Make caste bias top US foreign policy issue: Diaspora rights groups tell government

By A Representative
Several US-based Indian diaspora civil rights groups have submitted a policy memo to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the US Department of State asking the department to “recognize and elevate” the importance of fighting caste discrimination internationally as part of the country’s foreign policy thrust.
“We strongly believe that recognizing and elevating caste discrimination internationally represents a fundamental human rights issue and aligns with US foreign policy goals, especially as it champions democracy and inclusion in its upcoming Democracy Summit”, a joint statement issued by the International Commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR), together with Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus Sadhana, Boston Study Group, Dalit Solidarity Forum and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) said.
Pointing out that they are ready to provided “multiple recommendations of various complexity to the US Department of State that would help progress the US’ leadership on this issue”, the statement said, “Most urgently, we recommended that the department include caste discrimination within the human rights section of the White House Summit for Democracy, which began for two days on December 9, as well as within the commitments that relevant national governments are expected to bring to the Summit.”

“We further recommended for action the department take a renewed focus on caste discrimination by increasing programming and research funding to the issue, reviewing and refining existent policies — including immigration policies — to account for caste discrimination, and engage with interagency partners and non-governmental organization partners to advance the issue”, it added.

The Democracy Summit is a prime opportunity for the US to be a leader on caste discrimination issues

Said the civil rights groups, according to recent estimates in South Asia, over 300 million Dalits are impacted every day by caste-based atrocities, lynching, and discriminatory practices that were formally outlawed by national constitutions and international laws.
Pointing out that the Congress has “already recognized that caste-based discrimination exists and is unacceptable in India and other South Asian countries”, they said, “In 2007, the 110th Congress (2007-2008) passed the historic House Concurrent Resolution (H Con Res 139), expressing that ‘caste-based discrimination’ is unacceptable and the United States is committed to eliminating it and ensuring the human dignity and rights of Dalits by the US government or US organizations.”
“We believe the Democracy Summit is a prime opportunity for the US to be a leader on caste discrimination issues, and that leadership on this issue now and in the future is strategically advantageous for US foreign policy interests”, they added.

Comments

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Kolkata dialogue flags policy and finance deficit in wetland sustainability

By A Representative Wetlands were the focus of India–Germany climate talks in Kolkata, where experts from government, business, and civil society stressed both their ecological importance and the urgent need for stronger conservation frameworks.

Subaltern voices go digital: Three Indian projects rewriting history from the ground up

By A Representative A new wave of digital humanities (DH) work in India is shifting the focus away from university classrooms and English-language scholarship, instead prioritizing multilingual, community-driven archives that amplify subaltern voices . According to a review published in the Journal of Asian Studies , projects such as the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the Oral History Narmada archive , and the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre are redefining how the country remembers its past — often without government funding or institutional support.

Search This Blog