New Delhi
25 April 2006
In a blow to the United States-based affiliates of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Superior Court of California in
Sacramento on April 21 rejected the Hindu American Foundation's (HAF's) demand for a
preliminary injunction against publication of new sixth-grade textbooks.
"The court's decision means that the California State Board of Education can move
ahead with the approval process for publication of the new history [and] social science
textbooks, whether or not the HAF withdraws its now meritless lawsuit," Ms Anu
Mandavilli of Friends of South Asia told this newspaper via e-mail.
Ms Mandavilli is an Indian doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California
who spearheaded the campaign against the distortion of Hinduism and rewriting of
ancient Indian history in association with the organisations like the Coalition Against
Communalism and the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.
She said, "[This] decision has sounded the death knell for Hindutva's broad offensive to
inject its sectarian ideology into textbooks in the US. This is ... a victory for the children
of California, who will benefit from new textbooks that [reflect] the insights of historical
scholarship instead of sectarian propaganda."
Two Sangh Parivar affiliates -- Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) and the Vedic
Foundation -- had objected to the description of discrimination against women. They also
sought an assertion that Aryans were indigenous to India and did not come from any
foreign lands besides demanding deletion of the word, Dalit.
Joining the South Asian community groups were 126 university faculty and scholars with
expertise in South Asia, who submitted a declaration to the court denouncing the efforts
of the HAF to distort history and challenged the changes advocated by the Sangh Parivar
affiliates, Ms Mandavilli told this correspondent.
Signatories to the declaration included Indian History Congress President DN Jha;
Director of South Asia Center at the University of Pennsylvania Suvir Kaul; and Head of
the Programme in Indo-European Studies at University of California, Los Angeles,
Stephanie W Jamison.
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