California governor vetoes anti-caste discrimination bill

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday vetoed the anti-caste discrimination bill recently passed by the state assembly, saying that laws to ban caste-based discrimination already exist in the state.

The governor’s move has been welcomed by a large segment of the Indian-American community who were opposing the bill based on the same argument.

“In California, we believe everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live,” Newsom said in a statement issued Saturday.

"That is why California already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, colour, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics, and state law specifies that these civil rights protections shall be liberally construed. Because discrimination based on caste is already prohibited under these existing categories, this bill is unnecessary," Newsom explained.

For this reason, Newsom asserted that he “cannot sign” the bill which is known as ‘SB403’, which was passed by a large majority by both the House of Representatives and Senate of the California State Assembly.

The bill defines 'ancestry' for purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Act, and the Education Code to include 'caste' and other dimensions of ancestry.

The opponents of the bill described it as historic and said that such a move by Governor Newsom has prevented the efforts of many to target the South Asian community and the Hindus in the state.

Soon, thereafter Castefiles described it as a historic decision. “Governor Newsom has taken a stance to veto SB403 - an attempt to sully the Civil Rights Act by adding discriminatory notes to it with the highly contentious term “CASTE”,” it said.

“Newsom has recognized the pain and fight of the South Asian micro minority. Democracy wins today in America - the Vox populi that fought to be heard amidst the deafening roar of fake caste narratives,” Castefiles said.

“With the stroke of his pen, Governor Newsom has averted a civil rights and constitutional disaster that would have put a target on hundreds of thousands of Californians simply because of their ethnicity or their religious identity, as well as create a slippery slope of facially discriminatory laws,” said Samir Kalra, managing director of Hindu American Foundation.

Leading Democrat Ajay Bhutoria, in a statement, expressed his gratitude to Governor Newsom for vetoing the bill and described it as a “momentous development”.

During a recent engagement at a Democratic National Committee (DNC) event in Chicago, Bhutoria from California and Rakesh Kapur from Boston urged the governor to veto the bill.

Vetoing the SB403 Caste Bill was the right course of action, elucidating the detrimental impacts it could have on the community, they told the governor in Chicago last month.

“This legislation was undeniably redundant and unnecessary, and I am pleased that our discussions in Chicago bore fruit. The veto of this bill is a testament to the power of constructive dialogue and collaboration,' Bhutoria said in a statement.

“This is a culmination of the efforts of the entire #HinduAmerican community, and the hundreds of organisations, temples, businesses, and allies that fought against #profiling. We rose above the lies, the insinuations, and the wild accusations - and we prevailed,” Coalition of Hindus of North America said.

“It was an effort that saw hundreds of volunteers turn out in person, dozens of organisations, and thousands of California residents who wrote, called, and texted their lawmakers. Proof that if we unite and take action, nothing is impossible,” CoHNA said.

Khanderao Kand from the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora (FIIDS) thanked Governor Newsom for “this historic and correct” decision.

“I reject all and any form of discrimination, however as the governor said California law already covers all discriminations, moreover, this bill would have caused facial and ethnic profiling leading to difficulty for industries, particularly the tech industry to operate,” he said.

The recently formed Americans for Hindus said the bill was not facially neutral.

“It relied on misleading narratives, strawman arguments, and a questionable survey that actively encouraged falsification of data,” it said and thanked the governor for vetoing the bill.

In a statement, Deelip Mhaske, president of the Foundation for Human Horizon and prominent Ambedkarite, said while the governor ideologically supported the bill, he was against anything that would further divide the Indian-American community or promote negative sentiments towards India.

“Consequently, he vetoed the bill, not because he opposed the legislation per se, but due to concerns over divisive groups hijacking the movement,” he said.

According to Mhaske after the bill was passed by the California Assembly, several organisations supporting the bill initiated a hunger strike, prompting an investigation into the participants, especially Equality Lab.

“Concerns were raised that some groups were using the bill as a means to promote financial interests, as well as fostering divisive anti-India and anti-Hindu sentiments within the Indian community in America,” he said as he welcomed the decision of the governor to veto the bill.

There was no immediate reaction from Equality Lab, Senator Wahab and other organisations who had worked and lobbied for the passage of the bill and making it into a law.

Members of Equality Lab had gone on a hunger strike to urge the governor to sign the bill into a law.