Madhulika Singh, a Hindu woman recently deposed before the California Board of Education that her son did not want to be a Hindu because his faith was depicted so negatively in his school textbooks. Earlier, other Hindu students such as Trisha Pasricha have said she felt embarrassed after studying chapters on India and Hinduism in her school. Recently, a prominent controversy has erupted over the depiction of Ancient India and Hinduism in proposed textbooks in California. The State Law [Education Code 60044(a) and Subsection (b)] clearly states that no religious tradition should be treated as inferior, and at the same time description of religions should neither lead to indoctrination, nor a revulsion towards it. These standards have been violated repeatedly regarding the depiction of Hinduism.

Buddhism is typically represented as an improvement over Hinduism but the same textbooks do not present Islam as an improvement over Christianity, nor present Christianity as an advance over Judaism. There is an excessive negative focus on Hinduism, which seems to have been singled out as a religion for unfair treatment, in contrast to the glowing narratives about Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Reading these books, the oppression of lower castes is continuously discussed, whereas ill-treatment of non-believers, witches and apostates in other traditional societies is left out.  Hindu sacred narratives are referred to as ‘stories’ or ‘myths’, whereas Biblical and Koranic narratives are presented as ‘scriptures’ and as historical facts. Most textbooks also describe the subtle Karma and rebirth related principles of Indic faiths in a minimal and essentially caricaturist manner (“according to this theory, if you do bad deeds, you will be reborn as an insect or a pig”).  Whereas the Abrahamic religions are predominantly described from an ‘insider’s’ perspective, Hinduism is described from an outsider’s perspective.  Discredited theories such as the Aryan invasion theory are invoked to explain the historical foundation of Hinduism.  A textbook shows a picture of a Muslim praying, with the caption ‘A Brahmin’! Another textbook states that Hindi is written with Arabic letters!

To rectify these errors, and also ensure that Indian and Hindu students are not slighted by disparaging depictions of their heritage in classrooms, Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) and Vedic Foundation (VF) have approached the California State Board of Education with a list of corrections.

Unfortunately, these efforts are currently stalled due to obstacles by Indian Leftists and a group of anti-India academics.  They are alleging that the edits of Hindu groups are non-academic and are aimed at white-washing history of Hinduism. Many Hindu American parents and some scholars have joined the fray to oppose these academics. They argue that several instances have been noted where Hindu children have been taunted by their classmates due to negative coverage of their heritage. Many scholars have argued that the obsessively derogatory description of Hinduism is contradicted by the more complex historical reality.  They also note that Hinduism is the only organized religion where God is also worshipped in a feminine form.

The controversy continues to rage, and will probably get even more heated in the ensuing weeks. For the uphill task faced by Hindu Americans in ensuring a fair treatment of their heritage, visit the following website for more background information: http://tinyurl.com/a44m3

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