There's a palpable mood of optimism among Britain's 2,00,000-strong Dalit community as it waits for the Government to take a decision on its long-standing campaign for caste discrimination to be recognised as racism. The buzz is that, barring a last-minute hiccup, Britain could soon become the first European, indeed Western, country to declare caste prejudice unlawful under its race laws — a move which will not please New Delhi which has consistently opposed caste being clubbed with race.
Britain's new Equality Act already empowers the Government to declare “caste to be an aspect of race” without seeking fresh parliamentary approval.
Clause 9 of the Act says: “The fact that a racial group comprises two or more distinct racial groups does not prevent it from constituting a particular racial group. A Minister of the Crown may by order — (a) amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race …”
Much will depend on the findings of a study it has commissioned to determine the extent of caste discrimination. The report of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a leading independent research body which is conducting the research, is expected in the autumn and campaigners are confident that it will back their own claims about how “widespread” caste prejudice in Britain, really, is.
CasteWatchUK, Britain's oldest Dalit campaign group, says it is no longer a question of “if” but “when” an official announcement is made.
“We have provided enough evidence to researchers and have no doubt in our minds that their report will be positive. Besides, we have full faith in the fairness of the British state. The fact that they have included it in the equality act is half the battle won. It is not a question of ‘if' but ‘when' it happens,” claims its general secretary Davinder Prasad.
There has been widespread cross-party support for the campaign, the “only reluctant voices being those of Asian MPs,” according to Lekh Pall, general secretary of the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA), an umbrella group.
Leads to division
The issue has divided Britain's Indian diaspora and right-wing groups such as the Hindu Forum of Britain have launched a counter-campaign arguing that the Government has no right to intervene in what they claim is the community's internal affair.
Ramesh Kallidai, secretary-general of the Forum, says it is “not right for the U.K. Government to take a position on the rites, beliefs or practices of a particular religion”.
“Social interactions and personal choices are an expression of people's freedom, and any barriers should be removed through education and awareness, not through legislation,” he argues.
In a report, “Caste in the U.K.”, the Forum denied claims of caste discrimination saying its own research had found that it was “not endemic in British society”.
However, a study — “Hidden Apartheid, Voice of the Community, Caste and Caste Discrimination in the U.K.” — by ACDA in collaboration with academics from the universities of Hertfordshire and Manchester and the Manchester Metropolitan University, concluded that there was “clear evidence” of widespread caste-based discrimination.
“There is clear evidence from the survey and the focus groups that the caste system has been imported into the U.K. with the Asian diaspora and that the associated caste discrimination affects citizens in ways beyond personal choices and social interaction. There is a danger that if the U.K. government does not effectively accept and deal with the issue of caste discrimination the problem will grow unchecked,” it said.
The report claimed that “tens of thousands of people in the workplace, the classroom and even the doctor's surgery” suffered discrimination because of their caste. Forty-five per cent of the respondents alleged they had either been treated negatively by co-workers or had comments made about their caste. Nine per cent felt they were been denied promotion, and 10 per cent that they were paid less because of their caste. Some also claimed that they faced “threats”.
One woman, who worked for an Indian-run radio station, complained that she was demoted after her manager discovered her caste background, while an elderly woman alleged that her care worker discriminated against her on caste grounds. One transport company reorganised its duty roster so that a “higher caste” inspector would not have to work with a “lower caste” bus driver. Caste-related name-calling was one of the most commonly-reported complaints.
More often than not, incidents of discrimination go unreported as people are reluctant to talk about them, activists claim with one activist saying that “there is a silent majority out there that we never hear about”.
According to Dr. Gurnam Singh of the department of social and community studies at Coventry University, caste discrimination is a “daily reality” for many. Yet there has been no “systematic” research about the level of caste prejudice in Britain. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that it is on the rise, he says.
Meanwhile, even as Dalits are preparing to celebrate what they hope would be a successful outcome of their long struggle there are also fears that the Government could develop “cold feet under pressure from New Delhi”, in the words of an ACDA official. And, if that happens they may take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.
Keywords: caste prejudice, racism
In reply to Rev. Nehemiah Thompson, as bad as caste discrimination is, equating caste with color and/or race is worse. Does the Reverend know that the much loved and revered Shri Krishna was dark skinned? As was the wife of the Pandavas, Draupadi. Among countless others. If the color of ones skin has been insignificant in any culture it is in Hindu culture. Does he even know that the Hindu deities Mahadeva, Kali, etc. are all dark skinned?
In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna has said, "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all." In the Rig Veda it is said, "No one is superior, none inferior. All are brothers marching forward to prosperity." Sadly, what was once an egalitarian system of division of labor, over thousands of years became anachronistic and corrupted into what is now know as the caste system due to both external as well as internal influences.
It is the duty of every Hindu to unequivocally denounce both in words and in actions the relatively recent phenomenon of the rigidity of what is now known as the caste system and its accompanying discrimination. At the same time all Hindus should also desist attempts by totalitarian supremacist ideologies to drive wedges into Hindu society in their quest for numbers. No doubt equating caste with race and/or skin color as by Rev. Nehemiah Thompson in this thread is an example of such a mischievous attempt which reeks of ulterior motives. Leaving aside those sort, the sooner Hindu society eradicates the malice of caste and goes back to the teaching of karma (or actions) being the bedrock of ones life, the better it is for all Hindus.
This is a very important matter and it is understandable that certain people are not happy with the direction that this is going. ACDA have worked very hard on the issue of caste discrimination to bring it into the attention and awareness of the mainstream public. As this article mentions we carried out our own research in 2009 and found numerous examples of caste discrimination occurring in the areas covered by the Equality Act.
When the Race Relations Act 1976 was due to be enacted the then government did not require evidence to be brought forward. Instead it accepted the assertions and arguments put forward and the rest is history.
Now we are in the strange situation where the previous Labour government made it clear that they required evidence to be brought forward, for it to be identified in an independent and verifiable way and they commissioned NIESR to carry out this research, which will shortly be concluded and published.
ACDA led the way forward at a very difficult time and worked in conjunction with other similar organisations in the field, to institute a real change in this area. ACDA, CastewatchUK, VODI, FABOUK, DSNUK, SGRSUK and other organisations, more than 40 in total, joined forces in presenting a joint statement to Government earlier this year.
The and the tireless efforts of Lord Avebury, Lord Lester, Baroness Flathers, Baroness Northover, Lord Harries of Pentregarth and many others, showed the government the strength of feeling behind the movement.
We all very much hope that the NIESR research which will soon be published, does indeed verify our assertions, based on our research, that caste discrimination is happening every day within employment, the provision of goods and services and education, all areas covered by the Equality Act.
We very much also hope the government of today does not just rely on the results of this research but takes the much braver step of accepting caste under race as a protected characteristic within the Equality Act and in doing so,gives everyone much needed protection against discrimination.
We thank the readers of this article for the interest taken and would ask that you contact us direct on infoacda@googlemail.com with any instances of caste discrimination, especially from within the UK but from anywhere in the world.
Chair, ACDA
Whether we like it or not, it starts from Bhagwad Geeta perhaps in good intention but the damage has already been done. Just look at the Matrimonial columns, Brahmin wants only Brahmin, Lingayata wants lingayata etc Caste system is in the very blood of every Hindu. We need to take 1000 dips in Ganga river.
Now you want to do some thing Then start protesting Make it illegal to call one Brahmin, Kshatriya or Shudra etc
I guess the aim of bringing caste discrimination under the racial act is to ensure that castes disappear. Conditions in the UK differ from India. In the UK, there is no caste differentiation against higher castes as in Maharashtra and other Southern States. Also, the UK does not suffer from conversions of lower castes from Hinduism and then the converts claiming their original Hindu castes to get both minority and caste-based benefits. In the UK, castes are not treated as vote banks.
Everything differs in the UK. Hence, what the UK does is specific to their situation. India's case is different. What India has to do is to ban political parties that are based on castes, e.g. RJD, SP, etc. Then only caste discrimination would disappear from India. I think India is being foolish to protest. It should put its own house in order taking into consideration its unique environment.
Vote-bank secularism and vote-bank casteism is India's bane.
Unmai Vilambi has given the best solution to this caste problem. Here in Assam, the influence of Tribe culture and Sankardeva's religious philosophy has reduced the impact of cast curse compared to north and south India.
Rev. Nehemiah Thompson argues for caste-based reservations on the premise that a caste based problem needs a caste based solution. It sounds like "an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" to me. I am not an apologist for untouchability. I am glad to see that abomination is gone. Consider the following and arrive at your own conclusions.
In the 1940s in Madras government had a formula called the 12plus 2 formula which applied to even low level jobs. 12 persons other than brahmins had to be promoted before 2 brahmins were promoted. This was derived from a caste composition of the population.
In the late 50s I know of someone from the first batch of IIT having a job offer thrown out by the registrar of Madras University because he was a brahmin who went out of state to study.
When in the 60s poor brahmin priests were publicly harassed and physically assaulted perhaps that was called positive discrimination too. Even poorer were the vedic scholars who for the sin of being the custodians of our vanishing heritage suffered not only penury but daily humiliation. I know of such a scholar, whose children had to scramble for money in order to perform his last rites. Today, one born into a brahmin family would have to score marks in the 99th percentile to get into medicine. He would still have to run the gauntlet to pass his exams or get into residency. Let him then try to get a government job, if he still has the guts. There are real victims in the reign of retributive justice.
unfortunately racism and casteism is ingrained in all societies..take japan for an example..thought i am a fervent admirer of the japanese and their culture, they have their own problems with caste notably the burakumin who are the lowest of the low in japan. they work in slaughter houses clean the toilets etc. and no self respecting japanese would let anyone in their family marry into these families..they treat the Ainu and Okinawans in the same fashion..never mind that there are Koreans that have been there for over a hundred years and will never have the rights that a japanese would have.
Crusaders like Dayanandji and Vivekanandji etc had failed to eradicate it. Only an act of parliament can aboloish it. But parliament , a secular body cannot interfere in religious laws. So here we have it. No question in my mind as a physician that this is 100% against the spirit of human rights and exploitative.
Of course very few of us actively discrimiate but don't we all have that relative who belives fervently in the logic of caste and its ritual discrimination? I do and I've had others who express such beliefs not thinking that other people, even of the same caste, might hold them in contempt. If we have 10 upper caste people, only one needs to be discriminatory. S/he will touch the lives of 20 lower caste people they come in contact with and leave an ugly scar. Is that so hard to understand? And is it not imperative that society restrains that person from spreading his or her ugliness? Why do the other 9 upper caste people take it so personally if they don't discriminate themselves?
I also find it weird that people ensconed in comfortable castes with comfortable surnames tell dalits/lower castes to "wake up" and "fight for themselves" or tell interminable tales of how governments should ensure opportunity but not affirmative action. huh? Most of our "merit" lies in the fact that we have rich/middle class parents who were rich/middle class because they had rich/middle class parents who were.. hmm.. and thus could afford to send us to schools that charged "small" capitation fees and cram tutorials which saw us through our JEEs and CATs. Whither merit? Shall we agree that for one generation we'll ALL send our children to corporation schools and have entrance tests that are just IQ tests where tutorials simply can't help? "ARE YOU READY?" as someone before me asked?
Caste system is & will be eternal in India.
"Caste system as such is not bad as few comments here reflect- What is bad is discrimination due to it"
The documentation of the prevalence of casteism in the UK appears to be based on anecdotes.I suggest the use of rigorous methodology in investigating this important matter. The flip side of aggressive affirmative action, now known as 'positive discrimination' is the large scale emigration of those born into forward castes out of Tamil Nadu over the last 70 years. The enterprising segment of this population is thriving all over the world and seems to have benefited from this exodus. Vedic hinduism elsewhere seems to have been enriched by this migration and does not appear to be missed in Tamil Nadu.What happened to the poor or less enterprising segment of this 'forward caste' population in Tamil Nadu has not been recorded.It is ironic that six decades after independence, 'positive discrimination' against a section of the population is the stated objective and main political plank of the ruling parties of Tamil Nadu. The saving grace is that they are not the first in history to practice ' retributive justice'. The exit of the forward castes has only intensified the caste war, now between the middle and lower castes, while the dalits continue to be shut out. I am looking hard for a redeeming feature in this picture.
Great News. Legislation brings lot of changes in the society. For example, Women from a particular caste who were denied the right to cover the upper part of their body till then , began to wear jacket and upper cloth which invited furious reaction from people of higher castes.
I hope the British Govt. will make a fair desicion and give justice to Dalits , because in India its impossible when the politician are always eager to politicize the issue for their own good !!!
What can legislation do except give equal opportunity to all to study and qualify themselves for doing a job. Unless they apply themselves wholeheartedly to uplift themselves no power on earth can do so. So long the human behavior is what it is no body can equalize all humans as one. They are not sheep. Therefore, let us not blame others for our misfortunes. Man, Awake, Arise and stop not till you reach your goal with your own efforts.
Dear Sir: I am of the opinion that it does not matter who brings in this legislation, the UK govt, Indian govt. etc. etc. it is so difficult to legislate against the human mind and enforce it. Please do not tell me that none breaks the laws; it is just a question of necessity / convenience that all of us break it one time or other. I am a Canadian citizen for the last 45 years living in Toronto and I have lived almost in every part of India and have associated with all kinds of people there. I can positively say that every community practices this dirty habit of high/low strata of society. How about the Lords & Ladies of England ! How about the Royal family in the UK ? Will they accommodate a common man / woman in their families ! The Hindus live with this; the muslims live with this with their Sunnis/Shias/Ahmadis etc. The Christians live with this Roman Catholics/Protestants/United Church/Anglican Church and what have you ?
In my latest visit to India, I was informed by some of my well to do relatives who have manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu that they find it difficult to manufacture steadily as the workers do not want to work 5 / 6 days a week as the local govt. is assisting them with food/shelter/electricity/color TVs etc. etc. They dictate their terms of coming in whenever they want to. One just wonders what kind of a GENIE the Tamil Nadu govt. has produced !
Go to UP/Bihar/MP and other Northern provinces; If the suppression/ill treatment of these Dalits are so bad, how come, the population has exploded so much in numbers and everyone is enjoying life and spending on clothes/movies/DVDs etc. etc. These people have had 60 odd years of SPECIAL TREATMENT and yet have not produced a significant number of scientists/doctors/lawyers etc. for their own betterment. Yet so many have settled down in the UK !
In the USA, the problem of Black people is still to be solved even though they have enough legislation. In Canada, we have the same Black problem which is more prominent in the Eastern coast. Then we have this native Canadian Indian problem.
These problems still persist in spite of all the legislative protections.
In essence, you cannot legislate the human mind and expect wonders or think it is going to solve all your problems. I feel more education, interaction with other communities will help more than mere legislation. People should put their own shoulders to the wheels and try and come up in society.
But it is to be noted that all Indians practise some kind of caste system.
Sikhs and Muslims also have caste based dealings.
But of course the actual caste does not matter but the economically powerful are the top caste today.
It is heartening to see most readers in this forum have voiced their opinion against the caste system. I am sure most of them belong to non-dalit castes.
However, it is a shame that we all provide excellent lip-service in these forums, but NEVER ever take any concrete steps in the direction of abolishing the caste sytem. We are either too timid and reluctant to renounce our caste labels, or we stand to gain one way or the other from the caste system.
In my opinion, caste sytem will disappear only if every marriage that happens henceforth is an inter-caste marriage. A new quota for 'inter-caste' (or still better 'caste-less') kids should be created, and all kids born of IC marriage be added to it.
For those who are genuinely interested in seeing this evil system disappear, please pledge unto yourself that you will not marry (or your sons and daughters) within your own caste. It doesn't mean that you should make alliance with a person from the lowest caste, but just make alliance with someone of equal social and educational background, BUT FROM A DIFFERENT CASTE.
Many of us never knew about castes till admissions in colleges.
Good article. Hope this goes through, and that caste discrimination is condemned as the worst kind of racism by the whole world. That will be a wake-up call for the Indian government and the many Indians who like to pretend that caste atrocities and violence are something of the past.
Mesopotamia,the mother of caste system
Surely it is feature of south asian hinduism and also islam and christianity. Accepting this in census reveals that it is organic part of " hinduism". For this physcian, this is simply a political fraud played on toiling millions since mideastern farmers colonised south asia some 7000 yrs ago;division of labour of mideast farmers ( sumerians-akkadians-elamites)is documented abt 4000 BC.Social classes of priest, slave,labourer,scribes and rulers are well known to be pioneered in the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia.India's farming ecology has helped its perpetuation, having made part of hinduism.IT has to go sooner or later. A beginng in UK will be great news to all right minded south asians
How to {1]awaken a man pretending to be enjoying a sleep; How to [2]make a man holding on to a thorny tree, UNDERSTAND that, It is the man who is holding on rather than the TREE holding the man and causing pain. ALL to be done is [1]the Man himself has to GET UP [2] let go free His hold. SO, how to enlighten a man that HE IS casteless; so should behave like a MAN than CRY caste based discrimination. IT is the western Brain that what British are born with as per their Karma so when MAN should start behaving as MAN caste is being added as an incentive to get government benefits. DOWN with the BRITISH queen.
Ok let's for sake of this posting at least not get into historical wrongs and the attempts to right them since independence. As a "forward caste" that has never discriminated against anyone but has been denied access to educational opportunities asks this - what do I tell my kids when they ask if they are born with a disadvantage in this society? That they should look to make their lives elsewhere? That they should become more insular and watch out only for themselves since this society is going to discriminate against them? That all this is because of what their forefathers did and it will all be well another 1000 years from now?
In response to sharan, 63 years of privilages are too less when compared to thousands of years of derivation. Govt. is providing only reservations but not the resources of the nation, this is only peanuts to daliths & backward classes.
If caste system exists in India without any one caste discriminating against the other, then the problems would not have cropped up. But,the cast discrimination not only prevalent in the country side but also in Government jobs. Especially, in central government establishments, as per statements made by some of the employees of Government of India from time to time. Some even assert that the so called lower caste people are not allowed to occupy some of the key managerial positions. Very deftly the promotions are manipulated so that these people are automatically sidelined.
While any moves for a classless society is welcome, there are groups that want to ensure that such divisions remain and this does not just include those who dominate socially because of their caste. It is well known that two influential groups -the Church and politicians thrive on ensuring these fissures remain in society. One seeks to increase its flock and uses caste to its advantage, the other wants to leverage caste-based votes to stay in power. Having said this, the whites and Europeans should probably be the last people on earth to lecture us on human rights- having trampled on it everywhere across the globe and even in Europe. They still continue to do that in the atoll islands across the globe, destroying cultures, practices and religions and imposing their own beliefs. Doesn't Europe see that as rascism only because it is done by their own kind?
Every right thinking person in the world,especially Upper & caste Hindus in India should realise that it is a stark reality that Dalits are discriminated everywhere secretly,veiled attacks on them orally & physically,indirect caste references are widely prevalant in India & wherever HINDU religion is professed & practised.Even foreigners who embrace or convert to Hinduism are advised to follw this foolish,absurd,idiotic & mindless system.A strong & staunch believer in Hindu religion is not prepered to accept a Dalit a fellow human being,though he is prepared to accept animals.Don,t forget the lynching of some Dalits who were taking the dead caracas of cows in Haryana or Kaiyarlanji massacre or the torture of Dalit students in Thni in Tamilnadu.Hence the move in UK should open New Delhi's conscience to accept the ground reality.
I am officially from upper caste. However, to this day, I am not able to determine another person's caste. I have never discriminated. I guess it is in the upbringing, parents. I was brought up in Bombay.
That means UK and Europe are going to suffer their productivity, quality and more time needed to settle dispute of caste. Another danger is that isolation of Dalit will increase and nobody from other caste will be ready to employ them fearing they will be wrongly targeted. The more Dalit try to organise, the more they disconnect from the world.
British again did it. They are again trying to throw one more wedge in our society. Improving the ability of a Dalit to educate himself and psycologically making him feel that he is okay and is accepted as a proud human, alone would improve the current problem of Dalit. calling him repeatedly as 'downtrodden' has made the Dalit to accept this proposition and actually he works to achive what he is called after. Even a Dalit in responsible position today feels that he is there not by his merits but by his classification and that will nag him till he forgets that he is a Dalit. I think UK just wants the opposite. They want Dalit to be a society separated from the mainstream and continue to fulfil their colonial dreams. A Dalit should feel proud not as being a Dalit but being a human being who can prove himself by what ever merit he has.He is a creation of same almighty.
I congratulate and hail the efforts of my brethren in UK who showed immense courage and perseverance in this historical campaign for caste discrimination to be recognised as racism. You have won many hearts. Caste system is disgrace to Indian society. Leaders like Ambedkar, Periyar and Kanshi Ram waged a life long battle against this discrimination all through their life. Although there may be some people who would try to bring in pressure, I think majority of Indians recognise this. I dream of day when Dalits from all across India join their hands to bring down this demeaning attitude of disgusing discrimination in Indian Politics.
Only people discriminated against in India are the Forward Castes, its only in name, most people are below poverty line.
There should be Equality - equal oppotunity, but this would just perpetuate the myth of caste discrimination, which is pretty much non-existent.
National feeling like South Americans/Europeans is missing, but caste, regional, religious identification is stronger here - as said by Swami Vivekananda in one of his speeches.
Really surprising that its starting from UK of all nations.
Many years ago Dr. B R Ambedkarji warned the world that wherever Hindus would spread they would spread the evil tradition of casteism.
I have this one question to the above people who use the word "upper caste" in a derogatory sense. I accept the fact that the so called 'upper caste' had exploited or insulted the so called "lower caste" and had committed social injustice to them. But in todays modern world, where urban cities are growing in number day by day, I don't see that "social injustice".
Irrespective of what our politicians say, the ground reality is that caste system is far worse than racism. The way some caste people in India are treated and looked down upon is unthinkable.
The caste system degrades human beings, and the world should consider it as a crime against humanity.
Not only in Britain but also in India dissolution of castes should happen. Everything should be based on quality. If we want to give reservation it should be only on economic basis not on caste basis. Then we will see growth and development....
"Divide and rule" is it Indian concept?
Are we ready for such a change? Let’s remove reservation? Stop arranged marriage?
Readers who commented as extraordinary news, Great news, hang our heads in shame. ARE YOU READY?
Think about yourself first before you degrade fellow Indians. There is lot of us willing for this change.
Dalits have got enough privileges in the 63 years time I think its more than enough
I am not sure if the UK move is a straightforward case of a fair British state giving the dalits legislative salvation. For one, the amount of 'casual racism' in the UK, even in organisations like British airways, the national carrier, is pretty endemic and another legislation aimed at a particular group of people when that situation continues needs to be viewed with caution. Clubbing the two could be a bit like shoving one form of discrimination under the carpet. The only certainty is, it will divide the Asian community in the UK and reap the ruling conservatives political dividends in the short term. But in the long term, the ground realities are going to make life harder for the lower castes both temporary workers and UK citizens. The truth is, the Asian community especially in this rough economic climate will more than ever have to depend on intra-community links to find jobs etc as is reflected in the article itself. While I agree that casteism overlaps racism, I am not sure whether the 'fairness' of the British state or the activism of the dalit groups involved will extend to the aftermath that this legislation will have on the lives of the marginalised. Will the British state help a dalit find a job if he is refused one because of the strain in ties within the south asian community? Will it help fight his or her case in court? If in the aftermath of the legislation an upper caste denies a dalit a job instead of giving him/her a 'lesser' job, what will the british state do?
Finally!! Someone is trying to bell the cat.
I sympathize with the UK Dalits for their plight. But, I do not have any support for caste-based reservation in India, especially in Tamil Nadu where I hail from. The reservation system does not care about merit or meritorious students. It's sole purpose is to serve as a self-agrandizing measure for politicians to boost their own community's role in the society. Where else would you find kids of IAS and bank officers seeking claim to a reserved seat, just because they are from the backward caste?
Racism in Europe is a pygmy compared to caste system. India is ruining because of caste system. World's 50 per cent MPI poor is from South Asia as per estimation by Oxford University and UNDP.
Caste is a south Asian phenomenon, not restricted to India alone. Every religion in South Asia is infected with ruinous caste system.
Great news, I hope the Indian governments take note of this and stop this 'institutionalized' racism!!
Just because I belonged to so called "forward castes", I have been discriminated at all possible stages in my life: admission in college, entrance exams, admission & tuition fees, jobs, physical requirements for jobs, etc.
It is worse than Pakistan treating her minorities as 'secondary citizens'. At least non-Muslims in Pakistan know that they are being discriminated because they they don't go to mosque; they, at least, have an option of converting their faith to be treated equally.
Sadly, India discriminates ME shamelessly without giving an iota about my family's financial status or any remedy to avoid this!
Worse, every now and then- 'forward castes(explicitly me)' are accused of caste-discrimination by media!
Now we can request for 50% seats in colleges and government jobs!!!Also 33% reservation in the parliament..
This is outrageous. Indians in other countries are living as second grade citizens & are subject to racism. Even under this situation you are dicriminating a fellow citizen. Is it not sufficient that the fore fathers have totally spoiled our society that you are taking this disease to other nations too.
It is extremely scandalous and extremely unfortunate that casteism has not been "recognized" as racism by the Government of India even after more than 60 years of achieving Independence from British--it shows that the power of Dalits and other "caste" people is still very undermined.Wherever Casteism cannot be shown openly, it is practised discretely.It has caused permanent damage to millions of individuals and the Nation.
Even Australia has officially apologized to the indigenous population there, but when is such a day going to come in India?
The shrill and deceitful attempts by certain people against recognition of casteism as greatest form of racism poses great danger in providing Justice to millions of victims of caste discrimination.
There is no question that caste, religious, racial etc. discriminations are evil and must be strongly condemned. Having said that, this movement in the UK by the Dalit groups seems to be more motivated by political and other hidden agendas than the noble goal of eliminating any real caste discrimination. Reality is that most of the reports of demotion and other job based negatives reported are often excused by the "affected" to find excuses for their bad performance in their jobs.
Having lived in the USA for 40 years, I haven't found any evidence of caste discrimination here among Hindus. I have been part of scores of Hindu organization and groups. In fact, one seldom knows or cares about the caste of the fellow Hindus in the groups.
To my knowledge the only ones institutionalizing and perpetuating caste differences are the politicians with an agenda and other forces inimical to India.
It is insensitive to argue that caste based reservation re-enforces caste. It is not true. How else would you bring equality. Caste based discrimination requires caste based remedy. It is only logical.
I wonder if Ramesh Kallidai's philosophy that “Social interactions and personal choices are an expression of people's freedom, and any barriers should be removed through education and awareness, not through legislation” applies also to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexual orientation...
In response to Karthik above: So-called reverse discrimination in Tamil Nadu, i.e. the concerted attempts to turn the caste hierarchy on its head over the last few decades is one of the best things to have happened to our state. Go up North and you will see the ugliness of caste discrimination even as you walk down the street in a town - not that Tamil Nadu is completely free of the scourge yet but it is relatively much more balanced.
Casteism is dirtier than racism, atleast racism is looked upon with contempt by rational people, but casteism is celebrated in India, in marriages, society and above all in politics and day today life, you won't marry someone below your status in terms of caste, In most part of India the feudal-high caste treats low castes nothing better than pests, in fact we Indians don't deserve to voice against racism in abroad, when we are the nastiest racists in the world.
Appreciate the people in UK.
Caste based discrimination is indeed evil and well documented though not always recognized. However, it must be recognized that plenty of cases of reverse discrimination exists particularly in South India particularly in Tamil Nadu. Some of the "upper castes" are paying for the sometimes real and often perceived discrimination against the "lower castes". This is akin to making the current generation of British being held responsible for the exploitation and atrocities perpetrated by their forefathers around the globe.
Great move. Dalits are 300 million people or more worldwide. Their 2500 years of humiliation is now taken notice by the world community. Great. It is important to know that original Hinduism of Indus Valley civilization did not have caste stratification. Caste was introduced as color based prejudice. That would be racism, isn't it? Dalits wake up. You are inferior to no one.
It would be wise for the Indian Government to step aside in this case. A ruling in an European country, particularly the UK will positively impact on the Caste descrimination and Cruelty that is prevalent in the Indian Society. We seem to be unable to root out caste discrimination and instead bent on "normalizing" it.
We agree with Sh Ramesh Kallidai when he says it is “not right for the U.K. Government to take a position on the rites, beliefs or practices of a particular religion”. But people like him always overlook one important point that when social interactions and personal choices of upper castes become anti-social and criminal in nature then law is bound to step in. Had it been merely a case of belief and discussions or philosophical thoughts, then barriers would have been removed just before Indian freedom struggle through education and awareness. But it has not happened that is why legislation has got a role to play. It is one of the appalling sides of the caste-problem that the Indian legislation and the media dominated by caste prejudiced people ultimately play a helping role for caste based discriminations. All would certainly agree with Dr Ambedkar that for a Hindu to be without caste is to be without society. So, wherever Indians go, castes also go along with and so the caste prejudices.
It's my pleasure to read such an article and I would like to mention a fact that the Britishers have still such concept in terms of caste system..............
The Indian government's attitude on this issue appears to be incomprehensible. After all, for the last 60 years our republic has recognised the historic and continuing injustices of the caste system and has adopted policies specifically to make amends for this, such as reservations in educational institutions and jobs, even at the level of MPs themselves. Our constitution clearly outlaws any sort of discrimination based on caste. Then why should we have any problem with any other country or government saying something that is already explicitly acknowledged in our own laws?
The lesson from the experience of racism in the empire under colonial rule is lost if the focus remains exclusively on the behaviour of the colonial rulers. Racism is wrong not simply because it confers privilege on one visibly identifiable group at the expense of another visibly identifiable group but because it is a system of belief that judges an individual not for what he is but for who he is associated with by skin colour, caste, geographical origin or other irrelevant factors. If this broad definition is accepted, visible identification by skin colour to confer privilege is not the only form of racism that is bad. All forms of group-specific discrimination are to be condemned. In that sense, a great deal of the social hierarchy that characterised life in British India must be considered to be an evil on par with racism. Mulk Raj Anand, a writer just a couple of years younger than George Orwell, depicts the demeaning nature of the Hindu caste system in his novel Untouchable published around the same time, in the mid-1930s, that Orwell spilled the beans on the horrors of another form of racism in his novel Burmese Days. More than half a century after the end of colonial rule, it is time to take stock to see how much the countries that now comprise what used to be British India have progressed in eliminating racism.
The caste system which Jawahar Lal Nehru so movingly described in The Discovery of India, reflecting on Indian history during one of his many sabbaticals in British jail, is to this date “a burden and a curse”. We still hear of lower caste villagers being lynched, yes lynched!, in north India.
Well...the British did help root out "Sati Pratha". I hope that the legislation does pass, discrimination on any basis must be treated similarly by law..period.Infact,I pray this spreads to other nations having significant population of Indian origin. Maybe then, it will push us to at least make a start towards someting similar in India.
This is extraordinary news, as Indians we should hang our heads in shame. Casteism is nothing more than institutionalized racism which is blithely accepted in India. For a foreign government to call it out in black and white is an eye-opener to the mandarins in Delhi and the divisive NRI groups in the UK and USA.
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