“I want my son to learn about the rich and diverse histories of South Asia.”

— Monisha Bajaj, Indian-American parent and educator

“Mohenjo Daro isn’t just Pakistani history—it’s part of our shared South Asian heritage.”

— Saqib Mausoof, parent and director, In Search Of Meluhha: The Story of Mohenjo Daro Through the Eyes of its Inheritors

“I was bullied in school. Erasing the word Dalit from textbooks won’t end caste discrimination.”

— Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Californian Dalit filmmaker and writer

“Teachers need to teach the facts. California textbooks shouldn’t be hijacked by partisan history.”

— Michael Vandierdonck, California history teacher for 38 years

This is our chance to fix California textbooks

California is revising its guidelines for history and social studies textbooks, including histories of South Asia. (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka)

Scholars fight for fairness and accuracy

A diverse group of South Asia scholars debated and discussed — and came up with suggestions to make the South Asia curriculum fair, accurate, inclusive, and respectful, while teaching critical thinking skills. Most of these edits have been accepted by the Department of Education.

While others push partisan history

But Hindu lobby groups are pushing another set of edits, which tell a whitewashed Indian Hindu upper-caste nationalist version of history.

Example edits:

• [#2465] erase Sri Lankan & South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu
• [#2533] erase history of caste across societies, e.g. slavery in the U.S.
• [#2850] erase Emperor Akbar’s attempts at Hindu-Muslim unity
• [#2843] erase the fact that Sikhism challenged Hindu practices
• [#2562] erase Emperor Ashoka’s conversion from Hinduism
• [#2554] erase the fact that men held more power in ancient India

These groups have paid staffers trying to force their changes into our textbooks with the help of misleading petitions, hashtags, PR campaigns, and protests.

Help defend accurate history

We are a diverse coalition of teachers, students, parents, and community members. We include Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis; Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and atheists; and an inter-caste alliance. And we believe California students deserve a balanced and fact-based history, not a partisan history.

Join us in Sacramento on May 19, 2016 to take on partisan history. To RSVP or learn more, email us at getinvolved(at)southasianhistories.org.

Read more:

• Salon: “There’s a new battle raging in California over history textbooks. Here’s what you need to know”
• LA Times: “Nobody wants to erase India from textbooks. Here’s the real deal.”
• Inside Higher Ed: “The Religious War Against American Scholars of India”
• Caravan: “In California, A Debate Over History Curricula Has Brought To Fore Denials Of Caste In The Indian American Community”
• Colorlines: “The Latest in a 10-Year Battle Over How California Teaches South Asian History”
• The Indian Express: “Erasing History: What the battle over California’s textbooks really means”
• The Indian Express: “Erasing tolerance? HAF’s changes can only be described as ahistorical edits to history books”
• The Aerogram: “Why The Hindu American Foundation Does Not Speak For Me”
• The Aerogram: “#DontEraseIndia And The Conflation Of Religion And Politics”
• The World Post: “India, Israel Bring Their Disputes Over History Into Our Schoolbooks, and More”
• The Wire: “Hindutva Efforts to Rewrite History in California Schools Fail”
• Round Table India: “Lion in sheep’s clothing: Hindu Right poses as ‘Progressive’ in America”

Contact us

• Press? Email us at press(at)southasianhistoriesforall.org
• Volunteer? Email us at getinvolved(at)southasianhistoriesforall.org