Is Casteism different from Racism?

Caste - a discrimination the government simply refuses to acknowledge

By Jerome Taylor
Wednesday, 23 January 2008


There's a very good article by Jastinder Khera of the New Statesman about the issue of caste discrimination in Britain and why the government and its new all-singing and all-dancing Equality and Human Rights Commission are doing nothing about it.

Unlike racial or religious discrimination, caste discrimination is simply not recognised under UK law or by the EHRC. But if you look hard enough, caste is all around us and campaigners say it is just as virulent a form of discrimination as racism. So why is nothing being done about it?

In this parliamentary session the government is due to debate a "Single Equality Bill" which aims to wrap together all the equality legislation over the past 40 years into one single bill. Age discrimination and gender restrictions at golf clubs will all be banned, as will stopping a woman breast feeding in public. But discriminating against someone because of their caste isn't on it. Nor has it ever been a theme in equality legislation. Similarly according to Jastinder's piece, the EHRC have "no plans to look into [caste discrimination] at the current time".

To the uninitiated, the word "caste" is most often used to describe the hereditary systems of social class that are most commonly, but not exclusively, found on the South Asian subcontinent.

The Spanish Conquistadors introduced a sort of caste system in Latin America which still exists today, (equivalent caste systems in Japan and Korea have died out), but generally it is caste within Hinduism that campaigners say needs to be urgently addressed.

Caste is originally a Portuguese word, initially used by Portuguese colonialists who settled on the west coast of India, to describe the Hindu concepts of varna and jati and has since been taken up by much of the western world.

According to the Vedas- the main body of Hindu holy scriptures - society is divided into four main social categories or varnas. They are Brahmins (priests, philosophers), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaisyas (traders, farmers) and Sudras (manual workers). Below them are Dalits and other groupings, often called Untouchables, who technically have no varna.

To make things more complicated, over time the varnas became divided in occupational or tribal sub-categories known as jatis, which are often as precise as deciding whether you are a metal worker who specialises in copper or tin. Orthodox Hindus believe these social categories should be strictly adhered to - many would refuse to marry outside their varna or jatis for instance.

Untouchables especially have the rawest deal and are still regularly discriminated against in India despite the supposed abolition of the caste system shortly after Independence. Orthodox Hindus believe Dalits  have been born into their category because of bad karma - evil acts committed by their soul in a previous life - and are now having to pay a penance for their past transgressions. Higher castes often believe they are inauspicious and unclean and some will even believe being touched by a Dalit's shadow can bring bad luck.

Over the past 60 years India has moved leaps and bounds when it comes to emancipation of the Dalits but things remain far from perfect. In the West, Gandhi is probably best known for his staunch support of Dalit rights, one of many moves that enraged radical Hindu groups enough to eventually assassinate him.

But the true liberator of the Dalits was Dr B.R. Ambedkar, a little known figure in the west, but lionised in India as one of the country's greatest post colonial figures. It was Ambedkar, an Untouchable, who wrote India's Constitution which forbade caste discrimination and although such discrimination still happens its existence is at least recognised.

The British government, who pre-Independence were generally more than happy to allow caste  discrimination to flourish as it suited their divide and rule agenda, even now has done nothing to  recognise caste discrimination. And like it or not casteism is alive and well in Britain.

Log onto Shaadi.com, the famous Indian matrimonial website which many British Asians use to find a suitable life partner, and there are whole sections dedicated to matching up your castes. There are even societies that are only open to high castes and many say caste based bullying or discrimination in the workplace can still be a problem.

The subject is always a somewhat sensitive one when I talk to British Hindus about it, particularly among lower caste families who have been known to change their names when they emigrate in order to leave their low castes behind. Others simply refuse to acknowledge that the problem exists. Yet there are a few groups brave enough to tackle the subject, CasteWatchUK and Dalit Solidarity Network are a good place to start.

But the sensitivity of the subject should not stop the government from acting decisively on all forms of discrimination. If we are currently legislating to force gentlemen only golf clubs to allow women, why should we carry on allowing high caste clubs?

And personally I'm not convinced by the argument that racism is different to casteism because there are no racial differences between castes. The fact is who you are born to decides your caste, something as equally outside of your control as skin colour and just as reprehensible a reason to discriminate against someone  for. Isn't it about time our government steps up to the mark?