California governor vetoes bill that would ban caste discrimination

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday which would explicitly banned caste discrimination in the state.

The measure, which passed the California legislature last month, specified caste as a subset of ancestry in the state's civil rights statutes and would have given residents legal recourse against instances of caste discrimination.

India's caste system evolved over centuries into a rigid social hierarchy based on notions of purity, with a person's caste assigned at birth. While India formally outlawed caste discrimination shortly after its independence in 1947, caste-based prejudice and inequality persists and has since seeped into other countries.

In a statement explaining his veto decision, Newsom said the measure was "unnecessary" because discrimination based on caste is already prohibited in the state.

"In California, we believe everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter who they are, where they come from, who they love, or where they live," Newsom said. "That is why California already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation and other characteristics, and state law specifies that these civil rights protections shall be liberally construed."

The California measure was opposed by some groups, including people of Indian origin, who said it unnecessarily painted an entire community with a broad brush. Though caste is commonly associated with India and Hinduism, it has since spread to other South Asian countries and religions.

In recent years, more caste-oppressed people in the United States have started speaking out about the discrimination they face - particularly in Silicon Valley, where a large proportion of workers are South Asian immigrants, CNN previously reported.