr. King’s prophetic words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” resounded throughout the Jubilee weekend. Our stand with the people of Selma and the fight for civil rights in this country we have embraced as home, was inseparable from the fight for civil rights in India, the country of our origin. Today, both countries are grappling with growing religious nationalism, highlighting how the struggle against bigotry and intolerance cannot be confined by national borders. Just as Dr. King famously opposed the Vietnam War and understood the interconnectedness of global injustice, so must we see that the fight for civil rights at home is inseparable from the fight against oppression worldwide.

Yet when the commemorative weekend was over, and we traveled back home from Selma, our news feeds brought us face-to-face with new injustices that echo the past: the denial of electricity, food, and basic necessities to the people of Gaza, and the disturbing case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student whose green card was revoked after speaking out against violence in Gaza. Khalil, married to an American citizen now eight months pregnant, faces potential detention and deportation—a stark reminder of the ongoing fight for justice at home and abroad.

Throughout our weekend in Selma, local activists—including Foot Soldiers who had bravely faced violence on Bloody Sunday—gathered with concerned citizens from across the nation. In every conversation, participants recognized the urgent threat to civil rights and freedoms won through extraordinary sacrifice, now endangered by a troubling resurgence of racist, xenophobic, and transphobic rhetoric, alongside systematic attacks on diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In these discussions, we emphasized how our domestic struggles for civil rights must be understood in relation to global injustices. We drew clear parallels to the crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza, underscoring that these issues are inseparable. Indeed, when Dr. King led the march to Montgomery, his vision was broad, embracing not just voting rights but also economic justice and equality. At the Alabama State Capitol, Dr. King declared powerfully:

“Let us march on poverty until no American parent has to skip a meal so their children may eat… until no starved man walks the streets of our cities and towns in search of jobs that do not exist. Let us march until broken lives are mended, until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word at the end of a prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda.”

Remembering Selma likewise teaches us concrete ways to resist in our own moment: show up when summoned by conscience, forge alliances across lines of race and faith, and remain resolute in defending the rights of the marginalized. In this spirit, we recall Viola Liuzzo, a white activist and mother from Detroit who had responded to Dr. King’s call after Bloody Sunday, and traveled to Selma. After successfully participating in the march from Selma to Montgomery, she was tragically murdered by Ku Klux Klan members while helping fellow marchers travel home. Viola’s sacrifice embodies the power and necessity of allyship, serving as a potent reminder that justice is never the responsibility of a single community alone.

As co-founders of Hindus for Human Rights, our presence at Selma is rooted in the belief that struggles for justice and human dignity transcend borders, races, and faiths. In a time when civil rights and democratic principles face renewed threats, the strength of solidarity lies not just in remembrance but in fearless collective action and shared commitment. The lessons of Selma—and the example of Dr. King’s unwavering stand against both domestic and global injustices—remind us that progress demands vigilance, unity, and the willingness to confront injustice wherever it arises. If our journey forward is to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who came before us, we must emulate their brilliant strategic thinking and collective risk-taking. Together, we shall surely overcome.

Sunita Viswanath and Raju Rajagopal, are the co-founders of Hindus for Human Rights.