Study on anti-Hindu bias suppressed by US media giants: Indian-American group

A study has revealed that caste-based diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programmes in the US are fuelling anti-Hindu hatred, according to The Hindu American Foundation. It has also accused The New York Times and Bloomberg of suppressing that study.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has accused two big American media outlets -- The New York Times (NYT) and Bloomberg -- of suppressing a study that reveals how Hindus face discrimination because of the caste-based diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programmes in the US. The study was conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) in collaboration with Rutgers University and specifically examined Equality Labs’ anti-caste training and found that such programmes worsen anti-Hindu discrimination and hate.

Equality Labs is a South Asian Dalit organisation and a self-proclaimed American “civil-rights” group focused on addressing caste discrimination.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) pointed out that instead of fighting discrimination, the DEI programme was, in fact, promoting bias.

"Shockingly, the study revealed that when the term 'Jew' was replaced with 'Brahmin', the participants exposed to Equality Labs’ training materials were significantly more likely to adopt dehumanising rhetoric against Brahmins, including calling them 'parasites', 'virus', or 'devil personified'," the HAF said.

According to the HAF, the study's findings are deeply troubling. "A breakthrough @ncri_io @RutgersU study shows that DEI corporate & college #caste trainings offered by @EqualityLabs do exactly opposite what they are advertised to do: instead of reducing discrimination they worsen anti-Hindu discrimination & hate," the Hindu-American organisation wrote on X.

In a subsequent post, the HAF elaborated, "Study participants were offered a training created by Equality Labs, and a control population was given neutral academic teaching about varna/jati. The Equality Labs training group was more than 30% more likely to perceive bias and harm where none existed."

"The evidence is clear: instead of combating bias, caste DEI trainings offered by caste activists like Equality Labs worsen racial suspicion, anti-Hindu hate, and could engender 'punitive retribution'," the HAF warned.

The HAF further alleged that The New York Times had initially planned to publish a story on the study and even set a publication date, but the article was abruptly shelved without explanation. Similarly, Bloomberg reportedly decided not to cover the study, also without providing any reason.

Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist, published a detailed expose on the NCRI and Rutgers study, and the spiking of the report by the two media giants.

Wright mentioned how The New York Times quoted the NCRI’s research in over 20 prior articles without seeking a peer review. However, in the case of the caste-based study, the editors demanded peer review as an excuse to hold it back from being published.

Bloomberg outright did away with the story, allegedly influenced by editors with sympathy for DEI programmes.

The alleged suppression of the study by these major outlets has raised concerns about the media’s role in promoting transparency and accountability in diversity and inclusion efforts. The HAF called on both The New York Times and Bloomberg to release the findings.

"To refuse to cover this case-control study is to censor critical information that has immense repercussions for the #HinduAmerican community," HAF said.

There are two shocking points here. Firstly, a caste-based anti-discrmination programme is breeding anti-Hindu bias. Secondly, two big media houses are refusing to publish the report involving a prestigious university.