‘We are zero’: Immigrant says she can’t escape sting of India’s caste system, even in Canada

10/10/2013
Among people of her own heritage, Kamlesh Ahir's last name brands her as a dalit, the people formerly called untouchables.

Arlen Redekop/Postmedia News/FilesAmong people of her own heritage, Kamlesh Ahir‘s last name brands her as a dalit, the people formerly called untouchables.

VANCOUVER — For most of her life, Kamlesh Ahir has been trying to escape the caste system that’s defined her from birth.

She went to university, abandoned her religion and, in 1994, left India for Canada, a new land offering a fresh start.

Or so she thought.

To an outsider, Ms. Ahir is no different than the more than 200,000 people of South Asian heritage who call Metro Vancouver home.

Yet among her own people, her last name brands her as a dalit, the people formerly called untouchables.

Dalits occupy the lowest rung in the Indian caste system, a rigid class structure rooted in Hinduism that dictated occupation and social status.

Condemned to live on the margins of society, they used to be denied access to schools and temples. They were confined to jobs deemed unclean, such as handling human waste or dead animals, and could be punished for letting their shadow fall on someone of an upper caste.

The Indian government banned castes more than 60 years ago and gave dalits substantial rights. But discrimination remains widespread, especially in rural areas. Even in Canada, ingrained attitudes, centuries old, are not easy to change.

“They think we are bulls–t. We are zero. We are a dog, less than a dog,” says Ms. Ahir, who was born into the chamar caste, whose members traditionally worked as tanners.

“They think we are nothing. It doesn’t matter if we are a doctor, teacher, because we belong to the lower castes.

“I’m in Canada … But the bulls–t castes are still here. We live it every day.”

Arlen Redekop/Postmedia News/Files

Arlen Redekop/Postmedia News/FilesKamlesh Ahir on her wedding day. Nowhere is caste bias more pronounced than in marriage. Many parents still prefer their children to marry within their own castes.

New immigrants can face as much discrimination in their own ethnic communities as they do from mainstream society.

It’s a discrimination based not on race, but on a variety of factors such as class, colour, caste, economic status, politics or region of origin.

 

Read more here- http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/10/we-are-zero-immigrant-says-she-cant-escape-sting-of-indias-caste-system-even-in-canada/

 

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