UNITED KINGDOM, July 23, 2018 (The Hindu): The British government has decided that it will not recognize caste as an aspect of race in anti-discrimination legislation, in a move that was condemned by Dalit organisations and other campaign groups. Following a consultation last year, the government pointed to “the extremely low number” of cases involved and the “clearly controversial nature” of introducing caste, insisting that reliance on case-law and the ability for people to bring claims of caste discrimination under “ethnic origins” was the solution that would promote “community cohesion” and be “likely to create less friction”.
The Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance said it was “outraged” by the decision to repeal a law that had been agreed by Parliament and endorsed by the UN, and supported by the government’s own Equalities and Human Rights Commission. “This decision goes in favor of those who continue to practice caste prejudice in the UK.,” it said. However, the decision was welcomed by other groups who had campaigned strongly on the issue. “What we’ve been saying has been validated,” said Trupti Patel, President of the Hindu Forum of Britain, which campaigned heavily on the issue alongside the National Council of Hindu Temples (U.K.), arguing that the legislation would be unnecessary and discriminatory “to us and our future generations”. “We dealt with the issue extremely professionally, consulting our community… we are extremely pleased that our hard work has shown results.”
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