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SACRAMENTO, Ca (Mar. 17,
2006) – The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed suit
against the California State Board of Education (SBE) in California
Superior Court in Sacramento yesterday. After months of repeated
correspondence with the SBE and California Department of Education
(CDE), HAF filed suit as the foundation contends that a fair
and open process was not followed in adopting textbooks that
introduce Hinduism to sixth grade students. HAF sued the SBE
for failure to perform those duties required by the California
Education Code and the Standards of Evaluation of Instructional
Materials with respect to Social Content.
"Today Hindu Americans have taken a stand against not
only the illegal machinations of the SBE and unfair treatment
Hindus received during the textbook adoption process, but
also the inaccurate and unequal portrayal of their religious
tradition in school textbooks," said Nikhil Joshi, Esq.,
member of the HAF Board of Directors. "This is about
treating Hindus in America and their religion with the same
level of sensitivity and balance afforded to other religious
traditions and their practitioners," continued Joshi.
The HAF complaint alleges that the SBE violated the law when
it approved textbooks for sixth grade history-social science
that tend to demean, stereotype, and reflect adversely upon
Hindus; that portray Hinduism as undesirable; that hold Hindu
beliefs and practices up to ridicule or as inferior; that
inaccurately describe and characterize Hinduism; and discourage
belief in that religious tradition. HAF identified five areas
where the foundation holds that the staff recommended edits
were not only inadequate, but also inconsistent.
HAF asks in the lawsuit that 1) the description
of the role and status of women in Hinduism be neutral and
consistent with the treatment accorded this issue in the context
of other religions; 2) the description of the caste system
and the social practice of "untouchability" be historically
accurate and consistent with descriptions of social inequities
in other societies that are falsely perpetrated by some in
the name of religion; 3) description of Hindu theology and
its understanding of divinity be consistent with the understanding
of practicing Hindus; 4) Hinduism not be unfavourably compared
with other religions or made to appear as a more regressive
or archaic belief system; and 5) the text present the Aryan
Invasion or Aryan Migration Theory as one possibility, along
with the prevailing view among Hindus that Hinduism is indigenous
to India.
On December 2, 2005, SBE's Curriculum Commission initially
approved several Hindu edits that addressed these issues.
The SBE decided to ignore the Curriculum Commission only in
regards to the edits suggested by Hindu groups. HAF further
argues that the SBE violated the California Open Meeting Act
among other procedural violations when it made numerous private
determinations that effectively subverted the public process.
The Bagley- Keene Open Meeting Act requires that certain state
agency meetings be conducted openly so that the public may
remain informed.
HAF is seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the publishing
of the textbooks until the issue of whether the textbooks
meet the state standards have been resolved by a court of
law.
"We’re dealing with hundreds of millions of taxpayer
dollars here," stated Suhag Shukla, Esq. HAF Legal Counsel.
"We need to ensure that the suggested edits by the Hindu
American community are given due consideration and that ultimately
the text is fair and accurate before it goes to the print."
An emergency hearing for injunctive relief will be scheduled
within the next week. A copy of the complaint and exhibits
are available on www.hinduamericanfoundation.org
Related Documents:
 Complaint
Exhibits
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