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Articles on Caste system

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A Khalsa Day parade in Toronto, a celebration of Baisakhi held in April 2015. Colin McConnell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Why Sikhs celebrate the festival of Baisakhi

The spirit of Baisakhi for Sikhs is reminiscent of the ideals of their gurus, who encouraged them to work toward building a just society.
Supporters and opponents of a proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws gather at City Hall on Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

How caste discrimination impacts communities in Canada

Casteism is commonly seen as a form of discrimination limited to South Asia. However, diaspora communities in Canada are also grappling with issues of caste.
Speakers discussing the proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws at Seattle City Hall, on Feb. 21, 2023. AP Photo/John Froschauer

Discrimination based on caste is pervasive in South Asian communities around the world – now Seattle has banned it

Two social scientists explain how caste-identities are pervasive in not just Hinduism but other South Asian faith groups as well.
Punit Paranjpe/AFP

The multiple faces of inequality in India

Preliminary research finds that India’s high growth rate has failed to trickle down to society’s marginalised communities, with caste, gender and background still dictating life chances.
Nuns from a group of Dalit Christians, or India’s lowest caste who converted to Christianity, protest in New Delhi. AP Photo/Gurinder Osan

Caste doesn’t just exist in India or in Hinduism – it is pervasive across many religions in South Asia and the diaspora

Several US universities now recognize caste as part of nondiscrimination policies. Two scholars of South Asian studies explain how caste-based violence isn’t limited to Hinduism, or to India.
Workplace discrimination: a young boy of the Dhobi caste washing clothes in Mumbai, India. Dhobis are part of the Dalit or ‘Untouchable’ caste. Alec Macdonald / Alamy Stock Photo

Caste in India: ‘blind recruitment’ for the civil service won’t fix the system

A recent report has recommended ‘blind’ recruitment for India’s civil service to prevent caste discrimination. But this is unlikely to solve the problem of entrenched privilege.
People protesting the gang rape and killing of a woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, hold onto each other as policemen try to detain them in New Delhi, India, in September 2020. The gang rape of the woman from the lowest rung of India’s caste system sparked outrage across the country. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Gang rape exposes caste violence in India and the limits of Me Too

Because of its extreme violence, the Hathras rape sent shock waves throughout India: it is a disturbing reminder of the normalization of rape culture there and should be seen as a call to action.
In India, dark skin is often associated with poverty, partially due to the hierarchichal caste system. Shutterstock

Being darker makes being a migrant much harder

For migrants, prejudice can be a life and death matter. Research in India and South Africa shows life is considerably harder if migrants have a darker skin and come from a poorer country.
Indian activists hold candles and portraits of 20th century Indian social reformer B. R. Ambedkar as they take part in a protest against a Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Kolkata on April 4, 2018. AFP

Despite political setbacks in India, Dalit voices grow stronger

Anti-caste and Dalit movements have emerged as a voice to count on as India’s 2019 legislative elections unfold.

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