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NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 11, 2004: Starting Friday in Bombay, Hinduism’s centuries-old social hierarchy will be the focus for thousands of global activists. The World Social Forum, an annual convention of the anti-globalization movement being held in Asia for the first time, will focus on caste as one of five main themes for its panels and protests. Gautam Mody, a spokesman for the forum, says organizers expect to draw 75,000 people through January 21. More than 138 million Indians belong to the lowest caste known as the Dalits, or ‘the oppressed,” the term the community prefers to the archaic “untouchables.” Another 68 million Indians belong to tribes facing similar social stigma. Caste discrimination was banned by the 1949 constitution and a number of Dalits have risen to prominent positions–most notable K.R. Narayan, president of India from 1997 to 2002 and a scheduled speaker at the World Social Forum’s closing session. While the focus in Bombay will be on India, Dalit campaigners said they wanted to form alliances with other communities suffering hereditary discrimination. Among the speakers at the World Social Forum will be Ecuadorian indigenous leader Blanca Chancoso and Victor Dike, who has lobbied against discrimination among the Igbos of Nigeria. “The whole concept is to rally all the communities who are being humiliated by no fault of theirs,” said Ashok Bharti, convener of India’s National Conference of Dalit Organizations.

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