Indian-Americans stage peaceful rally against legislation on caste-based discrimination

Participants of the peaceful rally in front of Senator Aisha Wahab’s Office said that legislation SB-403 proposes to add “caste” as a protected category in California.

Scores of Indian-Americans held a peaceful rally in California to register their protest against a Democratic senator for introducing a bill in the state's Senate seeking to explicitly ban caste-based discrimination.

State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the state legislature, introduced the bill in the California Senate on March 22. If the bill gets passed, California, America’s most populous state, could also become the country’s first state to outlaw caste-based bias.

At the peace rally organised by the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) on Wednesday, participants said that the legislation introduced by Senator Wahab goes against the fundamental principles of equality and justice for all, regardless of their race, religion and ancestry.

“This bill presumes guilt, profiles and stereotypes Hindus and Asians, which will increase hate and target our kids,” said Harsh Singh, a Fremont city resident and tech worker.

Displaying posters and banners against the legislation, the protesters appealed to California lawmakers to not single out Hindus or presume that they are guilty of being oppressive simply due to their birth.

Participants of the peaceful rally in front of Senator Wahab's Office said that legislation SB-403 proposes to add "caste" as a protected category in California.

They said it is based on unproven and biased data that targets South Asians, along with other people of colour such as those from the Japanese, African and South American communities.