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“Misuse of human rights’ noble intent”: CoHNA slams motion against caste-based discrimination in Canada
The Coalition of Hindus of North America Canada has repeatedly expressed concern over the use of “caste” to target Indians and Hindus specifically.
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MP Davies announcing the introduction of the bill at a press conference. / X/@DonDavies
The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) in Canada has expressed its ongoing concern about the use of "caste" to target Indians and Hindus. The organization responded to a motion introduced by Canadian MP Don Davies that seeks to acknowledge and ban caste-based discrimination in Canada.
“MP Davies, introduced motion M-128 today, a bill that misuses Human Rights's noble intent, to single out, profile, & target a specific group of people based on their origin. CoHNA has repeatedly raised concerns about the use of “caste” to target Indians & Hindus specifically,” CoHNA said in a post on X on June.15.
MP Davies, introduced motion M-128 today, a bill that misuses Human Rights's noble intent, to single out, profile, & target a specific group of people based on their origin. CoHNA has repeatedly raised concerns about the use of “caste” to target Indians & Hindus specifically. 1/n https://t.co/5fAUi73LQB pic.twitter.com/F0iTkRX0IC
— CoHNA Canada (@cohnacanada) June 15, 2024
Attaching a screengrab of the dictionary definition of the word “caste”, CoHNA said, “Thanks to centuries of colonial propaganda, caste is not a neutral word. Check out how leading dictionaries and search engines define the word. Canadian Hindus know that they will be targeted as a result of these laws.”
The organization also reiterated that Canadian media and textbooks target school students as they link caste to Hinduism.
Canadian state-funded media and textbooks targeting young middle school kids -ALL deliberately link caste to Hinduism. E.g- a "caste explainer" video by Canadian govt funded news agency. @CBCNews
— CoHNA Canada (@cohnacanada) June 15, 2024
Repeat after us-caste is not a neutral term! 3/nhttps://t.co/Hb8JW9yiOP
Stating further examples of the “malicious” use of caste, CoHNA said, “We’ve seen the malicious misuse of caste to target Indians and Hindus in a Cisco lawsuit brought by the State of California in 2020 – a case that has now completely collapsed. Yet laws and policies passed using Cisco as an excuse remain in place.”
CoHNA was referring to a lawsuit, which drew widespread scrutiny and criticism toward Indian-American managers Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella. Iyer and Kompella were accused of perpetrating caste discrimination to a Dalit employee at workplace.
“In the US, similar attempts to victimize Hindus and Indians with California’s SB-403 failed. Hindu Canadians living in the hostile environment of Hinduphobic attacks, need their lawmakers to rather work on including Hinduphobia in anti-hate policies,” it added.
The motion introduced by MP Don Davies proposes amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act to include caste as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
Davies’ motion states “caste-based discrimination is a part of the lived experience of many Canadians and ought to be explicitly prohibited”.
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