The previous 12 parts of the article can be accessed here Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12. This is part 13
Emergence of caste activism at UC-Davis
In the continuing series on Caste-Jihad, we took a little detour (part 12) for the adoption of caste as a protected category by the California State University (CSU) system. The Board of Trustees passed the anti-discrimination policy with caste as a parenthetical category as “Race or Ethnicity (including color, caste, or ancestry).” Several points worth noting include:
- Not even one Trustee was of South Asian ancestry.
- About 600 faculty of South Asia ancestry were not consulted and consequently discriminated by the newly adopted anti-discrimination policy.
- Not even one case of caste-based discrimination was reported and investigated in the CSU system.
This part discusses the emergence of caste activism on a sister system, the University of California (UC) at Davis, the first among public universities not only in California but in the U.S.
Before the CSU finale in the race to caste-cult, UC Davis had passed a similar policy late last year. Their revised anti-discrimination policy inserted caste under, “national origin (including caste or perceived caste).” Note, the never before heard category of ‘perceived caste’ with no definition and certainly without its origin in Hinduism, as alleged about the caste. Equally important is that both, the UC and CSU, are public university systems in one State yet found a parenthetic home for caste under different pre-existing protected categories of National Origin, and Race and Ethnicity, respectively. What it means is that caste was inherently protected under one of these categories like color and ancestry then why reinvent it? Is it not a total waste of public resources and nothing but ignorance at the highest level of UC and CSU leadership? What a shame for academia which we hold in highest esteem for their intellectual prowess, integrity, and objectivity?
Regarding UC Davis, I spoke with Danésha Nichols, director of Harassment & Discrimination, in December by phone. When asked about complaints of caste-based discrimination, she mentioned that they received 2-3 complaints in the past 5 years but none was proved or substantiated. She cited the Cisco case as a legal precedent for new policy although the case is still pending in the California courts. Another motivator was the Equality Labs’ highly biased, unscientific, and self-analyzed survey making false claims. When asked if she was aware of the more recent and authentic Carnegie survey, she was unaware of it. How shameful for a UC caliber institution and its intellectuals for not doing due diligence and fall prey to Equality Labs survey and student/ faculty activism with an agenda to malign India and Hindus as discussed below.
Nichols claimed to have consulted NAFSA, Equality Labs, campus counsel, select faculty from the religious studies, and students of a Collective named MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia). I left voice mails and sent emails to select faculty, students, and staff of India and Pakistan ancestry but nobody returned my calls or replied to emails. Even the reporter of Indian ancestry, Shwanika Narayan[1], who broke the story in November 2021, in the San Francisco Chronicle did not reply to my email[2]. The reporter herself said that UC Davis added caste to the policy “quietly” but regrettably she herself and all others kept quiet as if the whole thing was a conspiracy and/ or they were cowards.
When asked if any names who I could speak with, Nichols refused to disclose any names and directed me to campus counsel for public records. I requested information on December 3 and received a response 7 weeks later on January 26 with the name redacted (presumably faculty member) from the email communications. I have since found that a resolution was introduced to the Senate floor on Feb 4, 2021, in “an effort to malign and stereotype a minority religion via selective usage and misrepresentation of data.” The point-by-point rebuttal to this resolution by CoHNA is well documented and needs no repetition here. It is regrettable that neither Nichols nor the public records office disclosed the faculty senate resolution, perhaps a blatant violation of public records law.
I recall Nichols telling me that caste-based discrimination was presumably protected under California’s category of ancestry and/ or national origin. However, on the advice of campus counsel and the activism by students and faculty, the University chose to “illuminate” caste in its policy to further highlight California law. She said it caused “no harm.”
Further scouring the UC Davis’ website, I identified at least one student, Radhika Marwaha, who graduated in 2021 with a degree in global disease biology and was a recipient of the Mary Regan Meyer Award. Reportedly, in her senior year, she became involved in a movement to ensure that the caste-oppressed South Asian students become more inclusive in campus policies. She authored an Associated Students resolution to make caste a protected identity, worked to implement a survey on caste dynamics, and led a seminar on caste-based oppression in South Asia. She reportedly aspires to dedicate her career to racial and caste equity, particularly among queer, black, and Dalit groups. Marwaha, born in Punjab, is perhaps the key architect of caste in the anti-discrimination policy who may be characterized as a misguided warrior and activist. It is perhaps no different than the Islamist jihad.
Readers must note that UC Davis is near Yuba city where the farming Sikh community settled long before Indians started immigrating in the 1960s. It is surmised that the well-to-do Sikh families of Yuba city are associated with the Khalistan separatist movement. Who knows if the youth at UC Davis was inspired and funded to initiate the caste-based policy to promote divisiveness among the Indian diaspora in the U.S.? The Chronicle reported interviewing four students but identified only one by her last name, Kaur, who was from a Sikh Dalit family[2]. I note that people like Kaur and Pariyar (in CSU case) as self-identified Dalits are creating a caste-phobia to get ahead in their personal activism and notoriety.
In my analysis, UC Davis was and perhaps still is the fertile breeding ground for anti-India, anti-Hindu activism on so many fronts as evident from the following Instagram links with caste issue as just one factor. They have been active against CAA, removal of Article 370 in Kashmir, and against Diwali and Holi celebrations, just to name a few.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Obviously, there were students making comments that forced the perpetrators to take down anti-Diwali and anti-Holi propaganda. For example, Dhruv Shah wrote, “Your post on Diwali wasn’t needed to be nuanced, it needed to be absolutely taken down, because it was straight up false information. Fake narratives. Neither Surnpankha, nor Ravan, nor Holika nor Kaurvas. NONE OF THE EVILS mentioned in any of the epics are from oppressed caste.”
What started at UC Davis quietly with the invention of ‘perceived caste” as a protected category has now moved to other UC campuses (subject of next article) and CSU (part 12). With growing activism of students and faculty aided by Hinduphobic Equality Labs, I am afraid that the caste-jihad may get worse before it gets better.
In the big picture, anti-Hindu and anti-India momentum is growing too rapidly in the West. It is appearing in different forms of caste-jihad, dismantling Hindutva, discrediting Hindu deities and festivals etc. to create a divide among Hindus globally. As an optimist, I hope that Hindu unity will prevail in fighting such evils at every step and not let the conspiracy grow.
To be continued…
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] San francisco Chronicle – Shwanika Narayan – SF Chronicle
[2] UC Davis quietly added caste to its antidiscrimination policy. Will it cause others to do the same? – Nov 17, 2021, SF Chronicle
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Formerly, a researcher in Italy, Japan, and France, he has widely travelled and came to the US in 1978. He was a faculty and academic administrator in several different universities in PA, TX, NJ, MN, WI, and NY, and an Executive Fellow in the White House S&T Policy during the Clinton administration.
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