May I congratulate Rupanjana Dutta and the Editorial Board for the excellent front page article “UK Decides Against Separate Law” It is the right decision, as caste discrimination which is prevalent in India, in spite of numerous laws on the statute, has no roots in our community, thanks to our highly qualified, extremely law abiding youngsters who are the envy of other ethnic minorities.
Nine out of ten marriages we attend are inter-caste marriages, mostly amongst Hindus but also between Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and even ethnic white people who are mostly Christians. Parents would not dare to ask these intellectually well versed younger generation what is the caste of their partners, as in most cases they do not even know their own caste. No one has ever asked us when visiting our popular Hindu temples, like Swaminarayan in Neasden and Hare Krishna in Watford, what our caste is, as there are so many non-Hindus, white, black, Eastern European enjoying the delicious vegetarian meals they serve every Sunday, especially during summer months, in their Vrindavan like garden, the gospel of Hinduism.
When caste discrimination was hitting headlines, I wrote to twenty MPs, mostly Labour. Those who replied admitted that they have never received a single letter of complaint based on caste discrimination, so such as act is unnecessary, waste of time. It is time for all politicians, irrespective of their party affiliation to come out of this colonial mentality where divide and rule was the mantra they religiously followed.
I listened with interest discussion in HOC where not a single MP was able to put forward convincing argument in favour of such legislation, as none had received any such complain. I would like to request MPs who are disappointed with government’s decision to publish on what ground they want such a law which is opposed by 90% of Hindus.
I also watched the programme on BBC and with their vast and well financed research, even they failed to give us a single such incident, two incident they quoted had nothing to do with caste discrimination.
We all feel that caste discrimination, like any discrimination is unacceptable in our modern, multicultural society and those who are found guilty should be punished within the prevailing laws, Equality Act 2010 that is more than adequate for the purpose.
I would also like to urge our hard working, dedicated community leaders like Shri Satish Sharma, Nitin Palan MBE, Lakshmi Kaul and many more who work hard, to invite and open dialogue with Dalit leaders, address their concern, as without assimilating them in the wider Hindu society, the caste issue will always linger under the surface, a tool for those who envy us!
Bhupendra M. Gandhi
By email
