The past can be painful, but in California, it can be rewritten. At issue is what sixth graders will learn about Hinduism in their ancient history textbooks.

Claiming that eight social studies/history textbooks under review by the California Board of Education misrepresent Hinduism, two Hindu groups have approached the board with edits during its public review process last year. 

The textbooks are inaccurate and demeaning said Janeshwari Devi, director of programs at the Vedic Foundation, which she described as a Hindu educational group with no political affiliations. She pointed to specific references in the history textbooks proposed for 6th-graders, that describe Hinduisms voluntary class system, the varna system of social structure, with the discrimination associated with casteism. (See Whats at stake for a look at controversial passages.)

As per state law, the textbooks slated for inclusion in the state curriculum in 2006 can be reviewed by the board of education before adoption. The board is similarly bound to invite public opinion. In October, armed with several proposed edits and thousands of signatures gathered online, the Vedic Foundation and the Hindu Educational Foundation challenged the eight history textbooks being evaluated.

Hinduism and its origins are, on the whole, not portrayed inaccurately, but there are quite a number of individual mistakes, infelicities and insensitivities, which have been recognized and addressed by all committees involved, said Michael Witzel, the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University.

The errors in the textbooks perpetuate ignorance and put forth a negative stereotype, said the Vedic Foundations Janeshwari Devi.

Hindu children in predominantly white schools are teased because of mistakes in current textbooks, according to the two Hindu foundations and their parent backers. Ancient Hinduism is presented as a pagan, pantheistic religion according to the plaintiffs.

For instance, said Devi, references to the treatment of the untouchable caste by Brahmins is a misrepresentation of the ancient past. Similarly, ancient Hinduism did not discriminate against women. Modern social ills have no place in these books, she said. The depiction of Hindus, Hinduism and India is Eurocentric and wrong, according to the objectors. (See sidebar and external links for examples.)

Some parents testified before the board that their children came home from school and said they did not want to be Hindus any more. 

One parent who said he is worried about the textbooks that are being proposed is Vishal Agarwal. Father of a first grader, Agarwal is actively following the events leading up to the boards decision. The current textbooks in use are by the same publishers and have practically the same verbiage [as the current books]. We cannot change the past, but at least I am trying to ensure that my son does not read these new textbooks that will be inflicted on millions of public school children, he said.

The groups involvement has some parents up in arms, however. Most agree that the textbooks could stand some correction where basic facts are wrong, but a strident faction has said that the two foundations do not speak for moderate Hindus.

Just as Christian fundamentalist supporters of creationism or intelligent design do not represent all Christians views on evolution, so Hindu extremists and their affiliates do not represent all Hindus views, said Mira Kamdar, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute a think tank at the New School, N.Y.

In November, three days before the state board passed the proposed edits, they received a counter petition signed by 50 American and international scholars from Witzel, who is also the editor of the Harvard University Press Harvard Oriental Series.

The real issue at stake is the correct depiction of ancient history, according to the current state of the art, said Witzel. The two foundations involved have proposed edits that would rewrite Indian history and Hinduism according to their narrow sectarian and nationalistic bias, which is not allowed by California standards for textbooks.

Acknowledging at the Nov. 9 meeting that the issues were very complicated, Ruth E. Green, president of the California Board of Education, said they were poised to accept 499 out of the 600 plus proposed edits. Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent of the curriculum and instruction branch of the Sacramento County Office of Education, said that the publishers of the textbook should include supplementary materials. However, because of Witzel and his colleagues concerns, the board halted its review.

In January, the board invited Witzel and Shiva Bajpai of California State University, Northridge, a Hindu scholar supported by the Vedic Foundation, for a closed-session meeting.

The board will review the edits and release a final report in March.

In the meantime, however, Hindu children are not at risk from current textbooks, according to Rebecca Bigler, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and leading researcher of social cognition in children as well as the development of racial stereotyping.

By learning the facts, even if they are disconcerting ones about casteism or misogyny, children are not going to lose either their self-esteem or their identity, she said. In a recent study of elementary school children who were told about slavery for the first time, Biglers team saw some negative emotions. But, she is quick to point out that, The levels of anger and guilt were elevated, but they were still relatively low.

Instead, learning the past and putting it in perspective makes kids more empathetic with victims and concerned about remediation, Bigler said.

Some of the white children said they felt guilt and some of the black children said they felt anger, but its all in the approach. If we present facts so they know that every group has oppressed another group in history, the bigger lesson is about treating everyone with respect.

Peer approval is a key feature of growing up in any country, said Dr. Jay Pasricha, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas, Galveston Island. It is hard enough to adjust to spoken or unspoken biases against their color or their very names. Such biases get official blessing and reinforcement when negative stereotypes are present in textbooks the very source that students take to be authoritative on the subject. This can result in our kids growing up either schizophrenic about themselves, or, worse still complete rejection of their culture.

In a broader sense this applies to Indian-American society as a whole and serves to perpetuate intolerance based on race and religion, said Pasricha, calling for an impartial and balanced account based on the consensus of experts.