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Hindu Forum of Britain 
Caste in the UK 
A summary of the consultationwith the Hindu community in Britain
Sponsored by
 
Foreword
For many years, there has been a strong lobby in the British Parliament thathas been trying to highlight issues of caste discrimination in India,particularly amongst the Dalit communities. Several Members of Parliamenthave asked questions on the floor of the House of Commons, tabled Early DayMotions, and introduced at least one major debate in attempts to highlightthis issue.A notable feature of the ‘caste-discrimination’ lobby in the UK is that they arecomposed of many organisations that have a distinct Christian ethos, like theChristian Solidarity Worldwide, or have the support of many Christianorganisations, like the Dalit Solidarity Network. Recently though, there hasbeen an attempt by these organisations to pressurise the Government tolegislate ‘caste discrimination’ in the UK within the framework of the RaceRelations Act, 1976.Against this background, the Department for Communities and LocalGovernment issued a questionnaire on ‘caste discrimination in the UK’ in anattempt to understand the issue better. The questionnaire has been issued toseveral organisations from different faith backgrounds as well as ethnicities,perhaps because the Department recognizes that caste is not a phenomenonrestricted to one faith or country.I am pleased to present to the Department a response I have writtenon behalf of the Hindu Forum of Britain to their questionnaire on caste. The response has been produced after seeking feedback through asurvey from a fairly representative Hindu sample of 245 persons and afocus group meeting attended by 30 organisations. This was alsobacked by desk-research and feedback from various stakeholdergroups.We hope that our response will add to the knowledge of theGovernment on this issue and that it will help them come to the rightconclusions.
Ramesh KallidaiSecretary GeneralHindu Forum of Britain14 June 2008Released on the sacred day of Bhima Nirjala Ekadashi
Hindu Forum of Britain Caste in the UK
 
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Contents
Foreword .............................................................................................................................2Contents ...............................................................................................................................3Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................5Connecting British Hindus ...........................................................................................7Caste, Varna and Jaati ..........................................................................................................9The four varnas ............................................................................................................9Jaati and caste .............................................................................................................10Caste and religion .......................................................................................................10Mobility and rigidity in the caste system ...................................................................10Colonial vs. pre-colonial constructs of caste .............................................................11Reform movements in India ...............................................................................................13Hindu revivalism ........................................................................................................13 Nationalism and reform .............................................................................................13Waning relevance of caste in modern India ...............................................................14Hindus in Britain ................................................................................................................15Research Methodology ......................................................................................................17Composition of the sample population ......................................................................17The Questionnaire ......................................................................................................18Summary of findings ..........................................................................................................19Perception and extent of caste discrimination ............................................................19Experience of caste discrimination in the UK ...........................................................19Places of caste discrimination in UK .........................................................................20Marriages ...................................................................................................................21Social interaction ........................................................................................................22Schools and universities .............................................................................................23Religion and social mobility ......................................................................................24The role of the Government .......................................................................................25The role of community organisations ........................................................................25The politics of Dalitisation .................................................................................................26The Dalit-Christian link .....................................................................................................28Christian support for Dalit campaigns .......................................................................28Why are Christian groups so focused on Dalit rights? ...............................................28The myth of Dalit emancipation through conversion .......................................................30Survey establishes caste divide in Indian Church ......................................................30Discrimination against Dalit Christians by fellow Christians ...................................31Segregation and marginalization of Dalit Christians in the Church ..........................31Violence between Dalit and High-Caste Christians ...................................................32‘Right-wing’ Christian groups enlist MPs to lobby for Dalit rights .................................34‘Right-wing’ Christian funds and the Dalit campaign ...............................................34CARE MPs letter to the Indian President ..................................................................34Conclusion and recommendations .....................................................................................35List of recommendations ............................................................................................35Appendix 1: CARE connections .......................................................................................37
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