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Indian Americans Fight For India’s Right To Be A Part Of American History
More than 20,000 Indian Americans signed off on a petition that protests recommended changes to the State of California's school curriculum, which could eliminate crucial historical references to India.
Professor Vamsee Juluri, teacher of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, started the petition to stop the State of California from making these changes to its history textbooks.
He states, “A small group of South Asia Studies Faculty recently asked the California Board of Education to change the History of Social Science Frameworks so that the word ‘India’ will be removed and replaced with ‘South Asia’. They believe that ‘India’ did not exist before 1947 and want a stereotypical and concocted generalization like ‘South Asia’ to be used for almost all discussions of Indian history before 1947.”
Photo Credit: www.newsgram.com
Suggested changes will affect the understanding of India as a unique geographical country with a rich heritage and history. According to Juluri, the fight for India’s name isn’t about Hinduism but about world history taught to American students.
An absurd part of the South Asia Studies Faculty's suggestion is to replace "India" with "South Asia" in all references to the country’s past while referring to Hinduism as the religion of ancient India.
Juluri asked if this is “the kind of logic and rigor that students of California, the high-tech capital of the world, are going to be taught? Are the teachers going to be expected to tell their students: Ok, class, in ancient South Asia (not ancient India), the people practiced the religion of ancient India not Hinduism?”
The possible changes to California school textbooks will take in effect in 2017. Juluri urges people to sign the petition on his Twitter account.
academia: Don't Replace "India" with "South Asia" in California History Textbooks – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/TjZwtuXkVm via @Change
— Vamsee Juluri (@VamseeJuluri) March 19, 2016
The Indian Diaspora's standing up for India shows that, together, the communities are strong. South Asians are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States. With the list of white voters falling every year, growing ethnic groups have the power to change America's demographics.
Many people signing the petition have called this new attempt to change history “shocking” and “absurd.” One signatory says, “Let India be India, just like you are not changing America’s name.”
Photo Credit: www.firstpost.com
Although many diaspora communities fight for their rights, what defines this movement for India’s rights is Indian American students. The children of the Indian Diaspora are standing up and leading the #CaliforniaTextbooks fight for themselves, their people, their country and their representation in America.
Juluri calls this movement the “largest civil right movement of the Indian Americans in the last 40 years,” and it's led not by engineers or doctors but by students — the future of America, India and the world.
Main Image Photo Credit: www.news.manikarthik.com
Farah Quraishi
Author
Farah Quraishi is a Journalism graduate from Sheridan College, she teaches story writing to young adults, has won a best documentary award at BEAC Awards, and enjoys fashion, nature, and Bollywood. She always had a passion for writing and decided to pursue that path.
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