Australian Human Rights Commission recognizes Caste as a form of racial discrimination

In a major boost to the struggles of the marginalized section of Indian society. The Australian High Commission has recognized caste as a form of social stratification, found across South Asian cultures and religious communities.

This makes Australia the first western democracy to recognize caste practice formally. This development comes about four years after the Australian Parliament passed a motion against caste-based discrimination in 2018.

The scoping report for National Anti-Racism Framework released recently by the Australian Human Rights Commission first mooted in March 2021 mentions that "the Commission heard that race can also be experienced through the category of caste. Though its precise form and content varies with time and place, caste is a strictly codified, socio-religious hierarchical system made up of classes and sub-classes that are ranked based on underlying ideas of purity and pollution."

The report attributes its finding to more than 100 consultations with over 300 organizations' submissions from individuals, which made up more than a third of the total 164 public submissions received.

The report identifies media regulation, standards, and legal protections as priority areas for action.

Australia-based filmmaker Vikrant Kishore spoke to The Mooknayak and told that "We had demanded the Australian Human Rights Commission to increase the ambit of racism by including caste as there are more than 1 million South Asian in Australia belonging to countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and they bring with themselves the worst cultural baggage of caste along with them." The NRI filmmaker-activist also revealed that he along with a group of activists had put in a report to accentuate their claim. Speaking on the implication of such action he says that "Now policies will be designed keeping caste under consideration. The inclusion of caste paves way for organisations and educational institutions to consider including caste discrimination in it's inclusivity, equity and diversity policy. Only when caste discrimination is recognized at policy level, we can raise our voice for consideration of scholarships for students from the marginalized communities.."

Dr. Vaibhav Gaikwad of Ambedkar International Mission Australia told NRI Affairs, "I thank the AHRC for recognizing caste as a basis for discrimination in the National Anti-Racism Framework scoping report. It is a key starting step in unmasking the inhuman nature of caste discrimination. I am glad to see that the submissions from academics, social justice activists, and several members of Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) Australia and The Humanism Project have made a positive impact on the scoping report. AIM Australia also acknowledges the contribution and support of the Periyar Ambedkar Thought Circle Australia (PATCA) and Sri Guru Ravidasji Sabha (SGRS) in this process. We look forward to the next stage of the framework development."

Professor Vivek Kumar, Head of Department at the Sociology Department of Jawaharlal Nehru University observed that "When people migrate, they take with them among other things, caste also and the Australian Human Rights Commission has also recognized it."

Kumar also pointed out that the Dalit diaspora reached late outside India and only in recent years after the advent of social media and the internet their visibility has increased and their concerns have been acknowledged by institutions abroad. He expressed optimism that Organizations in US (United States) and UK (United Kingdom) will follow suit as they have also started discussing it.

Indian diaspora comprises of more than 30 million people around the globe. But the scourge of caste also accompanies them to the countries. The diaspora is riddled with caste practices and Dalits have complained of discriminatory behavior from Upper Castes NRIs.

These developments are in line with the apprehension of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who in his thesis Castes in India remarked very presciently that "If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem."

This recognition comes close on the heels of another significant development in which the International Dalit Solidarity Network- a Copenhagen-based Dalit Rights Network was granted a UN consultative status despite the pushback by the Indian government.

Caste is increasingly being recognized as a form of discrimination across the globe.

November 2021:The University of California, Davis codified the social system of caste as a protected category under its anti-discrimination policy.

August 2022: Tech giant Apple became one of the first companies in the United States to explicitly prohibit caste-based discrimination through a code of conduct for its employees.

December 2022: Brown University, based in Rhode Island province of the United States became the first Ivy League institution to ban discrimination based on caste.

India has always opposed the attempts of the United Nations to treat Caste at par with race at the international level. 

However, experts point out that treating caste at par with race is a different issue than recognizing caste as a form of discrimination.

Hopefully, the recent acknowledgment of caste in the National Anti-Racism Framework will lay the foundation for a strong Anti-Caste Movement in Australia and other countries.