On Saturday, 7th October, Governor Gavin Newsom of California vetoed the controversial bill, SB 403, which sought to introduce “caste” as one of the criteria for discrimination along with race, religion, gender, and other differentiators.
Introduced by Senator Aisha Wahab (Democrat, Hayward), the bill passed with an overwhelming majority in the Senate and Assembly although there were huge protests from many Hindu Americans, mostly Indian immigrants.
In the Assembly, the bill was watered down to include “caste” as a subsection under “ancestry”.
Sadly, Milind Makwana, one of the founders of APNADB (Ambedkar Phule Network of North American Dalits and Bahujans), that represents marginalized groups including Dalits, passed away after sudden heart failure following a Cupertino City Council session on July 18th that discussed SB 403 as part of its agenda. Mr. Makwana relentlessly worked to oppose the bill.
Hindu American leaders, elected officials, prominent Indian American Democrats and Republicans and, several community members gathered near Cupertino City Hall on Sunday, October 8th, to pay tribute to Milind Makwana and celebrate the victory of their fight.
They acknowledged that they should not get complacent. Continuous political engagement and institutional power were common themes.
Cupertino City Council member, Ms. Kitty Moore, said that everyone should “strive for harmony and healing in our wider community”. Her colleague, Councilmember Ms. Liang-Fang Chao said, while it was great that they had won this battle, they had not yet won the war, warning that the proponents of the bill would try to sneak it through different language next year and talked about the need to continue to unite to fight.
She noted that they all came from diversified backgrounds “but we don’t want to bring all the baggage and negative things to further divide us in this new country.”
Santa Clara City Council member, Ms. Kathy Watanabe, who was the first to send a strongly worded opposition to the Senate, said, “What people need to have happen is to be educated in this instance so that we can learn and grow and make sure that if it does – and it won’t – if it does come for appeal, that you people will be educated and will know what to say to be able to fight it again.”She mentioned that the Mayor of Santa Clara, Lisa Gillmor, “fully supports this as well (opposing SB 403)”.
Mr. Ramesh Kapoor, a prominent Democrat, who has been active in the Democratic Party since the 1980s, played an instrumental role in persuading the Governor to veto the bill.He emphasized that he was a Democrat because he was against all forms of discrimination.
During an event in Chicago which Governor Newsom attended, Mr. Kapoor had the chance to have a private conversation with him. If they overrode his veto, “you will still be on record that you vetoed it”, he told Mr. Newsom. He proceeded to communicate with the governor via email.
In the past, Mr. Kapoor has supported Vice President Kamala Harris for her Presidency run. He included Mr. Newsom in the chain of communication with her regarding SB 403.
Dr. Romesh Japra, founder and convener of FOG (Festival of Globe – under the umbrella of Federation of Indo Americans of Northern California) and this newsweekly, paid tribute to late Mr. Makwana. Everyone observed 30 seconds of silence in honor of their fallen hero. He said, “He was my hero. What he did, I don’t think anybody in this, at least in this group, can imagine or, we can even pay back whichever way to him, his family, his friends.”
Dr. Japra had been involved in forming the India Caucus many years ago, which had 150 Congressmen as part of it.
He added they were fortunate to have people such as Mr. Ramesh Vishwanath Kapoor, a Democrat, who is very passionate, and a Republican, Mr. Krishna Srinivasa, whom he has known and worked with for 40 years. Incidentally, it was Mr. Srinivasa who got Dr. Japra appointed as a Commissioner under President George Bush Sr.
He issued an open challenge to everyone to come into the political arena and join these organizations while stressing the importance of working in conjunction with each other, not competing against.
Mihir Meghani, HAF (Hindu American Foundation) cofounder, acknowledged Dr. Japra, Mr. Ramesh Kapoor and other senior leaders who “set the stage” for him and others to learn from.
He urged everyone to contribute to the campaigns of the officials present.
Mr. Meghani also stressed the importance of creating one’s own institutions, citing the example of Jews who, 75 years ago, couldn’t go to the same hospitals in America as other “white” people.
“African Americans, they couldn’t drink from the same water fountain as everyone else”, he continued, sharing that his grandfather who was visiting America in 1949, couldn’t drink from the same water fountain as everyone else at Chrysler’s workplace in Detroit.
“No one else is going to stand up and fight for us if we don’t.” He concluded with the cautionary tales of Hindus being driven out of Uganda, Fiji, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Nikunj Trivedi, CoHNA(Coalition of Hindu Americans of North America) President, shared a recent incident at the University of Toronto where two groups of students wanted to organize a ‘rath yatra’, only to be met by opposition from about 100+ academics and activists who sent letters to the universities, calling the celebration“a symbol of anti-Muslim, anti-Sikh, anti-Dalit violence.” He said, “‘Rath yatra’, which is a religious festival of the Hindus, is considered anti-someone. This is Hinduphobia in its raw state.”300 people showed up at the ‘rath yatra’ from their (CoHNAsupporters’) side for the organizers.
He continued that SB 403 was an example of “how state power can be used against you.” And added, “We all have very nice, successful careers but we also have to protect our future and that’s our children.”
Other speakers shared about the “otherization” of immigrants and how standing up against SB 403 was not a Republican or Democratic issue but an issue of human dignity, basic civil rights, and common decency.
One of them cited the example of the lawmakers that they had worked at the grassroots level to elect, who took a stance against the word, “caste”, at the Cupertino City Council. “If you are not there, somebody else is going to represent you.”
(Quotes have been edited by the author for clarity and brevity.)
Lakshmi Iyer
India Post News Service
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