Legislation Outlawing Caste in the UK Gets Queen Elizabeth’s Approval

It took a Parliamentary stand-off for a bill called The Enterprise and Regulatory Bill to get through. And now it has received a royal nod from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II herself. Parliament has recently included provisions on caste in the Equality Act 2010, the bill that is now outlawing caste in the UK. An estimated total of 400,000 dalits or untouchables residing in the country will benefit from this development in legislation.

On Tuesday, Equalities Minister Jo Swinson addressed the House of Commons and said that the House of Lords have reconsidered their position and has made a decision to introduce legislation related to caste. The government initially opposed any legislation, arguing that an education program tackling caste discrimination is already in place.

Legal protection

This is considered a triumph for four lakh dalits in Britain. The House of Lords voted two times for the law to legally protect them. The first Lords vote was overturned by Commons MPs last month which sparked a heated debate. But after third reading there was a reversal of opinion. Both Houses of Parliament approved the exact wording of the Bill.

Business Secretary Vince Cable of the House of Commons put down the amendments on the table which includes provisions “for caste to be an aspect of race.” Given this move, the Secretary of State is required to put forward regulations within a period of two months of the Enterprise Bill’s enactment.

Long campaign

Davinder Prasad, General Secretary of Caste Watch UK has been advocating inclusion of caste-based discrimination in the equity laws of the United Kingdom. He says that this is a triumph for the victims of prejudice based on caste. A number of South Asian citizens of the United Kingdom have suffered through discriminatory practices. Prasad said that there is now reason to celebrate at Parliament Square. They originally scheduled a protest against the former stance of the government. Keith Porteous Wood, the Executive Director of the National Secular Society added that this is a victory for the House of Lords as well in their effort to protect Human Rights.

On the other hand, the AHO (Alliance of Hindu Organisations) sought to boycott legislation in order to avoid any label on the Hindu community. AHO says that their community wants to move beyond the caste system since modern Hindus do not put any weight on the issue anymore.

“Caste discrimination is wrong.”

Richard Fuller, Conservative MP says that people discriminated against deserve legal protection and that workplace caste discrimination is wrong.

The UK government commissioned the NIESR (National Institute of Economic and Social Research) to conduct a research. The report was put together on December 2010 called “Caste Discrimination and Harassment in Great Britain.” According to the report the Dalit community in Britain number from 50,000 to 200,000 individuals. The Equality and Human Rights Commission was also asked by the government to examine race related harassment and caste prejudice.

Lord Deben, a former Conservative cabinet minister favors the amendment says that it is not enough to change the name from “untouchable” to “Dalit” and just turn their back on how they are treated just because of the situation of their birth. Lord Deben says that it is “utterly wrong” to decide not to take the opportunity to protect people from discrimination.