Anti-Legislation Lobby want ‘caste’ to be replaced with ‘class’

30th April 2019

Our Director, Meena Varma, appeared on Radio 4’s Sunday programme, to discuss the Guidance Document on Caste Discrimination, which is shortly due to be published by the Government. At present both sides are unhappy with what has been produced. Satish Sharma of the National Council of Hindu Temples has argued that the use of ‘caste’ brings up an association with Hindus and implies that the religion is discriminatory. Instead, they would like to see the word ‘class’ put in its place – however, there is a vast difference between the two terms. In response, Meena stated that there is no definition of ‘caste’ in the current Guidance, and while the pro-Legislation groups continue to lobby for caste based discrimination to be enshrined in law, it is essential that the final document clearly explains to both service users and victims what their rights are. You can find the article at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0004l7z, starting around 19 minutes 22 seconds.