New York: Georgia has reportedly become the first state in the country to introduce a bill to include anti-Hindu discrimination in their penal code which would enable law enforcement to take action against any such act.
In 2023, Georgia became the first US state to pass a county resolution on discrimination against Hindus.
The Coalition of Hindus in North America (CoHNA), in a post on X, announced that Republican senators Shawn Still and Clint Dixon, along with Democratic Senators Jason Esteves and Emanuel D Jones, had jointly backed the SB 375 legislation to end “Hinduphobia.”
In their post they said, “The State of Georgia has introduced SB 375, which formally updates the state's penal code to recognize Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu prejudice and enables law enforcement and other agencies to consider Hinduphobia while cataloging such discrimination and taking appropriate action.”
The bill was also supported by the Hindus of Georgia political action committee (PAC).
As per the 2023–24 Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, Hindus comprise approximately 0.9% of the US population, which is about 2.5 million.
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CoHNA and other organizations led by Hindu-Americans have on the other hand opposed bill SB 509, proposed by Senator Anna Caballero in California. The bill aims to create a training program through the Office of Emergency Services to help law enforcement identify and respond to “transnational repression.” This term refers to actions by foreign governments—or their proxies—targeting individuals or communities in exile through surveillance, threats, online harassment, or even physical violence. Hindu-American organizations have stated that the terminology of the bill was too vague and could instead be used to target Hindus. |
