A collection of testimonies has been published that were received in response to Ambedkar King Study Circle’s call to record and share individuals’ experiences of casteist practices in the USA. They document the feelings of discomfort, exclusion, shock, pain, and humiliation experienced by those that are subjected to various casteist practices at school, at the workplace, in their neighborhood, at social gatherings, and in their lives as parents.
“In the US IT sector and especially the Silicon Valley, where tech companies employ thousands of Indian immigrants and Indian Americans, caste discrimination in the workplace is a daily reality for many … The caste discrimination case against Cisco should be a wake-up call for Silicon Valley companies”
“Exclusion of caste from discrimination policies makes companies caste-blind. Emerging research suggests caste-based losses to companies are similar to those due to a lack of gender and race diversity.”
Satyajit Amin argues that the Indian diaspora needs to confront widespread casteism in their communities and renew efforts to pass anti-discrimination legislation.
“In the backdrop of caste supremacy in the Indian diaspora in the United States, when higher-caste Hindus often describe and demonize Dalits as “inherently lazy/ opportunistic/ not talented,” even apparently innocuous practices like peer reviews for promotions (Cisco and several other tech companies operate on this model), can turn into minefields, ending in job losses and visa rejections for Dalits.”
BBC podcast looks at how caste bias has become an uncomfortable reality for many Indians migrating to the US
This documentary examines the ways in which caste discrimination manifests itself in the UK within Asian diaspora communities and the impact of caste-based exclusion on members of these communities. The video follows Parle Patel, a young British Hindu and popular YouTuber, as he interviews members of his community to get to the bottom of whether the UK has a caste problem.
Columbia University in New York hosted a pioneering 2-day Dalit Film and Cultural festival, featuring films that give direct voice to the Dalit experience and reflect on society from a Dalit perspective. The festival took place from 23-24 February, and was organised by the US Ambedkarites.
Equality Labs has released a survey report on Caste in the United States. The report came out of a community driven survey conducted in 2016 and has now emerged as a crucial document that both presents the first evidence of Caste discrimination in the US and helps to map the internal hegemonies within our communities.
In a U-turn policy change the UK Government has decided that despite reports commissioned by the Government itself finding evidence of caste-based rights violations in the UK, caste will not be included as a protected characteristic alongside race, religion and ethnicity in the UK Equalities Act.
The Special Rapporteur (SR) on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Ms. E. Tendayi Achiume, on Friday, 11 May 2018, concluded her official visit to the UK and issued her end of mission statement. During the visit the Special Rapporteur met with the UK government and Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales representatives. Ms Achiume also met with civil society in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast.
Economic & Political Weekly published an excellent article Caste in Britain: public consultation on caste and equality law by Annapurna Waughray. The author provides insightful commentary on why the UK government has not adopted a legislation outlawing caste-based discrimination in the UK yet and concludes that ‘Legislating against caste discrimination in the UK is not only contentious, it has become highly politicised’.
Caste Aside is a documentary about the British government's controversial decision to introduce legislation against caste discrimination in the UK. Highlighting both sides of this heated debate, the documentary speaks to Dalit rights activists, Hindu community leaders, academics and lawyers, as well as those who say they have been discriminated against on the basis of their caste - in Britain.
IDSN Executive Chair and DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma, has been shortlisted for a ‘Secularist of the year 2018 award’ by the The National Secular Society in the UK . The award ‘recognises a campaigner or group for an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement’. The NSS’s council of management selected the shortlist from nominations which were submitted by its members and supporters.
The UK’s Indian Diaspora community are going head to head as the Government’s consultation on caste discrimination legislation is extended. In several media reports groups that are pro and anti the introduction of legislation against caste discrimination in the UK, are arguing about the impact of such a move.
Several organisations and renowned academics have come together and created a website www.casteintheuk.org providing guidance on the questionnaire and the caste Consultation document, both of which contain complex legal terms and words. We do not want this to be a barrier to anyone wanting to respond to the survey.
Despite ample evidence that caste-discrimination in UK is a human rights issue, and a submission made by the Dalit Solidarity Network-UK and IDSN detailing the problem, not a single state mentioned caste discrimination at the UN UPR review of the UK. Human rights campaigners are disappointed at the negligence of the international community when it comes to addressing caste in the UK context. DSN-UK have summarised the review on their website.
Joint alternative report on caste-based discrimination in the UK – ALTERNATIVE REPORT for the 3rd review cycle under the Universal Period Review of the United Kingdom