New York: There is a strong sentiment in the Indian community against the New York State Senate passing a Bill last year that instructs “Swastika” to be taught as a symbol of hate in middle and high schools. Many community organizations objected to the millennia-old, holy symbol of Hindus, Jains and Buddhist being maligned, and the bill stalled in the state assembly, not brought up by the education committee.
Vibhuti Jha, Executive Director of Nalanda International, said the bill reflects poorly on the legislators who did not differentiate between the ancient, spiritual Swastika and the Nazis’ Hakenkreuz, which the westerners erroneously started calling Swastika because of some similarity.
“Sadly, having our sacred symbol mixed up with hate will badly impact Hindu students,” Jha said while exhorting the community to engage forcefully with the political system to prevent outcomes as this Swastika bill. “We should have proactively educated the legislators during the hearings on the bill
