California would become the first State in the US and the first jurisdiction outside India to ban caste discrimination if signed into law by Governor Newsom
Our Bureau
Sacramento, CA
Many Indian Americans held a peaceful protest rally in the State Capital of Sacramento urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to veto the anti-caste discrimination bill, which was passed by the State Assembly recently, as they considered it to be discriminatory and target the Indians in general and Hindus in particular.
“We ask Governor Newsom to Veto SB403 so history remembers that you said no to discrimination against Indian Americans and said no to racially profiling our community,” Samir Kalra of the Hindu American Foundation addressed the gathering of Indian Americans in front of the State Capitol in Sacramento on Saturday.
If signed into law by Governor Newsom, California would become the first State in the United States and the first jurisdiction outside India to outlaw discrimination based on caste. The legislation will revise California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by adding caste as a protected category under ancestry.
Hindu American Foundation has said that it is exploring every option to protect the rights of Hindu Californians and is planning to file a lawsuit against this.
Putting on posters and banners, the protestors, who had gathered from various parts of the State, urged the Governor not to sign the bill into law as this would end up in discrimination against the Hindu community. To make matters worse, the bill amounts to racial profiling of the Hindu community, they vehemently argued.
The bill SB403 ‘Discrimination on the basis of ancestry’ introduced in February, by Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan-American woman elected to the state legislature, was passed by the California Senate with 31-5 votes last week.
