LONDON, ENGLAND, June 9, 2008: An informative paper has been produced by Raj Pandit Sharma for the Hindu Council UK. It is available as a PDF file at the URL above. Following is the introduction.
The caste system or varnashram has been one of the most distorted, perplexing, misunderstood, exploited and maligned aspects of Hinduism. This report is not a justification of the abuse of caste system; rather it is a factual account of the subject, a systematic analysis of how it has become adulterated and the reparative measures necessary to correct such distortion in the social arena, thereby eliminating unjustified discrimination and abuse. The inequalities of the modern caste system and the fissures in Hindu society resulting from it are too well known to elaborate. The caste system is so pervasive that it has become a feature in the life of all religious groups living in India. This report will investigate the following five mistaken assumptions commonly made in connection with the Hindu caste system: –
1. Caste is an institution of the Hindu religion, wholly peculiar to that religion alone
2. Caste consists primarily of a fourfold classification of people in general under the heads of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, and that Dalits are not even part of this system
3. Caste is perpetual and immutable, having been transmitted from generation to generation throughout the ages of Hindu history without the possibility of change
4. Dalit Hindus who convert to other faiths become emancipated, experiencing equality and social mobility
5. The Hindu caste system is akin to hidden apartheid and slavery and should be abolished
To learn why all these points are misconceptions, click on the link above.
Police Learn How Best To Help Abused South Asian Wives
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/08/police_learn_how_best_to_help_abused_south_asian_wives/
BURLINGTON, USA, June 8: Immigrants from South Asia make up 7 percent of Burlington’s population, but there are no South Asian officers on Police Department staff. To bridge this cultural gap, the department now requires cultural awareness training, and by the end of this week, every police officer and dispatcher will have been introduced to Indian religions and the issue of domestic violence in that community by trainer Meena Sonea Hewett. The training started last month, when 12 men and two women in the department sat through a four-hour presentation by the Burlington-based women’s group Saheli.
Saheli, which means “female friend” in Hindi, was founded in 1996 in Burlington, where about 1,600 people of Indian origin reside, according to the 2000 Census. Cultural awareness training was requested last year by the Police Department because the number of domestic violence-related cases in the Indian community is rising, and police “don’t understand why women won’t talk to male police officers,” Shah said. “So this was really a long-overdue training.”
Sometimes police “are frustrated when they can’t press charges,” Shah said. But if they understand Indian culture, they will understand that a South Asian woman who presses charges against her husband has to face the community, the in-laws, the extended family, and younger siblings who may be unable to get married as a result, she said.
“The South Asian women don’t want to come out of the relationship. They don’t want divorce. They want the abuse to stop,” Shah said at the training session.
The training is funded by a $30,000 grant to Saheli from the US Justice Department.
Visit www.saheliboston.org for more information about Saheli.