Exporting Indian Biases: On Caste and Religion Abroad

A few months ago, as my family and I shifted into our new flat, one of our neighbors took the initiative to introduce herself. Her first question was not about where we came from or why we shifted: she asked what caste we belonged to.

Since the dawn of Indian society, people in the South Asian continent have been bound to the intangible constructs of caste and religion. What emerged as a tool to maintain economic order over 3500 years ago has remained firmly entrenched, ensuring social hegemony even today. After the growth of religion in India, this casteist dominance has transformed to coalesce with religious dominance, manifesting starkly at the turn of Independence.

These constructs, however, have transgressed beyond India’s boundaries into various countries, establishing themselves along with the Indian diasporas. This article goes into how these evils manifest in countries abroad, and the wide spectrum of ways in which they appear.

CASTEISM – UNCONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIONABLE

The caste problems run deep alongside the Indian identity. Historians Arun Kumar and Dr. Amrita Ghosh apply the Bourdieusean idea of habitus to caste. Habitus refers to the way in which our cultural environments manifest into worldviews and dispositions, usually shared by people of a similar social background. A caste habitus usually manifests itself unconsciously in a variety of ways, they point out, such as identifying certain surnames to specific caste backgrounds. This habitus protects the historical social division among various castes wherever Indians go. A habitus, however, needs an environment to sustain itself, and this environment is provided abroad when our caste identities are constantly reminded of. In a way, these manifestations themselves fuel the caste culture. This culture has impacted the lives of Indian minorities, leading to social division in homes away from home.

In June of this year, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a case against Cisco Systems Inc. An employee in the company had complained of caste discrimination by 2 of his managers, who had outed his Dalit identity. Although the employee complained to the HR department in late 2016, a lack of specific legislation regarding caste discrimination meant that no action was taken. Later, this discrimination translated into reassignment of the employee, rejection of raises as well as denial of two promotions. Caste discrimination of this sort is unfortunately not isolated.

A survey was conducted in 2018 in the US by Equality Labs, an NGO aiming at minority empowerment. It found that 52% of Dalits and 25% of Shudras were afraid of their castes being outed, as opposed to 5% of Kshatriyas and 1% of Brahmins. Even more alarming was the fact that 67% of Dalits were treated unfairly in the workplace, and 42% were made to feel unwelcome in places of worship. In the UK, the Government-Equalities office carried out a study in 2010, finding evidence of caste discrimination from workplace harassment to even bullying in educational institutions.This trend led to an anti-caste discrimination act being considered, which was ultimately dropped; in a public consultation of over 16,000 responses, more than 8,500 of them were against banning caste discrimination.

Casteist attitudes, although relatively dormant, do exist in the UAE as well. In an independent survey of 100 NRIs, 41% noted that they had witnessed displays of casteist attitudes. In noting down their experiences, some believed that the formation of communities or social networks linked almost exclusively to caste invariably alienated people from different communities. These social circles also occasionally feed into casteist biases which may prima facie be harmless but hold deeper negative connotations. Another person noted that even though their family practiced Islam, there were many discussions where a person’s social background and education were assumed by the caste they were said to be.

RELIGION, NATIONALISM, AND IDENTITY

Unlike casteism, which is a uniquely South Asian problem, religious stereotyping is a worldwide phenomenon. The clash of religious ideas in various parts of the world, from the Crusades to the spread of Abrahamic religions in the East have provided a conducive environment for discrimination based on years of ego clash.

Indians have typically migrated abroad and taken along with themselves their stereotypical attitudes. In the survey conducted of NRIs in the UAE, 82% of people had witnessed religious stereotypes being used, and 48% have seen people being discriminated on the basis of religion or caste. Recently, legal action was taken against an Indian for spreading the “Corona-Jihad” rhetoric online, and another for asking an Indian Muslim job applicant to “go back to Pakistan”. In the background of rising right-wing nationalism in India, religious stereotyping has pervaded the social spheres of NRIs, inexorably linking them to mainland politics. Manifestations of communal politics also complement bigoted views migrants might face in their countries of residence.

These manifestations correspond with the idea of the “long-distance nationalist” propounded by political scientist Benedict Anderson. According to him, a country’s diaspora practices the identity politics of their “Heimat” or homeland through actions such as lobbying, donating, voting, creating art or even extreme measures, like killing and dying. Indeed, researcher Ingrid Therwath has studied the existence of an Islamophobic Indian American lobby in the US. Among several Indian American lobbying organizations, the US Indian Political Action Committee (USINPAC) stands out as the most important. She points out the general anti-Muslim sentiment among its members and policies, and a lack of Indian Muslim representation. These lobbying groups also endorsed the anti-Islam rhetoric in the years after 9/11, going against the thread of secular fabric engrained in Indian culture. When social constructs seep into the domain of foreign policy, these stereotypes solidify and spread the seeds of discord.

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The widespread occurrence of religious conflict throughout the world has given space for this discussion of religion on a macro level to take place. However, religious biases do not necessarily manifest in the extreme. Micro-aggressions and inconspicuous discrimination exist actively among the Indian Diasporas. Other constructs, like caste, are not afforded the privilege of being talked about; the active refusal of such discrimination taking place on the precondition of its historicity denies redressal to those affected by it. Caste and religious identity cannot be erased by a lack of territorial links – these identities bind people to their oppression and can be truly erased only when they are confronted by the privileged.

Footnotes:

• Ghosh, Amrita, and Arun Kumar. “Casteism Continues to Thrive among Indians Abroad – through Surnames.” Scroll.in, Scroll.in, 28 Aug. 2020, scroll.in/global/970262/casteism-continues-to-thrive-among-indians-abroad-through-surnames.

• Dave, Paresh. “California Accuses Cisco of Job Discrimination Based on Indian Employee’s Caste.” The Wire, 1 July 2020, thewire.in/world/california-accuses-cisco-of-job-discrimination-based-on-indian-employees-caste.

• Zwick-Maitreyi, M., Soundararajan, T., Dar, N., Bheel, R.F., and Balakrishnan, P. (2018) Caste in the United States. A Survey of Caste among South Asian Americans. Equality Labs, USA

• Metcalfe, Hilary, Rolfe, Heather (2010) “Caste discrimination and harassment in Great Britain”, Government Equalities Office (GEO)

• Purohit, Kunal. “Caving to Pressure from Hindu Groups, UK Backs Down on Law Against Caste Discrimination.” The Wire, 2018, thewire.in/caste/caving-to-pressure-from-hindu-groups-uk-backs-down-on-law-against-caste-discrimination.

• Mazhar Farooqui, Features Editor - Special Reports. “Coronavirus: Two UAE-Based Indians in Trouble over Islamophobic Messages.” Uae – Gulf News, 7 Apr. 2020, gulfnews.com/uae/coronavirus-two-uae-based-indians-in-trouble-over-islamophobic-messages-1.70818204.

• Therwath, Ingrid, “Working for India or against Islam? Islamophobia in Indian American Lobbies”,(2007).