Asian caste discrimination rife in UK, says report
Tens of thousands affected 'at workplace, school and doctor's surgery'
Buzz up!
Sam Jones
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 November 2009 14.31 GMT
Activists in India at a rally demanding reforms for lower status
people. According to today's report, caste discrimination is rife in
Britain too. Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP
Caste discrimination is rife in the UK, with more than half of those
from traditionally lower-status Asian backgrounds finding themselves
victims of prejudice and abuse, according to a report published today.
The study, co-ordinated by the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance
(Acda), suggests that the caste system is still widespread and affects
tens of thousands of people in the workplace, the classroom and even
the doctor's surgery.
Fifty-eight percent of the 300 people surveyed said they had been
discriminated against because of their caste, while 79% said they did
not think the police would understand if they tried to report a
caste-related "hate crime".
Almost half of the respondents (45%) said they had either been treated
negatively by co-workers or had comments made about their caste. Nine
per cent felt they had been passed over for promotion, and 10% said
they had been paid less because of their caste. A further 5% said they
had experienced threatening behaviour because of their caste.
One woman said she had been demoted from her job at a radio station
after her manager discovered her caste background, while one bus
company decided to reorganise shifts so that a "higher caste"
inspector would not have to work alongside a "lower caste" bus driver.
The classroom also appears to be subject to caste divides: 7% of those
surveyed said they had been the victims of threatening behaviour while
aged under 12 at school, with another 16% suffering verbal caste
abuse. According to the study, 10% of those responsible for caste
discrimination against under-12s were teachers, and 42% fellow pupils.
One of the most commonly reported forms of discrimination is
caste-related name-calling. Almost three quarters (71%) of those
questioned in the survey identified themselves as members of the Dalit
community. Dalits, who were formerly known as Untouchables because of
their low caste status, are sometimes referred to abusively as chuhra
and chamar.
"[Such] names [are] as derogatory as calling a black person a nigger,
anyone from the subcontinent of Indo-Pakistani diaspora Paki, or
someone of Jewish extraction a kike," says the report. "These names
are associated with hereditary work such as scavenging and working
with leather – occupations regarded as beneath 'caste Hindus'. These
names are deliberately used to offend and provoke. They are hurtful
and exceedingly offensive."
A number of respondents also reported being asked – directly or
indirectly – about their caste background by their family doctor,
nurse or a community nurse. One elderly woman felt her care worker had
discriminated against her on caste grounds, while a physiotherapist
was also alleged to have refused to treat someone of low caste.
The report says that the significant number of doctors from the Indian
subcontinent now indicated "a potential for caste discrimination
occurring in the healthcare sector".
The Acda hopes its findings will persuade the government to amend the
equality bill to make caste discrimination illegal.
Although the issue was raised over the summer when the bill was at the
committee stage, a caste discrimination amendment was not added as
there was not enough evidence on the matter.
The report – which was produced in collaboration with focus groups and
academics from the University of Hertfordshire, the University of
Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University – aims to provide a
snapshot of caste discrimination in 21st century Britain.
The study concludes: "There is clear evidence from the survey and the
focus groups that the caste system has been imported into the UK 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 UK government does not
effectively accept and deal with the issue of caste discrimination the
problem will grow unchecked."
Allowing such a situation to develop, it adds, would undermine the
"values of fairness and equality of treatment" that the government
promotes.
Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood
Green, said: "Caste discrimination, like other forms of
discrimination, needs to be outlawed. This is the evidence that will
prove the case for its inclusion in the equality bill."
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