Georgia in the United States 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.
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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.”
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The bill was also supported by the Hindus of Georgia political action committee (PAC).
According to legiscan.com, the bill seeks to amend Chapter 1 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, “relating to general provisions relative to state government, so as to require certain agencies to consider the definition of hinduphobia provided for in this Act to apply to laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin; to authorize fact finders in certain criminal cases to consider hinduphobia when determining whether a defendant intentionally selected any victim or group of victims or any property as the object of the offense; to provide for limitations and construction; to provide for definitions; to provide for nonseverability; to provide for an effective date; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.”
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.
Hindus oppose bill in California
CoHNA and other organisations led by Hindu-Americans have on the other hand opposed bill SB 509, proposed by Senator Anna Caballero in California.
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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 organisations have stated that the terminology of the bill was too vague and could instead be used to target Hindus.
