BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA, May 27, 2022 (COHNA): The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) expressed its strong disappointment around California Assembly’s decision to pass Bill AB2282, titled “Hate crimes: nooses, crosses, and swastikas,” whose purpose is to criminalize the display of hate symbols. While the bill is well meaning, it perpetuates confusion by once again using false and hateful terms like “Nazi Swastika”, missing a historic opportunity to rectify a wrong done to the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities by faulty journalism and scholarship in the years following World War 2. Further, the bill actually associates the sacred Swastika with hate and genocide by saying “…Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) [is] also known as the Nazi Swastika that was the official emblem of the Nazi party.” “In spite of claims that the bill has decriminalized Swastika, the amended language continues to use the word ‘Nazi Swastika’,” remarked CoHNA president Nikunj Trivedi. “By passing this bill in its current form and failing to accommodate the concerns of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains in the language, the Assembly has essentially supported the false idea that there is a ‘good Swastika’ and a ‘bad Swastika.’”
“The English translation has created numerous problems for the Dharmic communities, because in the the German language ‘Hakenkreuz’ literally means ‘hooked-cross,’ which is how Hitler and the Nazis referred to their symbol, not ‘Swastika,’” remarked Reverend Dr. T.K. Nakagaki, president of the Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York and president emeritus of the Buddhist Council of New York. “You can say Nazi Hakenkrez, Nazi hooked cross, Nazi hate symbol, but cannot call it ‘Nazi Swastika.’ The word ‘Swastika’ belongs to Dharmic traditions and is a particularly important symbol of peace and auspiciousness.” CoHNA has called upon the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities to reach out to their lawmakers and urge them to take the necessary steps to ensure that the bill is amended with appropriate references to the Nazi symbol of hate (“Hakenkreuz” or “hooked cross”) versus the sacred Swastika.
More at source.
https://cohna.reportablenews.com/pr/hindu-and-buddhist-groups-expresses-strong-disappointment-regarding-california-assembly-s-passage-of-bill-ab2282-on-swastika
For additional information and educational materials on the Swastika, please visit https://cohna.org/swastika.