“My nose was broken, they kicked me in my chest and then they ran off.”
“… I was targeted because I’m of the Dalit caste [known as the “untouchable” caste]; I’m a subhuman being to my people,” said Raj, a victim of a “caste hate crime” perpetrated in the U.K. Caste discrimination, abuse and hate crime is rife in the U.K., and hundreds of British Asians will gather at Parliament on Tuesday to urge Members of Parliament to introduce caste discrimination to the Equality Act 2010.
A coalition of community groups, human rights organizations and politicians will be joining the demonstrators in their campaign for a change in the law that would make it an offense for people to discriminate on the grounds of the caste system.
A report on the issue commissioned by the government three years ago estimated that there were between 50,000 and 200,000 people in Britain who are classified as low caste. The study, by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, identified evidence of discrimination, harassment and exclusion in schools, provisions of services and in the workplace.
The Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA) suggests that the caste system remains widespread and the issue of hate crime is alarming. The organization said, “Fifty-eight percent of people surveyed said they had been discriminated against because of their caste, while 79 percent said they did not think the police would understand if they tried to report a caste-related “hate crime.”
“The problem is that the caste system has been exported to Britain. Britain is not India, so as a member of the Dalit caste living in England, you would think that I have the same rights and protection as everyone here, but it’s all hidden and covered up, and I can’t do anything to stop this from happening again,” said Raj, in an interview with Mint Press News.
Last week, Britain’s House of Lords voted to outlaw discrimination against people on the basis of their caste and proposed a changed to the current laws on race and sexual discrimination. But the government indicated it would continue to oppose the change to the 2010 Equalities Act.
Even in India, anti-discrimination laws passed in 1962 and 1996 have also argued that caste falls outside the scope of the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), but this has not stopped the racial abuse from occurring in India, the U.K. and even in parts of the United States.
Caste-based discrimination legislation in the U.S.
In 2007, the U.S. House of Representative passed a resolution to address this very issue. House Concurrent Resolution 139 is the first official statement on untouchability by the U.S. Congress. The HCR 139 expressed the sense of Congress, “that the United States should address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India.”
The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks and co-sponsored by 33 leading human rights advocates in Congress, including former Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at the time.
Dalits living in the U.S. will still face the same stigma that they would in their home country, but it is hoped that Congress’ action against discrimination will stop acts of hidden abuse, hate crimes and discrimination.
As the demonstrators put their case to Parliament, there are many who believe the problem is a ticking time bomb. 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. Today, British Asians of the lower caste can expect to be treated negatively or abused by co-workers. In the ACDA survey, 9 percent felt they had been passed over for promotion, and 10 percent said they had been paid less because of their caste. A further 5 percent said they had experienced threatening behavior because of their caste.
Even as a child, they cannot escape caste divides: 7 percent of Dalits younger than 12 said they had been the victims of threatening behavior, with another 16 percent suffering verbal caste abuse. Critics believe that it’s the hidden nature of this abuse that creates a problem for police and social agencies who are often slow to act to protect this vulnerable community.
Traditionally, India’s 1.3 million Dalits, known in India as the underclass, are expected to do menial jobs or worse. Many have survived degrading jobs of cleaning human excrement with their bare hands in a practice known as manual scavenging.
Raj said,
“Making the upper caste see that we are people just like them is going to be tough. They have got used to the old ways and don’t want things to change. So I hope the [U.K.] government will change the racial laws to include caste discrimination.”