Special Articles
"CASTE DISCRIMINATION IS RACISM AND MORE",
SAY ACADEMICS, JURISTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS AT DELHI
CONFERENCE
Durban conference must discuss Caste issue
A group of 40 academicians, jurists, and representatives
of NGOs and Civil society organisations, mostly from Dalit communities,
who met at a one day conference in the Indian Social Institute,
New Delhi, on 7th May 2001 have denounced the Indian subcontinent's
caste system as `worse than racism'. The plight of the victims
of the pernicious caste system demands an international scrutiny
and debate, the experts have said in their statement. It is in
this context that the meeting has taken serious exception to the
political and diplomatic stratagems employed by the Government
of India in trying to scuttle a discussion on Caste in the forthcoming
World Conference Against Racism organised by the United Nations
scheduled to be held from 31st August to 7th September 2001 in
Durban, South Africa.
The Delhi meeting has also taken serious note
of media reports that the Indian government may not allow NGO
and Independent groups to go to South Africa to participate in
the conference. This is a measure more characteristic of authoritarian
governments to stifle dissent and curb democratic rights, which
is utterly enemical to democratic ethos of India
The Indian government has never satisfactorily
disclosed its real political compulsions in opposing an international
discussion on Caste, which afflicts societies not just in India
but also in other countries of the subcontinent, including Nepal,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, nations with a sizable Indian
émigré population, and even social groups in countries
such as Japan. There seems to be an abiding fear in the Indian
establishment, particularly among the ruling upper caste elite,
that such international scrutiny will expose the tradition-bound
society's failure in eliminating this three thousand year old
evil, and the failure of the State in ensuring implementation
of Constitutional safeguards for victims of caste persecution
and domination. There is also a fear that bringing the subject
from under the national carpet to the light of the day on the
world stage will embolden, and empower, the still stifled voices
of the Dalit community, who at over 15 per cent of the One Billion
Indian population today number more than scores of the world's
important countries, and encourage them to strongly demand their
share in the fruits of development. Savitri Kunadi, Indias
permanent representative to the United Nations office, has put
on record India's official position that the caste system does
not fall within the purview of racial discrimination. (Ms Kunadi's
statement on "Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
all forms of Discrimination" at the 57th session of the Commission
on Human Rights.)
The Delhi meeting has expressed its full support
to Dalit Groups, Human Rights organisations, NGOs and Individuals
who are making a concerted effort in the UN Commission on Human
Rights to get the Caste system included in the agenda for discussion
in the Durban conference. In a democratic world, the people who
could best represent their hopes and aspirations are those who
are victims of the system. To deny them their right is against
all democratic norms. To characterise Caste as an internal matter
of India and to state that any discussion on it as an intrusion
on Indian sovereignty goes counter to historical facts, and militates
against evolution of contemporary philosophical, juridical and
political norms and principles of equality, enshrined both in
the Indian Constitution and in the Statutes and Special Resolutions
of the United Nations. A discussion at Durban will, we are sure,
strengthen India's international reputation as a country committed
to values of pluralism, tolerance, diversity and equality which
stands firm to counter the forces that seek to destroy these values.
Refusal to allow a full international discussion on Caste will
subject India to the charges of political and social hypocrisy
and will damage its reputation in the comity of nations where
it is seeking an enlarged role.
The participants in the Delhi meeting were clear
that `Caste is Race Plus'. Inflicted by birth, sanctified by religion,
glorified by tradition, Caste has had brutal repercussions for
a fifth of India's population through the generations. Social
scientists (ref Prof. TK Oommen, JNU, et al) have highlighted
the Aryan conspiracy in India to subjugate the Dalit Bahujans
by attempting to construct the Indian nation on the basis of purity
of blood, language and culture. With Hindu revivalism, a fascist
culture centered on the purity of the Aryan race, superiority
of Sanskrit over other languages and brahamanic culture are imposed
on the country.
Constitution of India recognises Caste in
terms of Race :
The Indian legal system has consistently recognised
and acknowledged the existence in Indian society of discrimination
based on caste as a form of racial discrimination. In other words,
the existence of discrimination on the basis of descent and occupation
has been the subject matter of a number of Legislative measures
including Constitutional provisions and judicial decisions of
the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts of different States.
The discrimination based on caste is at least equated with, or
dealt at par with discrimination based on race.
The Constitutional provisions not only juxtapose
caste with race and sex as prohibited grounds of discrimination
but also equate caste discrimination with racial discrimination.
Article 15 of the Constitution of India, which outlaws discrimination
on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, treats
caste at par with race as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
Similarly, Article 16 while declaring equality of opportunity
in matters of public employment as a fundamental right not only
specifies caste as a prohibited ground of discrimination at par
with race but also protects and declares the provision for reservation
in educational institutions, job opportunities and legislatures
(a form of affirmative action). Article 17 while declaring the
abolition of untouchability has in effect accepted the existence
of caste based discrimination and its effect of untouchability
as racial discrimination. Article 23 prohibits forced labour as
a form of discrimination. Similarly in Article 29 while declaring
the fundamental rights of protection of the interest of minority
rights, caste discrimination in admission into educational institutions
is prohibited at par with racial discrimination. The provisions
relating to reservation of seats for SCs/STs (Castes and Tribes
listed in the Schedule appended to the Constitution of India)
in the House of People (Lok Sabha) and in the Legislative Assemblies
of the State (Article 331 and 332) do recognise the mischief of
caste discrimination and attempt to remedy the same, which is
a clear proof of the Constitution of India acknowledging caste
discrimination as a form of racial discrimination. Article 335,
mandating that the claims of SCs/STs to services and posts in
connection with the affairs of the Union of India and the States,
also reflects the acknowledgement of existence of caste discrimination
as a form of racial discrimination. Article 338 which provides
for National Commission for SCs/STs also reflects the said Constitutional
acknowledgement. The provisions of Article 341 providing for the
specification of the SCs for the purpose of the Constitution clearly
show that the castes are not only equated with races but the scheduled
castes include race. It is clear therefore, that according to
the Indian Constitution the concept of SCs is inclusive of the
concept of race. Thus caste based discrimination is not only a
form of racial discrimination but is more than racial discrimination.
Article 341 is extracted here below:
"341. Scheduled Castes (1) The President
may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it
is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public
notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of
or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes
of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation
to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude
from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification
issued under clause (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of said
a notification issued under the said clause shall be varied by
any subsequent notification".
Several Legislative measures relating to SCs/STs
clearly prove the existence of caste discrimination even more
violent and more dangerous than racial discrimination in Indian
society but also shows the ineffectiveness of the governmental
measures already taken. The two particular legislations worth
pointing out are (a) The Removal of Untouchability Act, 1955 which
was improved and renamed subsequently as Protection of Civil Rights
Act 1976 prescribing more stringent measures and (b) The SCs/STs
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The catena of judgements relating to the caste
based discrimination against SCs and the remedies against the
same shows that caste is recognised and acknowledged by the judicial
decisions as a prohibited ground of discrimination not only at
par with race but also as a form of racial discrimination. The
different definitions of caste adopted by the several decisions
of the Supreme Court of India show that for the purposes of treating
caste as a prohibited ground of discrimination, caste is race
in the Indian context (K.C. Vasant Kumar vs. State of Karnataka,
1985 (Supp.)1 SCR 352). In the said decision caste is even identified
as a race or unit of race, as per the definition of caste accepted
by Justice Venkataramaiah in the said case. The 9-Judge Constitution
Bench in the case of Indira Sawhney vs. Union of India (1992 (Supp)
3 SCC 217 at 714 defines caste in the following terms: "a
caste is nothing but a social class a socially homogeneous
class. It is also an occupational grouping, with this difference
that its membership is hereditary. One is born into it. Its membership
is involuntary. Even if one ceases to follow that occupation,
still he remains and continues a member of that group". Thus
it is evident from the Constitutional, Legislative and judicial
history of India that caste discrimination needs to be identified
and treated as a form of racial discrimination, in fact a more
virulent form of racial discrimination than the ones found in
other countries.
The position of UNO
For many years UN bodies such as International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International
Convention on Social, Economic And Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention
Against Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), CEDAW and
International Labour Organisation (ILO) had ignored the existence
of caste based discrimination in India. This omission had serious
negative repercussions on the ability of the UN to address discrimination
against Dalits. Dalits could make little use of the space offered
by human right bodies to raise the issue of caste-based discrimination.
However, the UN human rights bodies have in recent years acknowledged
and addressed the existence, prevalence and persistence of caste
based discrimination in India and the rest of South Asia.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination in its meeting held on August 7 and 8, 1996, considered
the question of discrimination against SCs/STs of India and made
explicit reference to caste-based discrimination. The Committee
held that "the situation of SCs/STs falls within the scope of
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination". The 52nd UN sub-committee in Geneva in
August 2000 unanimously passed a resolution to prepare a working
paper on 'Discrimination based on caste'.
Government of India's failure in CERD
Government of India adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in 1948 and ratified the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 1969. It was not
until 1996 the CERD Committee made its first explicit reference
to caste discrimination, untouchability and Scheduled Castes.
In 1996 State Report to CERD, the Government of India took the
position that caste discrimination did not fall under the purview
of CERD, because the term `descent' referred exclusively to descent
based on race. However, the CERD made it clear that the term descent
mentioned in Article 1 does not refer to race only and recommended
a continuing campaign aimed at eliminating the institutionalised
thinking of the high caste and low caste mentality. It also recommended
that Government of India's next periodic report, which was due
on January 4, 1998 be a comprehensive report. But, so far the
Government of India has not submitted its report to CERD. Not
only that, the Government of India has opposed all the resolutions
passed in the 52nd UN sub-commission in Geneva in August 2000.
The Position of the Civil Society Groups and
NGOs
The civil society groups and NGOs active among
the Dalit Bahujans fail to understand why India has been resolutely
opposing the inclusion of caste question, which is the primary
source of human rights violation of Dalits and the basis of economic
deprivation and social degradation. On apartheid in South Africa
the Government of India occupied the high moral ground and was
in the forefront of the campaign of sanctions and boycotts.
Several Civil Society groups and NGOs want the
global community to acknowledge and condemn the caste-based discrimination
as a distinct form of racism. UN bodies will be failing in their
duty to the people of the world if they do not take this matter
at the Durban conference and devise drastic steps to eradicate
the caste-based discrimination. The failure to include caste will
erode the credibility of the United Nations and compromise its
historical role.
Prof. T.K.Oommen, President, International Sociology
Association (1990,1994), Professor of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi
Dr.Ambrose Pinto, Executive Director, Indian
Social Institute, New Delhi
John Dayal, Journalist
M.Gopinath, Bahujan Samaj Party
Dr.K.S.Chauhan, Advocate, Supreme Court
Dr. R.M.Pal, Editor, PUCL Bulletin
Dr.M.P.Raju, Advocate, Supreme Court
P.L.Mimroth, Advocate, Supreme Court
Dr. I. Thirumali, Lecturer, Sri Venkateshwara
College, Delhi
H. Venkatesh, Social Activist
P. Muthukumar, Lecturer, Presidency College,
Chennai
Ashraf K.H., Social Activist, Manipal, Karnataka
Zawahir Siddique, Lecturer, HKBK College of Engineering,
Bangalore
Mahi Pal Singh, PUCL, Delhi
Het Ram Balmiki, Advocate and Social Activist
N. Rajkumar, Lecturer, Dayal Singh College, Delhi
University
Sundara Babu, Researcher, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi
Joseph Gathia, Social Activist, New Delhi
N. Manohar Prasad, Social Study Circle, New Delhi
Somen Chakraborty, Indian Social Institute
Dr. Chinna Rao, Research Officer, Jawaharlal
Nehru University
Narendra Kumar, M.A., M.Phil., Motilal Nehru
College, Delhi
And others.