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Casteism Amongst Punjabis in Britain

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Casteism Amongst Punjabis in Britain View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Wolverhampton Intellectual Repository and E-theses PUNJAB—EXPLORING PROSPECTS 2 September 2016 that it will open con- Casteism amongst Punjabis sultation on whether caste needs to be added to legislation at all, instead of the in Britain previously promised consultation on the mandatory secondary order. The pressures of the anti-legislation lobby to avoid at all Meena Dhanda costs the mention of “caste” in the Equality Act 2010 are relentless. On 15 December Despite clear evidence of n April 2013, the Enterprise and Reg- 2016, the Conservative MP Bob Blackman caste-based discrimination, ulatory Reform Act (ERRA) was ena- (MP Harrow East) demanded “a statement harassment and victimisation, Icted in Britain. Section 97 of the to the House on the consultation docu- ERRA requires government to introduce ment before Parliament rises, so that Brit- Punjabis in Britain stand divided a statutory prohibition of caste discrimi- ish Hindus have the optimal opportunity on identifying with the victims nation into British equality law by mak- to respond” and “the opportunity to en- of casteism. In the context ing “caste” an aspect of the protected sure that this ill-thought-out, divisive and of legislative, religious and characteristic of “race” in the Equality unnecessary legislation is removed from Act 2010, thus prohibiting caste discrim- the statute book.” Lies beget lies. academic contestations on caste ination as a subset of race discrimina- On the other hand, the developments discrimination in Britain, this tion. In the context of this direction, the in British law were preceded by years of article argues for acknowledging Equality and Human Rights Commission campaigning by opposed groups. On the EHRC casteism where it exists. ( ) contracted a team of experts pro-legislation side, efforts were made drawn from different research institu- by exemplary (Punjabi) activists, such as tions to carry out an independent study Chanan Chahal, Arun Kumar and Satpal on caste in Britain. I led this team from Muman, chairperson of CasteWatch United September 2013 to February 2014. Along- Kingdom (UK), who warned in 2000 of the side a detailed review of socio legal likely backlash from so-called upper-castes research on this issue, we conducted an if caste discrimination were made a target experts’ seminar and a stakeholders’ event, of criticism. In addition to these veterans, producing two reports (Dhanda et al the leadership of the pro-legislation side 2014a, 2014b). My intense engagement is largely composed of Punjabis, with no- in this short period with experts and table exceptions of Gautam Chakravarti, stakeholders offered a unique opportunity Eugene Culas and V T Hirekar. to gauge the range of positions on caste The EHRC stakeholders’ event on 9 No- in the diaspora. It is important to locate vember 2013 clearly indicated a regional the divergence in views in a complex split. Of the representatives of Hindu political economy, including within it the groups present at the event and opposed restricted exch ange of psychic energies to the legislation, only three (16.6%) were enforced by a dual life in the diaspora, Punjabi. By contrast, of the representa- closeted by usually subtle, but sometimes tives of pro-legislation organisations at obvious, forms of racism and casteism. the event, 15 (75%), a signifi cant majority, In May 2015, the issue of caste was were Punjabi. The emergence of regional catapulted to centre stage once again in variations in the leadership positions Britain, raising the political stakes of perhaps rests in the Gujarati/Punjabi dif- South Asian voters in the general elec- ference in experience of caste. Eleanor tion. Conservative party candidates were Nesbitt, a founder member of the UK actively lobbied by sections of the South Punjab Research Group notes that “Guja- Asian voters to axe the inclusion of caste rati jatis in Britain are far more numerous, in the Equality Act 2010, which had been defying easy ranking … thus although the made mandatory by the ERRA, subject to ‘highest’ caste (Brahmins) are represent- the passage of a secondary order follow- ed in Britain, the scale does not include ing public consultation. The Conservative any low caste group as stigmatised as party won, the consultation on the sec- the Punjabi Valmikis and Ravidasis” ondary order was pushed into the “long- (Nesbitt 1997: 214–15). There is a striking Meena Dhanda ([email protected]) is grass” and has not happened at the time difference in the way in which caste oper- with the School of Humanities, University of of writing. Under pressure from various ates in the Gujarati community compared Wolverhampton, UK. quarters, the government announced on to the Punjabi community. “Caste is 62 january 21, 2017 vol lIi no 3 EPW Economic & Political Weekly PUNJAB—EXPLORING PROSPECTS something that you choose to identify attempted erasure of talk of caste. The routine ways of practising caste-based with; there are formal caste associations resurfacing of the post-1984 Sikh agen- identities will come under scrutiny. Part that represent particular jati groups” da to recognise a separate Sikh identity of the problem here is a lack of under- (Dhanda et al 2014b: 7). Commenting on has veered activism towards a focus on standing of the legislative process, in- the “Gujarati caste phenomena in Brit- human rights of Sikhs as a group. Hence cluding uncritical repetition of the false ain,” Vertovec writes: any tendency which opens fi ssures with- claim that the proposed UK legislation caste identities among Gujaratis have con- in Sikhs is viewed with suspicion. Calls to implies a requirement, for people to record tinued to be of considerable importance acknowledge caste dis crimination are their caste. There is no such implied with regards to status, marriage, social mistakenly feared as divisive. requirement, as clearly noted in our EHRC networks and formal institutions. Caste has also played a major role in differentially re- report (Dhanda et al 2014a) and reiter- producing and transforming socio-religious Veneer of Religion over Caste ated elsewhere (Waughray and Dhanda phenomena in Britain. (2000: 92) It has been argued that caste legislation 2016). The misleading suggestion that “a Indeed, there are many caste-based “could introduce and reify caste bounda- statutory prohibition may entrench the orga nisations in the UK, such as Ramgarhia ries,” “induce caste based-thinking” and notion of caste as form of a social identi- Gurdwara Society of Hitchin, and Shree “induce tensions between groups which fi cation” (Pyper 2016) is a ruse to block Kshatriya Association of UK. Such organi- have never been felt before” (Jaspal and the legislation on caste discrimination. sations are acknowledged as cementing Takhar 2016). This is a rather odd set of communal identity. It is arguable whether conclusions from a study using 23 British Dubiously Manufactured Unity Ramgarhia boards managing various Sikh repondents alongside the claim that Various umbrella organisations have gurdwaras should be counted as caste- “caste is maintained as an important sprung up as stakeholders in the last few based organisations. They do not seem aspect of identity.” How can the legisla- years since UK legislation on caste began to be as direct about accommodating tion “introduce” what is already present to take shape, such as the Anti Caste Legis- caste identity as, for example, one active as a valued source of self- esteem? lation Committee (ACLC), including mainly and unique caste-based Gujarati organi- Further, each interviewee self-identifi ed Hindu organisations and the epony mous sation, Navnat Vanik Association of the as “moderately religious” or “very reli- Alliance of Hindu Organisations. Several UK. In a history of this community, gious” Sikh, but there is no record of any organisations from the ACLC participated Jayant Doshi writes: tension between self-identifi cation as in the EHRC stakeholders workshop. I realised that the caste system, the customs Sikh and caste identity. One would expect Amongst the Sikhs, there is the Sikh and traditions are so entwined in our lives that at least one “threat” to caste identity Council, which insisted that our invitations that it would be diffi cult to discard them is posed by the core teachings of Sikhi, to the EHRC stakeholders workshop be re- over night. I realised that the caste based as an anti-caste way of life. Contrariwise, stricted to them as the sole representative social organisation would be required in a threat to their identity as Sikhs could of Sikhs, presenting a “united” view. Being our lives for many years to come.1 stem from caste identifi cation. But none ecumenical, we invited other Sikh repre- Apropos the difference between Punja- of these potential tensions is recorded or sentatives too: from the Kesri Lehar, the bis and Gujaratis, I suggest that there analysed. In support of their caste-is- Panjabi Centre and the Sikh Feminist exists a split consciousness amo ngst the benign view, the authors cite the British Research Institute, and thus enriched the Sikhs with regard to caste, owing to a gap Sikh Report (BSR) 2013 to claim that 61.2% views represented (Dhanda et al 2014b). between the proclaimed anti-casteist re- of its sample of 662 online respondents Presently, there are two surveys ligious ideology and its erosion in practice. “indicated that they have no concern for claiming to represent the British Sikhs’ Sikh organisations are divided as to how caste related issues.” A little maths sug- views. There is the BSR, published annual- the removal of caste discrimination should gests 39.8% of this sample do have con- ly since 2013, and the Sikh Survey 2016, be effected—by a legislative or an edu- cern for caste-related issues.
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