Hindu community honour Sydney mum Swastika Chandra after taking on Uber

Australia’s peak Hindu body has honoured a Sydney mum who fought Uber to let her use her name and access the app as her story went viral in India.

Swastika Chandra successfully fought Uber to let her use her name on the app and to reinstate her access. Picture: Britta Campion

Sydney mum Swastika Chandra, who fought Uber to let her use her name on the app has been honoured by Australia’s peak Hindu body for standing up for her community after her story went viral in India.

Ms Chandra had been barred from accessing Uber services and rides since October after it flagged her name as “invalid” due to its Nazism connotations, but after a concerted effort from the Sydney mother, and interfaith and government pressure, common sense prevailed.

On Thursday, the Hindu Council of Australia honoured Ms Chandra with a courage award, recognising her as a “good role model for Hindu girls”.

“Ms Chandra is an inspiration to us all, and her courage in the face of adversity has touched the lives of those around her,” Hindu Council of Australia national vice-president Surinder Jain said.

Ms Chandra is of Fijian descent and of the Hindu faith. Her name in Sanskrit is sacred, and can mean “divinity, prosperity and wellbeing”.

Although the word and symbol are commonly associated with Nazi Germany, its roots predate that by centuries in the Hindu faith.

Ms Chandra received a “Gargi Award special certificate”, named after the first female Hindu philosopher to challenge the established philosophical order, which is bestowed to efforts that “had no parallel”.

Ms Chandra’s battle against Uber was picked up by the global press, especially in India. Picture: Sarah Matray

“With a heart full of determination and a spirit that refuses to be quelled, Ms Chandra has overcome challenges that would have daunted many,” he said, saying she “set a standard” and that her “actions spoke volumes”.

Ms Chandra had been denied access after Uber’s new global policy in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war had flagged her name as a policy breach.

Proud of her name and culture, she took up the issue, backed by interfaith religious leaders, including the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, before Uber reinstated her name and access last month.

It captured the attention of the global media, particularly in India, where the country’s newspapers and television networks picked up the story, given the swastika’s importance.

Ms Chandra said she had been “overwhelmed” by the “crazy” support.

“When I started this I didn’t really know what would happen or how big it would become,” she said.

“I’m very grateful to (all those that helped) – it would have been very difficult to have get anywhere without them.”

Ms Chandra said she hoped it would set a precedent that there were “two sides to each coin” and that multinationals should make better efforts to understand the nuances of multicultural communities.

Faith NSW chief-executive Murray Norman welcomed Ms Chandra’s recognition.

Swastika Chandra receiving her award on Thursday from the Hindu Council of Australia for taking on Uber over the use of her name.

Hindu Council of Australia national vice-president Surinder Jain

“... Faith NSW was proud to support Ms Chandra in her David and Goliath battle against a multinational to ensure that all people are treated respectfully, fairly and with dignity,” he said, saying education remained “key”.

“Notwithstanding the negative association of the Nazi symbol, it is important that we understand that the Swastika is a sacred symbol in the Hindu culture and there is a clear difference between Ms Chandra‘s legal name being used for services and the malicious use of a hateful symbol.”

An Uber spokesman said it had apologised to Ms Chandra and the company appreciated her patience waiting for a resolution, “which took longer than we had hoped”.

“Uber has a global policy of restricting access to users whose names entered into the app contain potentially offensive words,” he said, explaining how her name had been deemed “invalid”.

“We understand that there are different cultural nuances to names, and therefore our teams address incidents like this on a case-by-case basis to ensure we evaluate each account fairly.”