Professors File Appeal, Say Cal State Caste Policy Targets Hindus
India-West Staff Reporter
LOS ANGELES, CA – Two Indian American professors at California State University (CSU) have alleged that CSU’s non-discrimination policy, amended to single out ‘caste’ as a protected category, unconstitutionally singled out Indian origin and Hindu students and employees.
Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha have made the allegation in an appeal filed in federal court a press release from Hindu American Foundation said.
The appeal seeks to reverse the district court’s 2023 order.
The appeal argues that the district court improperly dismissed their due process claims for lack of standing as the evidence showed that they suffered and continue to suffer “the constitutionally sufficient harm of self-censorship due to CSU’s refusal to define caste, and the district court’s legal analysis on this issue is contrary to well-established case law.”
The district court, it says erred in dismissing their Establishment Clause claims by ignoring critical facts and misapplying the law to hold that “no reasonable reader would conclude that the Policy defines Hinduism to include a caste system.”
The district court, the appeal says, improperly dismissed their Free Exercise claims following CSU’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
The plaintiffs have alleged in their Amended Complaint that the Policy interferes with their participation in their religion and impermissibly defines religious doctrine. Accepting those allegations as true, as the law requires, the district court’s dismissal cannot be sustained.
“The record is clear: ‘caste’ was added to CSU’s non-discrimination policy for no other plausible reason than to intentionally target Hindus and define Hinduism in a constitutionally impermissible manner,” said Samir Kalra, HAF Managing Director adding, “This appeal is therefore necessary to protect the basic constitutional rights of not only professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha, but all Hindu faculty, staff, and students at CSU campuses throughout California.”
Shoorveer Tyagi
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The way Muslims are treated in India, why not Hindus be treated the same way in United States. 😎😎
March 25, 2024Pradeep Srivastava
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Isn’t California State Government governed by the laws of the state of California? California Gov. Gavin Newsom has already vetoed a bill that would have explicitly banned caste discrimination in the state. See below an article from cnn.com.
“California governor vetoes bill that would ban caste discrimination
Harmeet Kaur Chandelis Duster
By Harmeet Kaur and Chandelis Duster, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 5:59 PM EDT, Mon October 9, 2023”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday that would have explicitly banned caste discrimination in the state.
The measure, which passed the California legislature last month, specified caste as a subset of ancestry in the state’s civil rights statutes and would have given residents legal recourse against instances of caste discrimination.
India’s caste system evolved over centuries into a rigid social hierarchy based on notions of purity, with a person’s caste assigned at birth. While India formally outlawed caste discrimination shortly after its independence in 1947, caste-based prejudice and inequality persists and has since seeped into other countries.
In a statement explaining his veto decision, Newsom said the measure was “unnecessary” because discrimination based on caste is already prohibited in the state.
“In California, we believe everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live,” Newsom said. “That is why California already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation and other characteristics, and state law specifies that these civil rights protections shall be liberally construed.”
The California measure was opposed by some groups, including people of Indian origin, who said it unnecessarily painted an entire community with a broad brush. Though caste is commonly associated with India and Hinduism, it has since spread to other South Asian countries and religions.
In recent years, more caste-oppressed people in the United States have started speaking out about the discrimination they face — particularly in Silicon Valley, where a large proportion of workers are South Asian immigrants, CNN previously reported.
A coalition of civil rights groups, faith-based organizations and progressive legal scholars had backed the measure to amend the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Act, and the Education Code to include “caste” and other dimensions of ancestry. But the bill also saw intense, vocal opposition from some Indian Americans and Hindu organizations who argued it unfairly maligned South Asians and Hindus.
Equality Labs, a Dalit advocacy organization backing the bill, said though Newsom vetoed the legislation, the group still views it as a win. Dalit is a term those at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy have adopted to refer to themselves.
“While it is heartbreaking to receive the Governor’s veto, it is not a reflection of the incredible democratic power that our communities showed. We did the impossible,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Equality Labs, said in a statement. “Caste-oppressed people have been mobilizing for years to fight against this form of historical violence and will continue to do so.”
Earlier this year, Seattle became the first US city to ban caste discrimination. Several institutions of higher education, including Brown University, the California State University System, Colby College and Brandeis University, have also added caste protections to their nondiscrimination policies.
In 2020, California sued the tech giant Cisco and two of its engineers for allegedly discriminating against an Indian employee because he was of a lower caste. While the state has since dropped the case against the two engineers, litigation against Cisco is ongoing. Cisco said at the time it is committed to cultivating an “inclusive workplace.”
Over the last two decades, caste has also been at the heart of controversies around how Hinduism is portrayed in California textbooks. Some Hindu groups argued proposed textbook language perpetuated bias and stereotypes against Hindus and lobbied to remove or change certain references to the caste system.
March 25, 2024VIJAY
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Muslims in India are actually pampered, a lot lot better than Hindus in Pakistan. Your comments are misguided.
March 25, 2024