Historic win for Hindu Americans: California guv Newsom vetoes bill to ban caste discrimination

Had Newsom signed the bill, officially called Senate Bill 403 or SB 403, California would have become the first ever US state to explicitly ban caste discrimination.

• The bill was recently passed by the state legislature and is of particular importance to those of Hindu and South Asian descent
• At least 250 million people across the world still face caste discrimination in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Pacific regions: United Nations 2016 report
• We thank political leaders of both parties, in all levels of government, who demonstrated moral courage in opposing this racist bill: Samir Kalra, Hindu American Foundation
• We made the world aware that caste exists in the US and our people need a remedy from this violence: Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Equality Labs

The issue is particularly important to Americans of Indian descent and Hindus. As more Indians and South Asians have moved to the US, particularly to California and Silicon Valley, some of America’s biggest IT firms have also had to confront the issue of caste discrimination.

Many US tech firms are also headed by leaders of Indian origin such as Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.

The caste system is among the world’s oldest forms of rigid social stratification. It dates back thousands of years and allows many privileges to upper castes but represses lower castes. The Dalit community is on the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system; members have been treated as “untouchables.”

India outlawed caste discrimination over 70 years ago, yet several studies in recent years show that bias persists. Dalits still face widespread abuse across India, where their attempts at upward social mobility have at times been violently put down.

#Breaking | Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes #SB403!

With the stroke of his pen, Governor Newsom kills a bill premised on racist rhetoric, a baseless lawsuit, egregious @calcivilrights misconduct & false claims about the Hindu religion.

Our statement:https://t.co/IZJCSvw854

— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) October 7, 2023

Commenting on this, Samir Kalra, Managing Director, Hindu American Foundation stated: “Today, we at the Hindu American Foundation join South Asians across California and the Hindu American community in offering our heartfelt appreciation to California Governor Gavin Newsom for his historically important veto of SB-403. This is a victory for the civil rights of all Californians.

“‘We join…the Hindu American community in offering our appreciation to @GavinNewsom for his historically important veto of SB-403. This is a victory for the civil rights of all Californians," HAF Managing Director Samir Kalra said.’”https://t.co/mZUgyFSogD

— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) October 8, 2023

With the stroke of his pen, Governor Newsom has averted a civil rights and constitutional disaster that would have put a target on hundreds of thousands of Californians simply because of their ethnicity or their religious identity, as well as create a slippery slope of  facially discriminatory laws. We thank Governor Newsom for listening to the thousands of voices that contacted his office and seeing that SB-403 was premised on racist rhetoric, a baseless lawsuit, egregious Civil Rights Department misconduct, false claims about the Hindu religion and South Asian community at large, and the self-serving, methodologically-flawed caste survey by Equality Labs.

We thank political leaders of both parties, in all levels of government, who demonstrated moral courage in opposing this racist bill. Whether by passing local resolutions opposing discriminatory legislation, working with HAF to remove facially discriminatory language, outright voting against the bill or vetoing SB-403 — we will never forget that you defended the Hindu and South Asian communities at a critical moment in California history.”

Suhag Shukla, HAF Executive Director stated:  “We at HAF have always said that any discrimination on the basis of ‘caste’ violates not only Hindu teachings, but also existing state and federal law. The fight over SB-403 has always been about the best solution for any intra-community discrimination, not whether such protections are needed.

SB-403 forced our community to find its voice. The months spent educating the community about their rights, providing trainings and tools to effectively advocate as constituents, peacefully assembling in protest, offering testimonies at the Statehouse, writing countless letters to legislators and Governor Newsom, and meeting with numerous offices have all paid off. We’re grateful to Hindu Americans across the state who have shown tremendous resilience and to our allies for coming together like never before.

We are our ancestors wildest dreams. They weep with us. They chant with us. And they are standing joyfully for freedom! @GavinNewsom take the stand for history and #signsb403 into law today! pic.twitter.com/2dGilzBjUw

— Dalit Diva (@dalitdiva) October 6, 2023

To all those who have suffered discrimination, we stand with you. We hope to move forward together, educating our community to live the values of our shared traditions that insist on equality based on teachings of oneness of all of existence. We hope to move forward without hatred or malice to bring together our community which SB-403 so unnecessarily divided.”

1/ Today, California Governor @GavinNewsom vetoed anti-caste discrimination bill #SB403. Though Newsom has rejected the legislation for now, our #casteequity movement still views this as a win. https://t.co/jlcLn8ZRFO pic.twitter.com/TAKD3D1MZH

— Equality Labs (@EqualityLabs) October 8, 2023

3/ The bill’s overwhelmingly positive trajectory is a manifestation of the enduring power of the California Coalition for Caste Equity which empowered hundreds of grassroots organizers, #civilrights leaders, legal scholars, & Ravidassia community members from across CA.

— Equality Labs (@EqualityLabs) October 8, 2023

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Executive Director of Equality Labs, the Oakland-based Dalit rights group said she still views this moment as a victory.

“We made the world aware that caste exists in the US and our people need a remedy from this violence. A testament to our organising is in Newsom’s veto where he acknowledges that caste is currently covered. So while we wipe our tears and grieve, know that we are not defeated,” she said.

(Narasimhan Kasthuri  was a veteran journalist with The Hindu and Financial Express covering business, IT etc. Now, in the US West Coast, he covers technology for NE. He can be contacted at @narasimhan.kasturi@yahoo.com, Mobile: +1 (650) 793-0056)