Tag: rightwing

California rolls back caste-bias case partially, right-wing Hindus claim victory

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Washington: California state has dropped its allegations of caste-based bias by two Indian-descent employees of IT giant Cisco but will continue the larger case against the company.
California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing had filed this case in 2020 based on a complaint from an unidentified employee of the company making it the first case of caste-based discrimination reported in the US.
This case went on to be seen as a confirmation of the existence of a typically South Asian form of discrimination in the US and it was subsequently cited in support of moves to add this practice to the list of banned grounds for bias elsewhere in the country such as in Seattle.

The California civil rights department (CRD) filed its request for “partial dismissal” in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara on Monday.
“Only the two individual defendants are being dismissed,” said the department’s press office in response to a request for clarification. “CRD’s case against Cisco remains ongoing. We will continue to vigorously litigate the matter on behalf of the people of California.”
The lawsuit by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing was filed against Cisco System Inc in 2020 on the basis of a complaint from a Indian-descent Dalit employee of the company who had alleged caste-based discrimination against him by two of his supervisors – also of India-descent – and alleged retaliation when he complained.
The suit was filed against the company – Cisco Systems Inc; and the two supervisors – Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella.
The department of civil rights has dropped the allegations against the two supervisors, but said its larger case against the company will continue.

“Two Indian Americans endured a nearly three year nightmare of unending investigations, a brutal online witch hunt, and a presumption of guilt in the media after the CRD sullied their reputation alleging that they engaged in discrimination based on caste,” said Suhag Shukla, Executive Director of Hindu American Foundation (HAF), which has opposed the listing of caste among banned ground for discrimination.
“We are thrilled that Iyer and Kompella have been vindicated along with our position that the state has no right to attribute wrongdoing to Hindu and Indian Americans simply because of their religion or ethnicity,” she added.
HAF was among a group of organizations of Hindu Americans who tried to stop Seattle city from adding caste to the banned list of kinds of bias and it is also now part of an effort to stop California from adopting a legislation banning caste-based discrimination, the first American state to do so, when, and if, that legislation becomes law.
A debate is raging in the Indian American community, joined by other South Asian communities, on the question of adding caste to the list of many kinds of bias banned in the US, with history/origin, religion, color and ethnicity.
HAF, Vishwa Hindu Parishad America and other rightwing Hindu Americans argue that caste-based discrimination is reprehensible, any law banning it here in the US puts a target on the backs of the entire South Asian community, specially Hindus, by portraying them all as purveyors of this practice.
They also argue that discrimination based on caste is covered by existing laws that outlaw all kinds of bias and discrimination and there is no need for a new ban.
Their third, and the final argument, is that the caste-bias in the US is rare and not as rampant as it has been made out to be. They have questioned data cited by supporters of the ban.
Others argue that caste-based discrimination is widely practiced among American communities of people of South Asian descent – from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal – and that it’s needs to be banned. No one community is being targeted and if HAF and other such organisations agree and acknowledge that caste is a reprehensible practice, they should not oppose its ban.
California state senator Aisha Wahab is among the supporters of the ban and she has introduced a legislation to make the state the first to put caste on the ban list. Kshama Sawant, the Indian American council woman who made Seattle the first city to ban caste, is the most vocal proponent of the movement pushing America to outlaw caste.
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#California #rolls #castebias #case #partially #rightwing #Hindus #claim #victory
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
Hyderabad: Muslim couple file complaint after right-wing ‘harassment’

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Hyderabad: A Muslim couple filed a police complaint stating that they have been allegedly targeted by certain sections of the right-wing Hindu community by exposing their personal details such as phone numbers, names of their relatives, addresses etc.
Addressed to the City Commissioner of Police, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Branch), Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) and Station House Officer (SHO) P S Mirchowk, the plaintiff named – Syed Inayat Hussain Abidi – mentioned in detail the harassment.
The letter mentions the first complaint against him was registered in 2022 by Radhika Rangwala who accuses him of indulging in terrorist activities.

“I have allegedly videographed various defence and DRDO locations,” the letter stated. Abidi said that because of the FIR, he was called by the Kanchanbagh police station and thereafter by Special Branch Chatta Bazar by investigating officers named Sudarshan, Ravindra, Venu and Mehdi.
“When the authorities found out that the allegations are far from the truth, false and fictitious, they assured me that action will be taken against the complainant,” Abidi wrote in his letter.
However, Abidi’s problems did not end there. On November 23, 2022, he found out that police complaints were registered against him, his wife and his sisters alleging that they were a part of the alleged terror group Saraya Al Mukhtar and were ‘planning to attack consulates such as USA, UK, Bahrain etc’.
“I was summoned multiple times and this continued till January 2023, and again after knowing that my family was being falsely accused, the authorities left us,” the letter stated.
“Again a complaint was lodged against me by Uma Maheshwari alleging that I am associated with different terror organisations,” Abidi’s letter said.

Abidi also found out that his personal details were exposed to the public through a tweet by Goshmahal MLA and suspended BJP leader T Raja Singh.
“I started getting threatening messages from unknown numbers, whereby they are abusing me of filthy language and proclaiming to kill me,” Abidi stated in his letter.
Imp.🧵👇
Recently a copy of a complaint made to the @CPHydCity about a Muslim couple planning for a terror attack on several places in Hyd & on MLA Raja Singh.
The letter got viral on social media & Raja Singh also tweeted that. Which is found as fake & sent to misguid d police pic.twitter.com/JqCBBGFCmw
— S.Q.Masood | مسعود (@SQMasood) April 5, 2023

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#Hyderabad #Muslim #couple #file #complaint #rightwing #harassment
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 5, 2023
MP: Rightwing activists hold protest after IMC action at Indore temple

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Indore: A day after Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) removed illegal construction from the Beleshwar Jhulelal Mahadev Temple where 36 people were after the roof of a stepwell collapsed on Thursday last, a group of Rightwing activists on Tuesday late night reached Dhakkanwala Kuan in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and demanded the removal of ‘Dargah’ from the area.
On being stopped by the police from reaching the spot, they sat on the road and started raising slogans against the administration.
Indore’s additional collector Ajay Dev Sharma said, “The administration with help of civic body has launched a drive and clearing illegal constructions in and around water bodies including Bawadis and wells. It’s not about any particular religion.”

“We have already removed illegal constructions from Dhakkanwala Kuan area, and the drive will continue in future as well,” said Sharma.
“The protesters were also informed about the action, after which they called off their protest,” he added.
The protestors however claimed there is a dargah in the area and it has been built on a well and demanded that it should be removed.
“We have withdrawn our protest after talks with the leaders of our organization and the district administration. But if the encroachment is not removed, we will remove the illegal encroachments ourselves,” Rajesh Binjwe, one of the protestors said.
Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) filled the stepwell of the temple with building materials where 36 people died last week after its floor collapsed and also demolished the illegal structure of the temple on Monday.

The stepwell floor collapse incident occurred at Beleshwar Jhulelal Mahadev Temple located in Patel Nagar in the city on Thursday (March 30). A ‘Hawan Puja’ was going on in view of the Ram Navami festival in the temple at the time of the incident.
Around 200 Municipal Corporation employees, officers and police force were present on the spot to remove the illegal structure of the temple constructed by encroaching over the garden land of Sneh Nagar locality. The police barricaded the entire area before the JCBs, bulldozers and dumpers reached the spot.
Notably, Bajrang Dal workers had come to protest for the removal of the temple construction, but the police stopped them at the spot. Some local people also reached there to protest but the police convinced them too and drew them back.
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#Rightwing #activists #hold #protest #IMC #action #Indore #temple
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 5, 2023
Right-wing Hindu Americans now seek to stop California from banning caste bias

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Washington: After failing to prevent the city of Seattle from outlawing caste-based discrimination, right-wing Hindu Americans are girding up to stop the state of California from going down that route.
The Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective USA (HinduPACT USA), an initiative of Vishwa Hindu Parishad America, has launched a campaign to collect signatures to a petition asking the California Senate “to Reject SB-403 to Protect Hindus from Discrimination”.
The Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy body, has opposed the bill in a letter to Democratic state Senator Aisha Wahab, said in a statement it looks forward to “educating” her on the acecomplex issue of caste”.
SB-403 is a legislation introduced by Wahab last week, which according to a press announcement, seeks to clarify California civil rights law to explicitly include protection against discrimination based on a person’s position in a caste.
Wahab is not exactly new to the issue of caste. “I’m familiar with the impact of caste discrimination from witnessing what friends and their families experienced when growing up in Fremont,” she said. “Prior to assuming office, people in my district shared with me their stories of caste discrimination, and I felt they deserved appropriate protections.”
Afghan-descent Wahab announced the bill last week at a press conference, accompanied by activists and long-time campaigners, who were also at the forefront of the effort led by City council member Kshama Sawant that made Seattle the first city in the US to outlaw caste-based discrimination. It has passed in the Seattle city council 6-1, defying a high-decibel campaign launched by right-wing Hindus Americans from around the country.
California could now become the first US state of ban caste-based discrimination if Senator Wahab’s legislation is enacted.
“This bill is about workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights,” Wahab said, announcing the bill at the news conference. “To ensure organisations and companies do not entrench caste discrimination in their practices or policies our laws need to plainly state that discrimination based on caste is illegal.”

The first case of caste-based discrimination to catch make national headlines in the headlines came from California in 2020 when the states’ civil rights department sued Cisco, the networking gear and business software company, on a petition from an Indian-descent employee that the company’s human resources department did not take cognizance of his complaint of caste-based discrimination by two of his Indian-descent seniors.
In 2022, California State University, which is America’s largest public university system, banned caste-based discrimination after years of activism by Dalit students, including Nepalese-descent Prem Pariyar. Several other US universities are said to be planning the same.
Right-wing Hindu Americans oppose the ban arguing, first, that though caste-based discrimination is appalling, any law banning it here in the US puts a target on the backs of the entire South Asian community, specially Hindus, by portraying them all as purveyors of this practice.
Second, they have argued that discrimination based on caste is covered by existing laws that outlaw all kinds of bias and discrimination and there is no need for a new ban.
Their third, and final, argument is that caste bias in the US is rare and not as rampant as it has been made out to be. They have questioned data cited by supporters of the ban.
“We share the admirable goals of standing up for civil rights and eliminating all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including based on caste,” the Hindu American Foundation said in its letter to Senator Wahab the day after she announced the bill.
It added: “So the question is not whether we should deal with any allegations of caste discrimination, but how. As such, if and when incidents of caste discrimination occur, they should be brought to light, thoroughly investigated and rectified under existing law in its current form.”
Wahab has been expecting this pushback, as has happened in the past to all legislative initiatives regarding civil rights.
“My office has already begun to field opposition inquiries to this bill. What the opposition would have you believe is that this bill’s effort to provide clarity of language in state law and protection to caste- oppress Dalits in particular, or formerly known as the untouchables is in turn targeting a different group of oppressed people. That is not the case.”
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#Rightwing #Hindu #Americans #seek #stop #California #banning #caste #bias
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 31, 2023
Hyderabad: Middle finger shown to protesting students at right-wing event in UoH

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Hyderabad: Mild tension prevailed in the University of Hyderabad (UOH) when a programme was allowed to be held by right-wing think tank Pragna Bharati in the campus. After got students got to know of it, many of them were prevented from entering the event. The situation got more tense after a man, alleged to be an RSS member, showed protesting students a middle-finger while walking in.
At the event in UoH, known speakers such as right-wing ideologue Rajiv Malhotra and BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy attended the event. Malhotra is most infamous on social media for featuring in a video with rape-accused Swami Ntiyananda, and discussing about a bizarre idea of how to get money from the billionaires in world to deliver it to them in the next life.
During the program organised by Pragna Bharati on Monday, several students were prevented from entering the talk. Students claims that only people who are affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were let in. Many who were unhappy with the presence of the right-wing speakers in UoH turned up to protest at the event.
Over the last few years the University of Hyderabad administration has also prevented various speakers from entering the campus to speak with the students (like Yogendra Yadav).
Pragna Bharati organised an interactive session with Rajiv Malhotra, Subramanian Swamy and Vijaya Viswanathan on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in the Zakir Hussain lecture hall.
Among vidoes shot during the protest in UoH, one of those shows a man in kurta who was being escorted into the lecture hall. In that video, he responded to the sloganeering students by whistling at them and pointing his middle finger towards them.
“We were stopped from attending the session under the pretext that we did not register for the program. We only came because we wanted to listen to the speakers and interact with them,” said Kripa, the general secretary of the student union while speaking to Siasat.com.
She said a complaint against the man was given to the Gachibowli police and the University of Hyderabad administration also. In another video the police and UoH security were seen pulling the students away and preventing them from entering the hall.

The program organisers from Pragna Bharati said that they did not invite him to the sessions and that they had no clue about the incident until the police had informed them later. Speaking to Siasat.com, One of the organisers from Pragya Bharati, who identified himself as Sharmaji, called the students “anti-nationals”.
Various university students shared the video of the incident on social media, accusing RSS and ABVP of bringing the man (who showed the middle finger) into the university.
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#Hyderabad #Middle #finger #shown #protesting #students #rightwing #event #UoH
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 14, 2023
Christian stall at Delhi World book fair vandalised by right-wing goons

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Chaos erupted when a group of right-wing workers vandalised a stall containing Christian spiritual books at the New Delhi World Book Fair held in Pragati Maidan on March 1.
A video has emerged on social media Twitter where around 30 men wearing saffron scarves and tilak on their forehead can be seen tearing posters of the New Testament Psalms and Proverbs.
Alleging that Christians target poor Hindu families for religious conversions, they tore copies of The Holy Bible and shouted, “Free Bible bandh karo, dharam parivartan bandh karo” (Stop distributing free copies of the Bible, stop religious conversion) ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
A group of over 30 people attacked a stall belonging to a Christian non-profit at the World Book Fair in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
They tore “Free Holy Bible” posters, chanted Jai Shri Ram, & told the group to “stop converting people.”
pic.twitter.com/7VOrb9zYJP
— Ahmed Khabeer احمد خبیر (@AhmedKhabeer_) March 2, 2023
The book fair had several stalls of different genres including different spiritual and religious books. The vandalised counter had put a tag for free Holy Bible, which triggered a few Hindutva men.
According to Indian Express, one of the volunteers said other stalls also distributed free texts from other religions.
“The men accused us of converting people by forcing them to take the books. We told them that we were only distributing free books to passersby. But they didn’t listen,” the volunteer was quoted by the Indian Express.
Mahindri Panchandham, a self-proclaimed member of Unite Hindu, led the vandalism. In the video, when some people from the crowd try to remind him that the Indian Constitution describes the country as a democratic nation where one is free to follow under their free will, Panchandham shot back saying, “Democracy gives the right to preach religion but not to lure poor Hindus and convert them.”
As people try to calm an agitated Panchandham down and reason with him, he refuses to listen and starts raising slogans in a louder tone.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police informed that no complaint was registered by the members of the book fair.
“We check the area and found that no books were torn. The group had only protested and was soon removed. There was no disruption or violence. The Gideons don’t wish to file a complaint and said the matter was sorted,” said a police officer.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Vinod Bansal said that Christian groups and missionaries are infamous for targeting poor Hindu families and tricking them into converting to Christianity. “These groups and missionaries convert people by forcing them to take books. We don’t support this and asked them not to do the same. There was no violence or anything,” he said.

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#Christian #stall #Delhi #World #book #fair #vandalised #rightwing #goons
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 2, 2023
Valentine’s Day celebrated across country, right-wing outfits play spoilsport

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New Delhi: Couples – young and old – celebrated Valentine’s Day on Tuesday with flowers and gifts even as a few right-wing outfits played spoilsport in some parts of the country.
Uttar Pradesh Animal Husbandry Minister Dharmpal Singh celebrated the occasion as “cow love day” while the Bajrang Dal held mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa to oppose the “spread of western culture”.
After two years of muted festivities due to the Covid pandemic, the festival of love was in full bloom with people flocking to malls, restaurants and popular hangout zones in different parts of the country.
With abundant snowfall turning the Kashmir landscape white this winter, love birds made a beeline to resorts such as Gulmarg in north Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir.
“We came to this beautiful Valley to make Valentine’s Day a memorable one. The weather is nice and I am feeling lucky that we were able to plan the celebrations in Kashmir,” Madhya Pradesh native Saket Sharma said.
However, members of outfits like the Bajrang Dal were again out on the streets targeting couples accusing them of “indulging in vulgarity” in the name of love.
Bajrang Dal members drove away couples from a garden in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar and organised mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
In a video of the incident that went viral on social media platforms, nearly 10 Bajrang Dal activists armed with sticks were seen shouting slogans and driving away couples sitting inside the Central Vista garden located opposite the Assembly complex in Gandhinagar.

While the Opposition Congress strongly condemned the act, the Gandhinagar police swung into action and summoned Bajrang Dal activists involved in the protest.
Shaktisinh Zala, convener of the Bajrang Dal’s Gandhinagar unit, said the outfit’s members entered the garden to register their protest against Valentine’s Day, which he claimed, reflected “western culture”.
“We were not harassing anyone. Bajrang Dal workers were only opposing western culture and people indulging in vulgarity in the name of love today. It is our duty to show the right path to Hindu youths and daughters,” Zala told reporters.
Sources said police officials have summoned protesters seen in the viral video for questioning.
In Nagpur, Bajrang Dal members protested against Valentine’s Day by taking out a rally in the city and organising mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa at Durga Mata Temple in the Sadar area.
The rally passed through prominent areas of Nagpur and a large number of police personnel were deployed on the route to prevent untoward incidents.
The rally concluded at the Samvidhan Square, where tributes were paid to the CRPF personnel killed on February 14, 2019, in a terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides Bajrang Dal members, functionaries of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) were also present on the occasion.
Shiv Sena (UBT) activists raised slogans against Valentine’s Day celebrations and displayed oil soaked sticks to deter couples from celebrating the festival of love in public on Tuesday in Sagar town of Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh minister offered jaggery and rotis to cows on Valentine’s Day and said that they should be treated as mothers.
He said there is no animal like a cow in the world whose “mal-mutra” (stool and urine) is “pious”.
“We have three mothers — our mother, who gives us birth, ‘gau mata’ (cow) and Bharat Mata. First love should be for our mother, then ‘gau mata’ (cow) and then Bharat Mata ‘ko pranaam karna chahiye’ (should be saluted),” the minister said.
Singh offered gud’ (jaggery) and rotis to cows in the Bakshi ka Talab area here to mark the day.
He urged people to celebrate “cow love day” on Valentine’s Day.
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) had on last Monday appealed to the people to celebrate February 14 as ‘Cow Hug Day’.
The directive was later withdrawn on the directions of the government after the move became the subject of memes on social media.
To “show love to those who need it the most”, Delhi-based NGO Wishes and Blessings treated more than 2,000 impoverished children, including HIV positive, visually impaired, orphans and homeless, throughout Delhi-NCR to cupcakes on the day.
Okhla, Vasant Vihar, Nizamuddin, Munirka, Noida, Gurgaon, Madipur village, Sarai Kale Khan, Sadiq Nagar, and Maharani Bagh were some of the areas where the cupcakes were distributed, Geetanjali Chopra, Founder of the NGO said.
“We are very grateful to have a group of compassionate bakers and volunteers who have come together to show love to those who need it the most,” Chopra said.
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#Valentines #Day #celebrated #country #rightwing #outfits #play #spoilsport
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
UP: Police deployed after protest against Pathaan by right-wing

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Sitapur: The district administration on Wednesday deployed armed police personnel at a multiplex here, a day after a right-wing group held a protest here warning against screening the Bollywood movie “Pathaan”.
The new Shah Rukh Khan film was released on Wednesday in 5,000 screens across India. It had faced calls for a boycott over its song “Besharam Rang”.
Hundred of workers of the Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena, led by its district president Desh Deepak, staged a protest on Tuesday against the screening of the film, alleging that it hurt Hindu sentiments.
Following the protest, the administration had deployed PAC and police personnel in adequate numbers to avoid any untoward incident, police said.
The management of a multiplex here told that all the 10 shows scheduled here are housefull.
Circle Officer (City) Sitapur Rajkumar Rao said protection will be provided to multiplexs and additional force has been deployed because of the protest staged on Tuesday.
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#Police #deployed #protest #Pathaan #rightwing
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 25, 2023