As a faith-based organization that was founded in 2019 to mobilize progressive Hindus across the diaspora and providing a Hindu voice of resistance to caste, Hindutva (Hindu nationalism or supremacy), and all forms of bigotry and oppression, Hindus for Human Rights calls on the Rutgers University administration to adopt the four recommendations proposed by the University Task Force on Caste Discrimination in its August 2024 report, Caste-Based Discrimination in U.S. Higher Education and at Rutgers. Specifically, we call on university officials to take needed measures to prevent caste-based discrimination by adding caste as a protected category to the university’s existing civil rights and non-discrimination policies—following the lead of several other institutions including Brown University, Brandeis University, and the California State University system. Caste protections are a crucial step to mitigating the effects of one of the world’s oldest forms of discrimination and social exclusion, which continues to have devastating effects for caste-oppressed communities such as Dalits.
As Hindu Americans, we are saddened and outraged to see bad-faith actors, who falsely claim to speak on behalf of our community, weaponizing Hindu identity in order to oppose these much-needed civil rights measures. As policies opposing caste discrimination have been adopted by more and more colleges and universities across the country in recent years, we have seen a concurrent increase in accusations, frequently leveled by groups with alarming ties to the global Hindu supremacist ecosystem, that such policies are ‘Hinduphobic’ and single out Hindus, Indians, and South Asians for unfair and discriminatory treatment. As part of a concerted effort to deny the realities of caste discrimination and oppression that exist in numerous communities around the world to this day, this argument is entirely baseless and is advanced in bad faith, and we urge university officials to reject it entirely.
The Task Force’s report, whose recommendations have been endorsed by both the full-time faculty and graduate student union as well as the University Senate, lays out the urgency and necessity of adopting caste protections. While opponents often argue that there is not enough data about the prevalence of caste discrimination to warrant the adoption of such policies, it’s crucial to recognize that systemic oppression and discrimination—whether based on race, caste, or gender—is not always immediately measurable through large-scale quantitative studies. The absence of comprehensive data does not indicate the absence of harm; rather, it often reflects the systemic silencing and underreporting of marginalized voices. Institutions like Rutgers have a responsibility to act proactively to protect vulnerable communities, especially when faced with compelling narratives and evidence such as those offered in the Task Force’s report.
Moreover, as the Task Force’s report rightly points out, caste is not unique to any one particular religious, ethnic, national, or cultural group. It’s undoubtedly true that the version of the caste system that exists in the Indian subcontinent and its diasporas is rooted in dominant interpretations of Hindu scripture and practice—and it is our responsibility as Hindus to confront and combat the ongoing harms that caste perpetuates against marginalized communities. But contrary to accusations that anti-caste policies would only be enforceable against certain groups, caste is not a uniquely Hindu or South Asian issue. The reality is that caste, as a stratified system of social hierarchy and exclusion, has and continues to exist in societies around the world—from the Middle East to West Africa to Latin America. Notably, for example, when the city of Fresno became the first city in California to ban caste discrimination in September 2023, the historic ordinance was supported by a coalition whose most vocal supporters included Indigenous Oaxacan community members, who have historically faced marginalization under the sistema de castas that was imposed by Spanish colonial authorities and continues to perpetuate caste-based discrimination in Mexico to this day. As such, it is patently false to claim that a neutrally-worded, universally-applicable policy prohibiting caste-based discrimination—like those which have been passed at several other colleges and universities—would in any way be discriminatory or otherwise unfair to Hindus or any other individual community at Rutgers.
As Hindus, our spiritual and faith traditions teach us to see the divine residing equally and inherently in every living being—to embody the sacred principle of vasudhaiva kutumbakam, or “the world is one family.” Drawing on these teachings, we unequivocally reject the violence of the caste system and are committed to its total abolition—just as we reject racism, patriarchy, and all forms of exclusionary social hierarchy—and we condemn those who oppose protections for caste-oppressed groups in the name of defending Hindu Americans. We stand in solidarity with caste-oppressed people at Rutgers and everywhere around the world, and urge the university administration to do the right thing for its campus community by adopting the recommendations of the University Task Force on Caste Discrimination.
