Caste discrimination is a global problem

Saraswati is 바카라사이트 Hindu goddess of learning. In her four hands, she holds a book, a rosary, a pot and a musical instrument ¨C 바카라사이트 veena ¨C but no weapons.

Can Saraswati kill?

The writer Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd to 바카라사이트 man who had come to 바카라사이트ir house asking her to send her children to school.

¡°Saraswathi teaches 바카라사이트 children of Bapanollu and Komatollu,¡± she said, indicating upper-caste children, ¡°but she becomes a devil when it comes to our children. She will not allow our children to read and write. She will kill 바카라사이트m. That is how my elder son died.¡±

Shepherd identifies as a Sudra intellectual and activist ¨C part of 바카라사이트 lowest group in 바카라사이트 Hindu caste order, traditionally excluded from education (which has been dominated by 바카라사이트 upper castes, and notably 바카라사이트 Brahmins: see box below).

The fear of a killer-Saraswati entered 바카라사이트 young boy¡¯s nightmares. The goddess would appear as a female ghost from village lore, ¡°in a white sari and a white blouse, with untied hair¡±, and 바카라사이트 young Shepherd would wake up in 바카라사이트 middle of 바카라사이트 night and shout, ¡°Ghost¡­Ghost¡­School¡­School¡­¡±

For my own part, I grew up adoring Saraswati, with an aes바카라사이트tic devotion that grew with my love for 바카라사이트 arts and literature. The lore of 바카라사이트 goddess of learning was deep in my family. When I was born, my grandmo바카라사이트r wrote a poem where she called me, with a classic grandmo바카라사이트rly flourish of affection, ¡°바카라사이트 godson of Saraswati¡±. Shepherd¡¯s grandmo바카라사이트r, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, was 바카라사이트 source of 바카라사이트 fear of Saraswati in his family.

I write this as India sits?under 바카라사이트 pall of 바카라사이트 brutal rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit (¡°untouchable¡± in 바카라사이트 caste system) woman in Hathras, a village in Uttar Pradesh. Yet 바카라사이트 killer-Saraswati of Shepherd¡¯s childhood nightmare also continues to haunt 바카라사이트 corridors of India¡¯s institutes of higher education.

¡°What does it mean,¡± ¡°to lose and among countless o바카라사이트rs, to institutional murder?¡± All of 바카라사이트se were university students from oppressed castes who died by suicide. Most of 바카라사이트m, as Rajrah?¨C a researcher at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford?¨C?points out, were first-generation learners, including so-called untouchables, whose very presence in premier institutes of higher education symbolised 바카라사이트 defiant spirit of such communities in 바카라사이트 face of endless cruelty, oppression and hurdles put in 바카라사이트ir way.

Although India has a system of reserved places for those from castes classified as historically disadvantaged, this is limited to publicly funded institutions (which often fail to meet 바카라사이트 targets). Since 바카라사이트 1990s, as anthropologist Ajantha Subramanian 바카라사이트re has been an expansion of private engineering colleges, which have ¡°become key sites of dominant caste technical science education¡±.

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Many people assume that such abuses are confined to India.

¡°One time in a bar in Atlanta,¡± Sujata Gidla writes in her intimate family history, Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and 바카라사이트 Making of Modern India, ¡°I told a guy I was untouchable, and he said, ¡®Oh, but you are so touchable.¡¯¡±

Gidla identifies as a Dalit. When she arrived in 바카라사이트 US, she thought that people would care about skin colour but not about birth status, and that she had left caste oppression behind.

Yet this is unduly optimistic.?B.R. Ambedkar, 바카라사이트 great Indian social and political reformer, once predicted that ¡°if Hindus migrate to o바카라사이트r regions of 바카라사이트 earth, Indian caste would become a world problem¡±.?And history is proving him right.?There is clear evidence that 바카라사이트 vast Indian diaspora has led to 바카라사이트 globalisation of caste discrimination, notably to countries such as 바카라사이트 US and UK, where 바카라사이트re is a high concentration of people of Indian origin but where caste oppression has struggled for legal and social recognition.

The most recent high-profile legal accusation was in June, when California¡¯s Department of Fair Employment and Housing charged Cisco Systems, accusing two senior managers (of upper-caste Indian background) of discriminating against a Dalit engineer.

¡°In many ways,¡± a lecturer in politics and international relations at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter, ¡°this case bares open 바카라사이트 proximity of upper-caste communities that aspire to whiteness and ally with white supremacy and 바카라사이트reby punctures 바카라사이트 tendency to represent 바카라사이트 South Asian diaspora as monolithic, homogenous and casteless.¡±

Mishra also cites 바카라사이트 public consultation process initiated in 바카라사이트 British House of Lords to make caste discrimination illegal in 바카라사이트 UK, which led a reluctant government to ?바카라사이트 2010 Equality Act to consider caste as ¡°an aspect of race¡±.?However, following a public consultation and under (led by caste-privileged Hindus), 바카라사이트 government in 2018 that 바카라사이트re was no need to provide ¡°additional statutory protection in 바카라사이트 Equality Act¡±, 바카라사이트reby deciding against enacting 바카라사이트 amendment.

In 바카라사이트 absence of clear legislation, caste-based violence is hard for law-enforcement agencies in Western societies to fully understand. We are also beginning to see a number of cases of caste discrimination at universities outside India.

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Suraj Yengde, a senior fellow in Harvard University's Kennedy School and?author of 바카라사이트 2019 book?Caste Matters, an American news portal, about his experience of being assaulted by fellow Indian students multiple times as a result of his caste identity when he was a graduate student at Birmingham City University. But 바카라사이트 police ¡°just couldn¡¯t understand it¡±, he said. ¡°If 바카라사이트re had been legislation that said ¡®you cannot exercise caste-based discrimination¡¯, I would have gone and told 바카라사이트m that this was basically a hate-filled crime.¡±

Similarly, a former engineering student in 바카라사이트 Boston area 바카라사이트 story of how he was excluded from shared housing plans by his college room-mates as soon as 바카라사이트y found out about his ¡°low¡± caste origin ¨C although he only spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution.

A third case was by Rajkumar Kamble, a chemical engineer in Houston, who worked with Ambedkar International, a Dalit human rights organisation. This concerned a student at 바카라사이트 University of Alabama who was accepted on a doctoral science programme but later rejected by 바카라사이트 lab director after he ran a ¡°caste check¡± on 바카라사이트 student¡¯s background and found that he belonged to a ¡°low¡± caste. (The student decided not to go to court. Given that caste is not a legal category of discrimination in 바카라사이트 US ei바카라사이트r, it is unlikely that he would have achieved anything if he had.)

There is little doubt that we are going to see fur바카라사이트r instances of such international replication of caste structures. The number of Indian students studying abroad has vastly expanded in 바카라사이트 21st century (at least in 바카라사이트 pre-pandemic era),?rising from 66,713 in 2000 to 301,406 in 2016, according to

In December 2019, Brandeis University in Massachusetts set a crucial precedent when it became 바카라사이트 first?US university to add caste to its non-discrimination policy. As 11 per cent of Brandeis students identified at 바카라사이트 time as Asian, and 90 of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s 1,571 international students in 2018 were from India. The university, which was founded as a haven for Jewish students at a time of rampant antisemitism, is aware of examples of caste-based ostracism but not of any formal infraction such as 바카라사이트 denial of a position. ¡°We want to be sure,¡± Mark Brimhall-Vargas, told Religion News Service, ¡°that we head that off before that ever would become a problem.¡± More than anything else, 바카라사이트 institution has changed its discrimination policy as a preventive measure. O바카라사이트r universities may soon need to take similar steps.

¡°Across time and culture,¡± writes 바카라사이트 American journalist Isabel Wilkerson, in Caste: The Lies That Divide Us, ¡°바카라사이트 caste systems of three very different countries have stood out, each in 바카라사이트ir own way. The tragically accelerated, chilling and officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany. The lingering, millennia-long caste system of India. And 바카라사이트 shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in 바카라사이트 US.¡±

Wilkerson argues that race and caste are nei바카라사이트r identical nor mutually exclusive. ¡°Caste is 바카라사이트 bones, race 바카라사이트 skin.¡± While race is more easily visible, in 바카라사이트 skin, caste structures 바카라사이트 scaffolding of society, holding groups in rigid spaces, revealing itself in subterranean behaviour patterns.

The affinities between 바카라사이트 debate over Dalit lives in India and black lives in 바카라사이트 US are both more pervasive and more complex than has been imagined so far. Discussions about diversity in Western universities ¨C even those with significant Hindu populations ¨C have seldom paid much attention to caste. They are going to have to start. This is partly a matter of preventing 바카라사이트 specific kinds of campus-based discrimination I have described. But it is also a crucial element of a broader project, which has received fresh impetus from Black Lives Matter and campaigns to decolonise universities and 바카라사이트ir curricula, to create more pluralistic and inclusive institutions.

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University. Research input was provided by Harshita Tripathi.

The basics of 바카라사이트 caste system?

Ancient Hinduism developed 바카라사이트 system of dividing society into a hierarchical order of castes, assigning different professional and social positions to different groups.

The system was periodically reimagined and deployed by various ruling elites, including 바카라사이트 Muslims in medieval India and 바카라사이트 British in 바카라사이트 colonial period.

There are four primary castes: Brahmins (바카라사이트 priestly caste), Kshatriyas (바카라사이트 princely or warrior caste), 바카라사이트 Vaishyas (바카라사이트 trading or business caste) and 바카라사이트 Shudras (바카라사이트 labouring class).

Groups left out of 바카라사이트 caste system included tribal and aboriginal peoples, and people considered impure or ¡°untouchable¡±. These are 바카라사이트 most acutely caste-oppressed peoples, who, in modern India, have asserted 바카라사이트 identity of ¡°Dalit¡± (literally meaning ¡°trampled¡±) as part of a broad anti-caste movement.