Complaint filed against Hindu Council of Australia for alleged Islamophobia
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The Australian Human Rights Commission has reportedly opened an investigation into a complaint against the Hindu Council of Australia over alleged repeated instances of Islamophobia.
According to the complaint, the council, along with its president, Sai Paravastu, and its head of media, Neelima Paravastu, is accused of posting Islamophobic content on X and Instagram, as well as making public comments, during the period from May 2024 to July 2025.
The submission, filed by the Alliance against Islamophobia and reviewed by Guardian Australia, is said to include copies of the social media posts. Among them were the sharing of material from U.S. right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk and British far-right figure Tommy Robinson. Other cited posts allegedly targeted Indian, Bangladeshi, and Rohingya Muslims, The Guardian reported.
The complaint further claimed that several of the posts carried imputations portraying Muslims as “inherently criminal, dangerous, violent or evil by nature,” suggesting they “prey upon children, the aged and the vulnerable” and collectively represent a “powerful threat or menace.”
The Commission has declined to comment on the case while it is under investigation, but the matter is understood to have been formally accepted on 16 September. Both the Hindu Council of Australia and Sai and Neelima Paravastu were approached for responses.
Guardian Australia noted earlier that incidents of Islamophobia have risen since the October 7, 2023 attacks, alongside a spike in reported cases of antisemitism.
The Alliance against Islamophobia’s complaint is seeking several outcomes: a formal public apology, the removal of all allegedly offensive posts, an enforceable undertaking to refrain from further vilification, and compensation for the harm and distress said to have been caused.
Among the complaints submitted was an X post originally from Tommy Robinson, reshared by Neelima Paravastu, stating “I’ve been warning America of the problems Islam brings for many years, hoping they’re not blind-sided like we in Europe were.”
Other cited material included posts critical of the burqa and of New York mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
The bulk of the complaint, however, focused on posts alleged to disparage Muslims of South Asian origin, some of which were written in Hindi. It also contained news clippings referring to remarks reportedly made by Sai Paravastu calling for Muslim prayer rooms to be removed from schools.
The complaint alleged breaches of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, along with unlawful discrimination under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act. Section 18C prohibits conduct that is reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate a person on the basis of race or ethnicity.