Source: www.thehindu.com
UNITED KINGDOM, September 4, 2010: There’s a palpable mood of optimism among Britain’s 2,00,000-strong Dalit community as it waits for the Government to take a decision on its long-standing campaign for caste discrimination to be recognized as racism. Barring a last-minute change, Britain could soon become the first European, indeed Western, country to declare caste prejudice unlawful under its race laws — a move which will not please New Delhi which has consistently opposed caste being clubbed with race.
Britain’s new Equality Act already empowers the Government to declare “caste to be an aspect of race” without seeking fresh parliamentary approval. Much will depend on the findings of a study it has commissioned to determine the extent of caste discrimination. The report of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a leading independent research body which is conducting the research, is expected in the autumn and campaigners are confident that it will back their own claims about how “widespread” caste prejudice in Britain, really, is.
The issue has divided Britain’s Indian diaspora and right-wing groups such as the Hindu Forum of Britain have launched a counter-campaign arguing that the Government has no right to intervene in what they claim is the community’s internal affair.