British Parliament agreed to Outlaw Caste Discrimination

The British parliament finally agreed to outlaw caste discrimination by amending the Equality Act 2010. The Act prohibited race discrimination, harassment and victimisation in the workplace, till now. The definition of race mentioned in the Act includes colour, ethnic or national origin and nationality but makes no specific reference to caste.

The British parliament finally voted for legal protection for the four lakh dalits residing in the country. With this step, UK has become the first country outside South Asia to legislate against caste discrimination. The legislation will protect thousands of people, who has suffered abuse and prejudice because they were considered low caste.

The issue has created a divide among the Indian diaspora in the UK.The groups like Caste Watch UK are rallying to urge MPs to introduce legal protection for those from traditionally lower-caste backgrounds wheras the Hindu Alliance called for a boycott of the amendment. According to the 2011 census, there are 81633 Hindus are living in UK.