Wayland HRDEI Committee will co-sponsor public program on swastika's meanings

WAYLAND — November 21, 2023 — Wayland committee will co-sponsor public program on the swastika's many meanings. The Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to co-sponsor an educational program on "different cultures' understanding of the swastika symbol" after Oak Hill Road resident Amita Putnes told members that conflating the 8,000-year-old Hindu symbol with the Nazi hooked cross was endangering Hindu, Buddhist and Jain families amid recent antisemitic graffiti on Rice Road and a Nazi-salute incident at the middle school. Chair Yamini, a practicing Hindu, said a Jewish friend's reaction to a swastika she had painted on her first car taught her how the same shape registers very differently across communities. Members also unanimously voted to co-sponsor a Hingham Unity Council program on "social media as a lever for rising extremism today" featuring Brandeis professor and Wayland resident Sabine Von Mering. The Select Board on Monday unanimously endorsed the committee's Israel-Gaza statement.