As I reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., by participating in the MLK Day of Service, I thought of these words from his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail": "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Recently, the Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group concerned about issues impacting Hindus in America and around the world, published a report, "Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste—Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination." HAF (of which I am an Executive Council member) is a prominent Hindu American organization, and it articulated its views about caste in this report, so it can be used in interactions with media, interfaith fora, policymakers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the American public at large. HAF's report took five years of dedicated research, interaction with and support from a broad spectrum of scholars and spiritual leaders from various sampradayas (traditions), and a willingness to focus inward.
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