Washington

23 May 2019 07:08 IST

A briefing is different from a Congressional hearing — the latter has the power to make individuals testify or face penalties for not doing so.

A group of South Asia focused community organisations held a congressional briefing on caste discrimination on Wednesday. The hearing’s objectives included educating Congressional staff about how caste operates in the U.S., highlighting the damage it does to U.S. institutions, and advocating data collection, monitoring and legislation.

Central to the discussion was a survey conducted by Equality Labs, which describes itself as a “South Asian Community Technology Organization” that seeks to end discrimination in various forms. Some 1,500 people in the diaspora who identified as “South Asian” were sent a self-administered online survey with 47 questions related to caste. Of the respondents 33% identified as Brahmins, 24% Dalit, 7% Adivasis, 18% Shudra .

Fifty two percent of Dalit respondents feared their caste would be “outed” and 67% said they faced discrimination at the workplace compared to 1% of Brahmin respondents who responded to both questions in the affirmative. Forty one percent of Dalits said they faced discrimination in educational establishments (both school and university) while only up to 3% of upper castes said they did. Twenty sx percent of Dalits who responded said they had experienced physical assault based on their caste — 0% of respondents belonging to all other caste groups said they had experienced this.

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The briefing included testimony on caste discrimination and caste-based violence as well as a discussion of what is required in terms of sensitizing American institutions to caste-based discrimination, as many of them are unaware of the nuances of caste, the speakers said.

The briefing’s recommendations included a need for monitoring and reporting of caste-based discrimination at the work-place, including sensitization to caste issues in diversity workshops and training at the workplace and in disciplinary committees in schools.

“Our hope is to use this briefing to deepen these dialogues on the hill, create more mechanisms for reporting and evidence collection on this problem, make mandatory caste competency across all American institutions, and create policy protections for caste oppressed immigrants,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a director at Equality Labs, said.

In addition to Equality Labs, the briefing was hosted by API Chaya , which works with survivors of gender-based violence, and South Asian Americans Learning Together (SAALT), a civil rights advocacy organization.

A briefing is different from a Congressional hearing — the latter has the power to make individuals testify or face penalties for not doing so. A briefing can occur when a group wants to highlight an issue and it requires a congressional sponsor — in this case, Chennai-born Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a Washington State Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Ms Jayapal and several other members of Congress were represented by their chiefs of staff. Sources told The Hindu that Ro Khanna, who represents California’s 17th Congressional District that includes Silicon Valley, was also supposed to be a co-sponsor but withdrew due to pressure from Hindu American groups. The Hindu was not able to independently verify this claim and has reached out to Mr Khanna’s office for a reaction.