When Surprise Singh packed his suitcases last fall and arrived in Ontario from India, he soon learned that there was one thing that some Indians in Canada had not abandoned in their home country: their prejudices.
A human resources student at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario, said he was seen as an exile in an ancient South Asian social structure known as the caste system, but faced more discrimination from Indians in Canada than in India.
“I have been here for about five months and I have faced this in a more aggressive or aggravated form in this country than my own Punjabi community,” Singh said. “They fight in their chests with pride that they come from this or that caste.”
India is a major source of immigrants in Canada. It is also a huge channel for international students in both Canada and the United States, and some universities have raised concerns about caste-based discrimination.
California State University, the largest four-year public university system in the United States, specifically added a caste to its non-discrimination policies in January. In Ottawa, the Carlton University Academic Staff Association adopted a proposal in November to include caste discrimination in its policies.
In November, Carlton University’s Academic Staff Association adopted a proposal calling for caste discrimination to be added to its anti-discrimination policies. (Danny Globerman / CBC)
Singh recalled a conversation with an acquaintance of his in Oshawa that shocked him after she used caste insult to address him.
“I told her that you would be behind bars if you were in India right now. The girl who said that acted as if she didn’t know anything, why it was insulting, etc.,” Singh said. “To get it into her brain in the easiest way possible, I equated the word with the N-word.”
He said it was “strange” that she knew the word N was an insult to blacks, “but even after living in India for 23 years, she had no idea, or at least pretended, no idea.” which you just said so carelessly. “
The Hindu caste system divides people into four similarities based on origin – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras – and a person’s caste can often be identified by their last name. The four main castes are further divided into 3,000 castes and 25,000 podcasts.
The caste tradition goes beyond religion. Many Hindu Indians whose ancestors converted to Sikhism or Christianity have retained their surnames and caste designations.
Singh belongs to a certain caste, the members of which are also known as Dalits. According to the caste system, certain castes are exiles and do not belong to the social order.
Singh said he was asked for his full name to identify his caste. (Submitted by Gurpreet Singh)
According to the 2011 census, the identified castes make up 16.2% of the Indian population. From 2018 to 2020, the National Crime Bureau of India registered 50,202 registered cases of crimes or “atrocities” against certain castes. Community activists have long fought against caste oppression.
Singh’s last name was originally Badhan, which indicates his caste. He stopped using it even in official documents, but said in Canada he was asked for his full name so people could identify his community.
“I had to hide my identity several times,” Singh said. “I had to lie twice. I told them I came from the Jat community and my last name is something else because I felt like I could be isolated and no one wants to feel that way when you’re so far from home.”
Castism can cause harm
Chinnaiah Jangam, an associate professor of history at Carlton University and an advocate for human rights from certain castes, believes that caste can harm immigrants in the long run.
“A student or employee from these backgrounds will not feel comfortable expressing their own identity and will not feel comfortable being themselves,” said Zhangam, author of Daliti and the Creation of Modern India and head of the effort. to add a caste to the anti-discrimination policies of the Carlton Academic Association.
Mira Estrada, co-host of the Toronto pop culture show Global News, was born in Canada but said she knew she had been born since childhood. She often hid her identity because other people of Indian descent viewed her community from above.
She recalled attending Gujarati language classes and people asked her which samaj, or community, she belonged to. “And people were quite proud to say which group they belonged to, but it was always the Brahmin group or the so-called upper caste,” Estrada said.
India passed a law in 1955 to eliminate “inviolability” – a term once used to describe the practice of ostracizing certain castes. But Estrada believes the social stigma against the Dalits remains, something that became more apparent to her in her 20s.
“Aunts in jackets [temples] When trying to play matchmakers, he always said, “Oh, this is a good boy from a good family.” Am I not good? “
A group of Brahmins only
One Facebook matchmaking group, the Canadian Brahman Society of Canada, has 4,100 members. The group’s description says that its “goal is to unite all Brahmins under one roof, while they can serve in all other Brahmin organizations.”
Its administrator, Jagruti Bhat, said in an interview with Gujarati that the Facebook group only accepts members of the Brahmin caste, although he later added that all castes are allowed at events organized by the group.
“We only allow Brahmins to join the group. There are different organizations that appeal to different communities. In the same way, ours is only for one specific caste, “Bhat said. She refrained from commenting on accusations that caste was being promoted through her group.
Variety said the existence of such groups was “quite disgusting”. “Imagine, for example, it was just for whites. I hardly see the difference there,” she said.
Saylaja Krishnamurti, an associate professor of religion and women and gender research at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, said the impact of such networks was worrying.
“A well-known, well-established reality is that people often use their community and family networks to help them find work while migrating. So this can have a direct impact on what is happening in terms of access to employment, “she said.
It has long been predicted that caste migration will reach beyond South Asia.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, an Indian lawyer who will chair the committee that drafted the Indian constitution, warned in 1916 that caste could become a global problem. He opposed the concept of inviolability and burned a copy of Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu law book.
“If Hindus migrate to other parts of the world, the Indian caste will become a global problem,” Ambedkar wrote in his dissertation, Castes in India.
Add Comment