This Diwali weekend, I thought I would take the time to do something that is symbolic of Diwali\u2019s deeper significance: focus on the non-materialistic aspects of the holy day and shed the light of awareness on an issue that many are ignorant about. \u00a0The story of what is happening at Standing Rock is being largely ignored amidst the backdrop of the presidential election campaign and the hate that it has generated. As a Hindu who values the sacredness of all life and all Creation, the silence from the media and the public at large is deafeningly sad. Especially since the non-violent stand that is being taken against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline is being met with violence against Native Americans yet again. Like musician Neil Young, \u201cI wish somebody would share the news, I wish somebody would share the news\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n For the last few months, a massive camp-in has been led by the Standing Rock nation, one of the seven Sioux tribes, in order to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would carry oil from the Bakken shale in North Dakota across several states and under the Missouri River. Native Americans and their supporters have come by the thousands, from around the world, to protest construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline, which would run within a half-mile of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Opponents say the pipeline will adversely impact drinking water \u2013 the Missouri River is the main source of water for the Sioux and an accidental oil spill would be catastrophic \u2013 and disturb sacred tribal sites that are protected by federal law (more info is available on the <\/span>Standing Rock Sioux Litigation FAQ<\/span><\/a>). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Through non-violent protests, living in teepees and tents set up at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers in North Dakota, Native Americans and their allies seek to protect Native sacred sites and the environment from continued encroachment and destruction by outsiders. \u00a0The Stand Rock Sioux are being supported by several other native American and indigenous groups from around the world, including representation from all the Sioux tribes. This is the largest coalition of Native American groups \u2014 more than 200 tribes are represented \u2014 in over a 100 years, and the first time in more than 200 years that the <\/span>Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires, the political structure of \u00a0the Great Sioux Nation, came together to meet in one place. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While media outlets from <\/span>NBC<\/span><\/a> to the <\/span>NYT<\/span><\/a> are now actually covering this \u2014 after a long media blackout \u2014 it has not received the national attention that it deserves as a critical issue of the times. Journalist Sarah Jaffe at Billmoyers.com explained <\/span>Why the Struggle is Bigger Than One Pipeline<\/span><\/a>: \u201cFor indigenous people, the fight to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline is about reviving a way of life.\u201d Over 80% of the world\u2019s biodiversity is being protected by 4% of the world\u2019s population: indigenous people from all over the world, including the Native American peoples right here in the United States. In fact, nearly a decade ago, a principal finding of the World Bank report \u201c<\/span>The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation: The Natural but Often Forgotten Partners<\/span><\/a>\u201d was that \u201ccreating a sustainable future for biodiversity conservation worldwide will critically depend on the active and effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The key recommendations of the report included actions that need to be taken by governments, international organizations, and funders. And the first recommendation? To support processes toward the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands and natural resources. Today, we are doing the exact opposite, with only a temporary order halting the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline instead of recognizing the rights of the Sioux to their ancestral lands. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to all this is a double-standard: Native and indigenous people\u2019s sacred sites are not given the same protection as man-made structures.<\/span> If a church or a synagogue were threatened with similar destruction, there would be mass outcry. \u00a0Sacred Native sites aren\u2019t given the same importance, since they are part of the landscape, something Mother Nature created. <\/span>Standing Rock protesters talk about the river having rights \u2013 contrasting it to how in the current socio-political climate, corporations have rights. As a Hindu, it\u2019s easy for me to relate to the Sioux protesting the destruction of what they hold sacred, given that we too hold nature sacred: the holy river <\/span>Ganga<\/span><\/a> is mother, the wind is deified as the god Vayu, and <\/span>Mt. Kailash<\/span><\/a> is venerated as the abode of the Lord Shiva.<\/span><\/p>\n This inherent respect for the divinity of the environment is something Hindus around the world share with indigenous and native people whose way of life has been decimated by conquerors and colonizers. As a Board member of the Hindu American Foundation, whose policy brief<\/a>\u00a0\u201cPredatory Proselytization and Pluralism\u201d calls out that the right to religious freedom <\/span>is compromised for billions around the world, I have <\/span>written<\/span><\/a> about the<\/span> asymmetry of power faced by Hindus \u2013 something that also applies in the context of Standing Rock. \u00a0<\/span>Hindus around the globe recognize the<\/span> rights of <\/span>indigenous people to retain their traditions, just as Hindus worldwide seek to retain our traditions. <\/span>We also share a common bond with indigenous people in adhering to non-violence, something that the Standing Rock protesters have held to for months \u2013 <\/span>amid escalating tensions<\/span><\/a>, or when <\/span>faced with violence<\/span><\/a>. With more media coverage from the likes of <\/span>CNN<\/span><\/a>, alongside social media campaigns to Stop the DAPL on <\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a> and Twitter, perhaps the silence is broken, and people will learn more, and do more, about saving the sacred.<\/span><\/p>\n