Govt urged to tackle caste discrimination

Guardian News and Media/LondonA coalition of community groups, human rights organisations and politicians has renewed its call for the government to tackle caste discrimination in the UK by introducing legal protection for those from traditionally lower status Asian backgrounds.Although a section of the Equality Act 2010 could offer lower-caste Asians a legal safeguard against discrimination, it has not been activated despite repeated demands from campaigners. Supporters of the legislation say the law is needed to prevent discrimination at work, in the classroom and in the health service.Two separate studies - one commissioned by the government from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) after the act was amended to include the power to extend protection against discrimination and harassment to caste - have reported the existence of caste-based discrimination in the UK, but no official steps have been taken.A survey published three years ago by the Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance found that 58% of those questioned felt they had been discriminated against because of their caste status, while 79% said they did not think the police would understand if they tried to report a caste-related “hate crime”.A law practice manager and his solicitor wife are also currently engaged in the UK’s first discrimination claim on the grounds of caste prejudice.Vijay Begraj claims he suffered discrimination and was wrongfully dismissed from his job at the firm where they both worked because he was of a lower caste than his wife, Amardeep.The Coventry-based firm, Heer Manak, denies the claim, which it describes as “ludicrous”. A conference at the House of Lords on November 28 heard that Dalits (the caste formerly known as “untouchables”) and others affected by the caste system are growing increasingly exasperated by the lack of action. Lord Avebury, a Liberal Democrat member of the all-party parliamentary group for Dalits, has since written to the Equalities Minister, Maria Miller, to express the conference’s “great disappointment - over the government’s procrastination, and the absence of any credible reason for the delay”.He also asked whether the government’s failure to act had anything to do with objections made by members of the higher castes.“We only know that you have been lobbied by high-caste representatives, and this has led you to say that there is no consensus for bringing Section 9 (5)a into operation,” he wrote.“This was seen as equivalent to saying there should be no legislation against racial discrimination because white people might object to it!”His demands were echoed by Lady Thornton, the shadow equalities spokesperson, who said: “Now that the research has been done and the government has got the evidence, it shouldn’t delay looking at it.” A spokeswoman for Miller’s department, the DCMS (department of culture, media and sports), said: “We are carefully considering the findings of the Niesr report on caste discrimination, together with the views expressed by various sections of the Hindu and Sikh communities, both those who want the government to legislate and those who oppose such legislation.”