News and Events
“UK Caste consultation and Christian responsibility” debate at the Houses of Parliament
13th February 2017
On 1st of February Christian Network Against Caste Discrimination and Voice of Dalit International, UK organised a debate on the upcoming UK Caste consultation at the Houses of Parliament, which was hosted by Lord David Alton. The event attempted to add to discussions on the need for anti-caste based discrimination legislation in the UK. DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma, attended the event and contributed to the discussions. We would like to invite you to read an overview of the event on Lord David Alton’s blog, dated 1st February under the title “Dalits- meeting Feb 1st 2017 Room 3 House of Lords, [..]
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BBC Asian Network debate on caste legislation in the UK
24th January 2017
On 18 January 2017 BBC Asian Network’s host of the Big Debate, Nomia Iqbal, led a live debate on the caste legislation in the UK. Satpal Muman, Chair of CasteWatch UK and Satish Sharma, from the National Council of Hindu Temples, were in the studio and DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma called in. On 2 September 2016 the UK government announced it would conduct a public consultation on “the issue of caste and the Equality Act 2010”. Although no timetable or conditions of the consultation were announced yet, opposing groups started discussing caste-based discrimination in the UK and the potential impact, [..]
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DSN-UK at the 9th session of the Forum on Minority Issues
29th November 2016
On 24 and 25 November 2016, DSN-UK Director Meena Varma, currently also Acting Executive for International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), was in Geneva, at the Forum on Minority Issues (the Forum), which provides space for a constructive dialogue for a range of stakeholders, but most importantly placing civil society representatives at the centre of the discussions. This year the Forum’s theme analysed the situation of minorities in humanitarian crises. The issue that was highlighted by IDSN in its report published in 2013 “Equality in Aid: addressing caste discrimination in humanitarian response”. At the beginning of the session the UN Special [..]
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DSN-UK “joining hands to end racial discrimination” with CERD
25th November 2016
On 23 November 2016, DSN-UK Director, Meena Varma, attended the consultation with civil society under the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The consultation aimed to reflect on the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination achievements in combating racial discrimination and to seek civil society’s views on how to improve and enhance CERD engagement with civil society for greater impact on the ground. Many NGOs attended having been sent an invitation to attend by the CERD secretariat, which is a normal practice for many of the OHCHR events to make all welcome. [caption id="attachment_4334" align="alignright" width="300"] [..]
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Media debate on caste legislation in the UK
12th October 2016
This week DSN-UK Director Meena Varma was featured on the BBC Asian Network Lunchtime programme. Meena emphasised the need for caste legislation and expressed her concerns about the upcoming consultation. Yet, those opposing the legislation stated that “caste system” does not exist. To listen to the programme please click here (minute 5:25- 9:00, broadcasted on 10/10/2016).
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