Peers demand ban on caste discrimination
By Tony Hudson
Caste discrimination should be treated with the same severity under the law as racial discrimination, according to members of the House of Lords.
Against the will of the government, the Lords backed an amendment to an enterprise and regulatory reform bill which would outlaw caste discrimination in the UK.
Drawing attention to the British Dalit community, 400 of whom were protesting outside parliament, the Lords pressed the need for such an amendment as the community of 480,000 routinely suffers discrimination in employment and education.
"We know in the case of race that nothing has been more effective in reducing racial prejudice than the law. It has had a most powerful educative effect", said Lord Harries, the bishop of Oxford who introduced the amendment.
"Nothing could be more significant and effective in reducing discrimination on the grounds of caste than to have a clear-cut law that discrimination in the public law would not be tolerated".
The amendment was opposed by the government in favour of an education programme to tackle the issue but nine Conservatives and 22 Liberal Democrat peers voted to support the proposed law.
Lord Deben was among the 9 Conservatives who supported the amendment, saying the government's proposed education programme was simply not enough to address the "appalling" way the Dalit community is treated.
He said making caste discrimination illegal would be the best way to combat the problem, as it had done for racial discrimination.
"It was only when we changed the law and made it wrong not only morally but legally that we actually had the change in attitude and gained the protection that we needed", he said.
"I have absolutely no doubt that it would be utterly wrong for us to say to the world that we had the opportunity to protect people from this disgraceful discrimination and we decided not to do it because we had to have another investigation".
The Lords voted 256 to 166 in favour of the amendment.
