On February 21, the Seattle City Council, a local body in the State of Washington, USA has issued an ordinance against caste discrimination in its operational areas. Though similar policies are already under implementation in higher educational institutions in US like Harvard, Brown and California State University, this is the first time a local body governance has brought out the ordinance against caste discrimination.
Sporadic incidents of oppression based on caste identity, especially Dalit employees, had occurred in the corporate working environment. It was observed in the ‘Equality Lab 2016 Caste’ that one among four Dalits in the US had faced verbal or physical assault and two out of every three said they had faced discrimination at work.
The firm case of caste exploitation that came to light in the US happened in 2000 in Berkeley, California. Two upper caste persons from Andhra Pradesh were alleged to have trafficked Dalit workers from their native village including minor girls. After the investigation and trial, the upper caste persons were convicted.
There is also the CISCO case where California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing issued notice to the tech corporate for discriminating against a Dalit engineer based on his caste.
In India, where social structure is predominantly caste oriented, the atrocities against the oppressed still continue despite stringent laws.
The people migrating from India to US and other countries do not shed their caste identities. In foreign territories also, the migrants show discrimination based on the caste identities of the migrated population.
The Seattle City Council has to be appreciated for the great achievement against caste discrimination. The migrant population must shed its religious identity. The ordinance issued at Seattle must be replicated wherever caste discrimination prevails as a means to ensure equality. However, the move in the US is certainly historic.
WHY IS THIS QUOTATION FROM WINSTON CHURCHILL NOT WELL KNOWN?
He had highlighted India’s “brahmin problem” very well way back in a speech on March 18, 1931 in Albert Hall,...
