Bill to end caste discrimination comes before California state assembly

SACRAMENTO, California – A bill to ban caste-based discrimination in the U.S. state of California is headed to the state Assembly for debate.

Advocacy groups fear the Senate-passed bill could be overturned or amended in the Assembly.

Senator Aisha Wahab, a Democrat from Fremont who is in office for the first time, had introduced the bill to eliminate caste discrimination.

The Senate approved her bill on May 11 by a vote of 34-1.

The most widespread caste discrimination in Hindu society in India also haunts the lower castes in the U.S.

The lowest caste, the Dalits, are also called untouchables. This is because the upper castes believe that their mere touch will cause them to go rogue.

Prem Pariyar, a Dalit from Nepal, was denied a room by his Indian co-worker in California in 2015 because of centuries-old social hierarchies that still prevail in some South Asian societies.

Speaking to the California based news website Cal Matters, Pariyar said he was left speechless and depressed.

Since then, he has been a vocal advocate for a ban on caste discrimination.

He successfully pushed for a ban on caste discrimination at California State University in 2022.

He is now working to get the state legislature to pass a similar law.

Dalits who have immigrated to the U.S. are stunned that this discrimination haunts them and jeopardizes the future of their families who want to achieve the American dream.

Since the U.S. issues immigrant visas to skilled workers, this means that upper-caste Indians are more likely to come to the U.S. than lower-caste Hindus.

The issue has come to the fore more recently, in part due to the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement in Indian politics.

This movement is dominated by upper-caste Hindus who discriminate not only against Muslims but also against Dalits.

The caste issue has also become a major issue in Silicon Valley.

According to the news website, an employee had filed a complaint in 2020 claiming he was receiving less pay and fewer opportunities because he was a Dalit.

In a 2016 national survey by the Oakland-based activist group Equality Labs, two-thirds of Dalit respondents said they had been treated poorly in the workplace.