Irecently court case against California Department of Civil RightsThe Hindu American Foundation asserted that, “the caste system or discrimination on the basis of it is in no way a legitimate part of Hindu beliefs, teachings or practices.” It further alleged that the views of the CRD are based on “misinformation and misrepresentation about Hinduism by the Western colonial occupation”.
HAF’s complaint is the result of CRD’s caste discrimination case against tech giant Cisco on behalf of a Dalit employee who alleged systematic discrimination by two upper caste (‘upper caste’) supervisors. In its complaint, the CRD had described the caste system as a “strict Hindu social and religious hierarchy”.
Ambedkar King Study Circle recorded People’s testimony and personal experiences about how caste discrimination is practiced by upper caste Hindus in the United States.
battle line
HAF is one of several migrant groups drawing their fighting line in response to public allegations of racial discrimination in the American workplace, including educational institutions.
On the other side of the issue are several Dalit rights organisations, who have been vigorously lobbying to add caste as a category of potential discrimination in the state. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which currently lists race, color, religion, gender or national origin as “protected” categories. Only when this happens, they argue, employers will take the issue of caste discrimination seriously and implement policies to combat it. Cisco said it did not act on complaints of caste discrimination because the practice is “not illegal.”
Ambedkar International Center (AIC) has filed an amicus brief in the Cisco case, challenging the HAF’s amicus brief, which argued that the caste system was not a part of Hinduism. Many expatriate organizations, including Hindu for Human Rights, has supported AIC in its endeavour. The matter is still in the courts.
International Commission for Dalit Rights Collaborated with Hindus for Human Rights in preparing a investigation report On caste discrimination in the temple/gurudwara construction industry. This was inspired by the highly publicized allegation that BAPS TEMPLE He had abused his Dalit workers brought from India in New Jersey. That matter is still in the courts.
Equality Labs (EL) has been at the fore in the fight on behalf of Dalits and has been lobbying universities to ban discrimination on the basis of caste. earlier this year, cal state Over objections from a section of Indian-Americans, who argued that caste discrimination no longer exists and that the university’s move would “instill hatred against Hindus on campus.”
Those arguments were directly challenged EL’s Caste Survey, which found that two out of three Dalits reported being treated unfairly at their US workplace. Also, the experience of Brandeis UniversityWhich was the first to ban caste discrimination in 2020, rejected the claim that banning caste discrimination on campus spreads hatred against Hindus.
Efforts to lobby Dalits with tech giants have not met with much success. Google canceled a scheduled workshop on caste discrimination earlier this year under pressure from its large Hindu employee base. Executive Director of EL, thenmozhi sundararajanwas forced to deliver his planned comment On the Internet – really challenging other Google employees to ask themselves what’s in their commentary that threatens Google management so much.
Google’s lead in refusing to hear about racial discrimination will likely prompt other tech companies to meet demands that race discrimination be added to their human resources policies. This is unfortunate.
On the third front are progressive Hindu groups like Hindu for Human RightsThose who feel that their primary role in the caste debate is not only to support Dalit groups in their advocacy, but also to play a leading role in educating the Hindu American community about the realities of caste discrimination in both India and India. America. This is especially important in the case of upper-caste Hindus of American origin, who are often told that caste is a thing of the past and has nothing to do with Hinduism in any case.
“Are you telling me that I must confuse my American?,Children born talking about what is happening in distant India? Why should they learn about caste?” A speaker recently said at the San Francisco Interfaith Council.
Read also: A mysterious new report tells you who funds Hindu nationalism in America, and with what money
Is caste ‘natural’ in Hinduism?
The HAF also alleged in its suit against the CRD that “by falsely claiming that caste, a caste system and caste-based discrimination are an inherent part of Hindu religious belief and practice, the CRD actually encourages and possibly It also requires employers to engage in the very discrimination they allegedly want to prevent.”
These claims have been refuted by several Hindu scriptures, which indicate that the caste system (Varna Dharma) has in fact been a part of Hindu practices since ancient times. Many contemporary Hindu religious leaders would also support the CRD’s description of caste as a “strict Hindu social and religious hierarchy”.
Bhagavad Gita and Caste
In the Bhagavad Gita (Me: 41-44), Pandava prince Arjuna shares his grave misunderstanding with Lord Krishna about going to a bloody battle with his cousin Kauravas.
Killing them on the battlefield, he agonizes, would leave the women of the family (possibly widows) “corrupted”, leading to “caste-delusions” (violation of caste boundaries by women). This will bring disrepute to the families, Arjuna fears, and they will “go to hell forever.”
Arjuna’s suffering and his fear of breaking caste rules clearly support the CRD’s description of the caste system as a “strict hierarchy”.
Kanchi Shankaracharya and Caste
in his work Hindu ReligionPublished in 1995, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, the late Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, devoted several chapters under “Vedic Dharma and Varna Dharma” praising the virtues of Varna Dharma. As “superior in character to concepts like equality”.
Saraswati further says that “Manu-Niti-Shastra” [Manusmrti] Dharma has authority” and it is Varna Dharma that may be the secret of the existence of Hinduism for centuries.
In 1963, in an audience with Professor JW Elder of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Saraswati was candid about the hereditary nature of the caste system: “According to the scriptures, the Hindu community is divided into different castes. A special duty is assigned to a particular caste. By heredity people come into one race…” (see .) #1 And #2 to source)
Shankaracharya’s view on caste supports CRD’s description that caste identity is hereditary.
Read also: India is Hindu, Hindu is India – why do Indian Americans think so?
Chinmaya Mission on Caste
Unlike Kanchi Shankaracharya, Chinmaya Mission focuses more on the ‘feel-good’ version of the caste system.
In its lectures, it emphasizes a passage in the Bhagavad Gita (IV:13), where Krishna declares that it was He who created the four Character, based on Three times qualities (characteristics) of a person: “Tamas (Darkness, Illusion and Ignorance), Rajas (passion, desire and attachment), and substance (Light, Harmony and Balance).”
based on a caste system qualities was a practical and plausible way to organize a society, he argues, where everyone was treated equal; But in recent times the system was corrupted by the British colonial administration to make it flexible and unequal.
This line of reasoning often eliminates passages attributed to Arjuna (see above), indicating that caste strictures were harsh and unfair even in the days of the Bhagavad Gita.
sadly in praise a fold-based caste system, which could never have existed in reality, Chinmaya Mission Upholds the orthodoxy of the four varnas, virtually condemning 52 per cent of India’s population (the so-called Shudras). Tamasiko The qualities of inertia, lethargy, laziness and apathy. this is unacceptable.
Still, the Chinmaya Mission does not separate Hinduism from caste, as the HAF attempts to do.
CRD’s focus
The CRD in its complaint has not focused on the origin of the caste system, but on the alleged discrimination against a Dalit worker at the workplace. The hope of this is to force employers to legally recognize that caste discrimination is real and that they need to create policies that can deal with it, just as they now deal with other forms of discrimination. Their long-term hope is that race will be added to United States civil rights laws as another category of potential discrimination.
The HAF, ignoring the essence of the CRD’s complaint, indulges in self-pity – alleging that the entire Hindu-American community may fall victim to any anti-caste policies that may be adopted by the state.
Read also: 8 out of 10 Hindu Indian Americans who identify by caste say they belong to an upper caste: Survey
Vision of a Casteless Hinduism
In the history of Hindu thought, there have been many reformers who denounced the caste hierarchy and sought to create a more egalitarian and less caste-conscious Hindu society. This list includes Sant Ramanuja, Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi, Sant Kabir etc.
Each of them was inspired by the sincere belief that a Hindu practice without caste shackles was possible and desirable. But, unfortunately, each of his attempts to envision a casteless Hindu society were limited and eventually overwhelmed by the immense power of the institutional caste hierarchy.
Today, however, the fact that some Hindu diaspora communities in countries such as South Africa and Suriname have no institutional memories of caste and are yet devout Hindu indicates that casteless Hindu societies already exist in some parts of the world. .
A millennium later, in a globalized world, Hindus for Human Rights believes that a progressive Hinduism without caste hierarchy is not only possible, but much needed today. However, this can happen only if the privileged sections of Hindu society take ownership of the caste system as it is practiced today, rather than fleeing from it. Continuing the debate on how and when the caste system started and who made it flexible, did little to solve today’s caste discrimination and caste oppression.
Going forward
HAF repeatedly claims that it vehemently opposes all forms of discrimination, including caste discrimination. Yet, its actions at the grassroots are designed more to protect privileged ‘upper caste’ Hindu-Americans rather than actively fighting caste discrimination.
The CRD is on the right track in uncovering the emergence of caste prejudices at the American workplace, a move that is likely to be supported by the majority of Hindus in India, which include Bahujans, Dalits and Adivasis (over 70% of India). ), if given the chance. I hope that all the efforts of Dalit rights groups supported by progressive Hindus and others will lead to a better public understanding of caste discrimination and thereby sensitize officials and supervisors at the workplace and our next generations as such. discrimination.
Raju Rajagopal is the co-founder of Human Rights for Hindus (@Hindus4HR). Thoughts are personal.
(edited by Prashant)