New York Legislature Declines To Advance “Caste” Protection Bills

Photo: X

India-West News Desk

ALBANY, N.Y. – Two New York state bills that would have added caste as a protected category under the state’s Human Rights Law failed to advance during the 2026 legislative session, prompting praise from the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), which had opposed the measures.

The proposed legislation — Senate Bill S.6531 and Assembly Bill A.6920 — sought to add caste protections to New York law. CoHNA argued that the bills would disproportionately affect Hindus, Indians and South Asians and said existing laws already prohibit discrimination.

Since the bills were introduced in 2025, CoHNA said it conducted a grassroots campaign that included meetings with state lawmakers, outreach to community members, and distribution of a memorandum outlining its legal and constitutional concerns.

“This is a win for advocacy and civil rights in the face of immense pressure from elite academics and activists with access to powerful media and political players,” said Sudha Jagannathan, CoHNA’s director of government relations.

Jagannathan, who identified herself as a Bahujan Hindu, said she had spent the past two years meeting with New York lawmakers to share her perspective on the legislation.

“I find it offensive that New York State would try to weaponize my identity against my own culture and traditions that provide me solace and strength,” she said.

CoHNA said members of its Dalit-Bahujan leadership team also met with lawmakers and opposed what they described as efforts to portray Hindu temples as places of discrimination and exclusion.

CoHNA also cited a 2024 study by Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab and the Network Contagion Research Institute, saying it supported the group’s concerns about caste-related policies and perceptions of Hindus and Indian Americans.

“This was yet another attempt to misuse a noble desire for social justice and subvert it to drive hate against a minority, like we saw in California in 2023,” said Nikunj Trivedi, president of CoHNA.

“It is important to remember that caste is not a neutral word and due to decades of misinformation it is primarily associated with the Hindu and Indian communities in public perception,” Trivedi added.

CoHNA also pointed to past caste-related legal disputes, including the 2021 lawsuit filed against Sundar Iyer in California and the caste discrimination case involving Cisco, arguing that such cases illustrate the risks of assigning caste identities based on a person’s background.

CoHNA further argued that there is no evidence of systemic caste discrimination in the United States and criticized continued efforts by academics and activists to promote caste-specific policies.

With the close of the legislative session, the bills will not move forward this year.