The previous 11 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. This is part 12
Lost a battle but let us win the war against Caste-Cults
In the series on Caste-Jihad, it was just last week that we discussed the emerging Caste-Cult in California State University (CSU) system (part 11). Little did I know then that the student resolution was supported by the CSU Faculty Association and the caste as a protected category as part of their collective bargaining contract. On January 25, the CSU Board of Trustees had a public hearing on the issue. In the words of Satish Sharma (the author of Caste, Conversion A Colonial Conspiracy[1]),” we may have lost this battle today but don’t lose hope, long term we will win this war.” He was a speaker in a public hearing but the technical difficulties prevented his testimonial from the U.K. I would like to be as hopeful as he is for winning the war.
We lost the battle, in part, because only a handful of us including this author was against the inclusion of caste as a protected category in CSU’s anti-discrimination policy. We were outnumbered by almost a factor of four by an organized group, courtesy of the ultra Hinduphobic Equality Labs (EL), with the scripted, passionate but barely truthful message which appealed to the Trustees. The EL known to be funded by the Evangelical Church has orchestrated the caste being of Hinduism origin which is appealing to many in the West. The truth may be bitter but the Western powers don’t have the stomach to tolerate rising India and nationalism. Therefore, the issues like casteism, religious intolerance, human rights violation are conveniently floated in the media, by the government, and/ or anti-Hindu groups.
On the positive side of the testimonials, true Hindu believers, including some from the so-called lower castes, pleaded in more ways than perhaps the Trustees cared. Clearly, none of the Trustees included a person of South Asian origin with little or no understanding of India’s ancient heritage, culture, history, and the Varna system.
Our group, although small in numbers, spoke the truth and touched the issue from a philosophical and pragmatic point of views. The presenters included Deepak Amin (San Francisco), Pushpita Prasad (CoHNA Bay Area), Sudha Jagannathan (CoHNA), Aldrin Deepak (Bay Area), and Sunil Kumar (SDSU faculty) among others. In the end, the CSU Trustees were perhaps only counting beans and cared little for the quality of arguments and thus the battle was lost.
The hearing included several known actors of growing caste-cults. A faculty member, Sonja Thomas, was one who championed the caste-cult at Colby College (Part 10). The student leader Manmit Singh had drafted the resolution and Prem Pariyar had alleged caste discrimination which was explained in part 11. Two others worth mentioning include Sunita Vishwanath of Columbia University and Audrey Truschke of Rutgers University.
I had heard their passionate lies and insinuating claims during the infamous Dismantling Global Hindutva conference which the true Hindus countered for them not to dare repeat[2]. Vishwanath, a born Hindu, has a history of divisive activism and supporting those who display bigotry and hatred towards Hinduism. How and why Columbia would hire her to advise Hindu students who actively disparage Hinduism? How can she be a voice for Hindus when she supports those calling the popular festival (Holi) a “casteist, violent, misogynist,” and alleges the burning of a “lower caste” woman? Her testimonial was consistent with her line of thoughts that Hinduism is nothing but casteism and beyond redemption.
Another faculty, Truschke, a born Christian but likely a sworn Hindumisia to the core, is known to have abused the privilege of free speech and faculty’s academic freedom to the hilt in promoting hatred for Hindutva. One of many ways to describe her anti-Hindu activism, writings, and presentations is that the Hindu Foundation of America named her as one of the defendants in a lawsuit. Reportedly, she worked closely on a number of occasions with IAMC, HfHR, and Sadhana — all organizations controlled or operated by the other defendants (including Vishwanath) — went on the republish and amplify the defamatory statements[3].
The wild West of California is becoming a hub of caste-cults because of a large number of high-tech companies and home to a significant population of people of Indian (and South Asia) origin/ ancestry. In addition to CSU, the Cisco lawsuit, the Equality Labs, the earlier textbook fiasco, and the caste either already included or being considered at University of California campuses at Davis, San Diego, and Berkley are making California a hotbed for caste-cult. I am afraid that such a sinister but emerging phenomenon may spread like a wildfire far beyond the shores of California.
Clearly, the strength lies in the unity of Hindus who perhaps don’t think, talk, or practice caste at home or in their professional conduct. They must wake up from the state of deep sleep to discredit and dismantle the caste-cults in California and beyond not to put their future generations at risk to be targeted with lawsuits similar to Cisco. We must make a persuasive argument that caste as a protected category is a form of discrimination against people of South Asian origin /ancestry.
Let me remain hopeful like Satish Sharma that we may have lost the battle but the united Hindu groups and individuals in the U.S. and globally will win the war by defeating the caste-cults and its perpetrator like the Equality Labs. Let us resolve to bring Dharmic people together and do our Karma to fight the evil of Colonial caste and restore the ancient Varna system.
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] Caste, Conversion A Colonial Conspiracy: What Every Hindu and Christian must know about Caste – Feb 11, 2021, Amazon.com
[2] DISMANTLING GLOBAL HINDUTVA: MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES – Dismantling Hindutva
[3] Hindus for Human Rights & Indian American Muslim Council leaders, Rutgers Professor Audrey Truschke sued for defamation and conspiracy against HAF – May 07, 2021, HAF
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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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