New Delhi: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has sued the California Department of Civil Rights in the US for alleged misrepresentation of Hindu beliefs and practices by saying that the caste system and caste-based discrimination are integral parts of Hindu teachings.The advocacy group says by doing so, the California Department of Civil Rights violated the First Amendment rights of Hindus living in California.As per a press note, the Foundation stated that it had taken the Department (and therefore the state of California) to court this past September 22 for acting “unconstitutionally” in its case alleging caste discrimination occurring at Cisco Systems by “seeking to define what Hindus believe and decide how they practice their religion”.“HAF’s lawsuit states that the Department of Civil Rights (formerly known as Department of Fair Employment and Housing) wrongly asserts ‘that a caste system and caste-based discrimination are integral parts of Hindu teaching and practices by declaring the caste system to be a ‘strict Hindu social and religious hierarchy’, which requires discrimination by ‘social custom and legal mandate,” said the press note. “Throughout its two decades of existence, HAF has consistently maintained caste discrimination is wrong, and that any discrimination is neither ‘core’ nor legitimate parts of Hindu and religious beliefs, teachings, or practices, nor condoned,” Samir Kalra, HAF’s managing director said.He said while California may be known today for its progressive politics and emphasis on equity, “the state has a dark history of passing shamefully xenophobic and racist laws such as Foreign Miner’s Tax or the Alien Land Laws.”Shukla added, “Instead of protecting the civil rights of its Hindu residents, California’s Department of Civil Rights is actually violating them by telling them what they must believe and demonizing their religious tradition.” The complaint at the federal court stated that stopping caste-based discrimination is a worthy goal that directly furthers Hinduism’s “belief in the equal and divine essence” of all people. “But wrongly tying Hindu beliefs and practices to the abhorrent practice of caste discrimination undermines that goal, violates the First Amendment rights of all Hindu Americans, and can only lead to a denial of due process to Americans based on their religious affiliation.” The HAF’s legal intervention is in regard to an ongoing case since June 2020 where the Department had sued Cisco Systems in response to allegations by an American Hindu employee of the company facing harassment at the hands of two managers of Indian origin because he was from a lower caste than them.
