Caste Discrimination in Australia: PATCA Testimony Shocks NSW Right-Wing Extremism Inquiry

Sydney- Representatives from the Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle of Australia (PATCA) appeared before the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Law and Safety during an in-camera session on 18 February as part of the ongoing inquiry into measures to combat right-wing extremism in New South Wales.

The session, held at Parliament House and resolved for publication on 19 February, included evidence from Witness B and Witness C from PATCA, alongside Witness A from the Alliance Against Islamophobia (Australia).

PATCA has played a central role in the NSW Committee on Law and Safety's inquiry into measures to combat right-wing extremism, providing detailed evidence of caste-based discrimination and far-right Hindu extremism within the Indian Australian diaspora.

PATCA had lodged Submission No. 8 on 22 January, arguing that far-right Hindu extremism, rooted in Hindutva ideology and Brahminism, operates as a distinct form of right-wing extremism in New South Wales. The submission describes this extremism as manifesting through diaspora networks, cultural organisations, religious education programs, youth initiatives, and publicly funded institutions rather than overt violence. It states that caste-based supremacist ideology justifies dehumanisation, exclusion, and hostility toward Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Tamil, South Indian, and other marginalised communities.

The submission highlights cumulative harms including normalisation of hate, social and economic boycotts, psychological injury, identity erasure, chilling effects on speech, and intergenerational fear. It notes that the Australian Human Rights Commission has recognised caste discrimination as an intersectional form of racism affecting education, employment, and public life. PATCA warned that young people and recent migrants are primary targets through youth camps, cultural classes, religious instruction, and online spaces that portray Hindu identity as under threat, reframe Brahminical dominance as tradition, and promote anti-minority narratives.

PATCA recommended that the NSW Government formally recognise far-right Hindu extremism in policy frameworks, incorporate caste-based ideology into extremism risk assessments, apply safeguards to publicly funded organisations with transnational linkages, establish independent oversight of faith-based education programs, resource community-led reporting of non-violent extremist harm, and amend anti-discrimination laws to recognise caste as a protected attribute.

In-Camera Evidence on 18 February: Lived Experiences Shared

On 18 February, during an in-camera session at Parliament House, PATCA representatives Witness B and Witness C gave evidence alongside a representative from the Alliance Against Islamophobia (Australia).

Witness B, identifying as a practising Hindu from a caste-oppressed background, described everyday experiences since moving to Sydney in 2019: caste inferred from names in workplaces, credibility questioned, leadership opportunities blocked, and pressure to remain silent for “community harmony.” They stated that caste-oppressed Hindus are mocked as “quota,” “lesser,” or “not real Hindus,” with dissent punished and equality framed as an attack.

A prominent example involved an 11-year-old girl denied bathroom access at school by an upper-caste teacher, which Witness C said could cause lifelong psychological scarring and exemplifies supremacist conduct in education.

Other examples included:

• Mockery and exclusion of caste-oppressed individuals as “lesser” in community settings.

• Social boycotts, intimidation, and silencing through denial and gaslighting.

• Government-funded venues serving only vegetarian food (e.g., Karma Kitchen), effectively excluding communities associated with meat-eating and reinforcing notions of impurity.

• Public Diwali events burning effigies of Ravana, a deity revered by some caste-oppressed and indigenous groups, causing distress and exclusion.

Witnesses emphasised that their concerns centre on patterns of supremacy, dehumanisation of minorities, and organised hate, common to other right-wing extremist movements, rather than Hinduism or religion. They described these as political ideologies operating under the guise of multiculturalism and religious tradition.

On 27 February, Witness C provided a formal clarification letter to the Committee addressing three points from the in-camera transcript. The Committee is scheduled to deliver its final report in April. PATCA’s contributions have drawn attention to the structural invisibility of caste-based harm in multicultural governance and the need for preventive recognition to protect affected communities and uphold social cohesion.