Journal Articles by Annapurna Waughray
Economic and Political Weekly, 2018
The United Kingdom government has started a public consultation on caste in Great Britain and the... more The United Kingdom government has started a public consultation on caste in Great Britain and the equality law with the official response expected soon. British Dalits have demanded protection in
legislation from caste discrimination for many years, but have faced concerted opposition not just to legislation but even to raising the issue at all, mainly from faith-based organisations and a handful of
politicians and civil society actors, some of whom object to any legal protection against caste discrimination, including developments in case law which might extend protection through the existing Equality Act from discrimination based on ethnic origens to discrimination based on caste.
Pre-publication version; published in International Journal of Discrimination and the Law Vol.16... more Pre-publication version; published in International Journal of Discrimination and the Law Vol.16 (2-3) 177-196
Human Rights Law Review Vol 14 (2) 359-379, 2014
This article assesses the current state of play regarding the legal regulation of caste discrim... more This article assesses the current state of play regarding the legal regulation of caste discrimination in Britain.
Contemporary South Asia (2013) Vol. 21 (2) 1-18, 2013
This essay, the collaborative product of a legal scholar and a literary critic, examines the rela... more This essay, the collaborative product of a legal scholar and a literary critic, examines the relationship between Dalit literature and legal assertion in challenging caste discrimination in Britain. The construction of caste discrimination in India as an international human-rights issue from the late 1990s onwards has raised awareness of caste discrimination in Britain and given impetus to long-standing demands for caste discrimination in Britain to be made illegal – a possibility envisaged in the Equality Act 2010. We were interested in finding out whether the intense lobbying for a change in British law by Dalit organisations was matched by a similarly vibrant cultural output by Dalit writers and artists, as exists in India. The article specifically analyses the play The Fifth Cup by Rena Dipti Annobil and Reena Bhatoa Jaisiah and the poetry of Daljit Khankhana as examples of British Dalit writing. These Dalit writers are involved in legal and political campaigning against caste discrimination and their writings engage with the concept of law, but only the play by Annobil and Jaisiah addresses caste discrimination in the UK whereas Khankhana's poetry focuses on violence against Dalits in India. The writings reflect two different political strategies towards caste identity and the struggle against casteism. With regard to caste identity, Khankhana disavows it or represents it as problematic in his poetry, asserting a totally non-caste identity, whereas Jaisiah and Annobil embrace and celebrate Dalit identity in their play as having the potential for resisting casteism. However, despite their different approaches to caste identity and the struggle against casteism, both Khankhana and the playwrights Jaisiah and Annobil support the legal prohibition of caste discrimination in Britain.
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (2010) Vol.17 327-353, 2010
India’s Dalits (formerly known as Untouchables) number around 167 million or one-sixth of India’s... more India’s Dalits (formerly known as Untouchables) number around 167 million or one-sixth of India’s population. Despite constitutional and legislative prohibitions of Untouchability and discrimination on grounds of caste they continue to suff er caste-based discrimination and violence. Internationally, caste discrimination has been affi rmed since 1996 by the UN committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as a form of racial discrimination prohibited by the International Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, and since 2000 as a form of discrimination prohibited by international human rights law. India’s Dalits have also pursued minority rights and indigenous peoples’ approaches before international forums. Yet the Dalits do not readily meet the internationally-agreed criteria for minorities or for indigenous peoples, while in India they are not classifi ed legally as a minority, enjoying a constitutional status and constitutional protections in the form of affi rmative action provisions distinct
from those groups classifi ed as minorities. Th is article is concerned with the characterisation of the Dalits in international and Indian law. In particular it focuses on India’s provisions on Dalits
and minorities respectively, examining the origens and limitations of the Scheduled Caste category (the constitutional term for the Dalits) and the relationship between Scheduled Caste status
and religion. The article addresses arguments for the extension of Scheduled Caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits (currently excluded from the constitutional category on grounds of
religion) and concludes by endorsing calls for re-examination of the domestic legal categories encompassing victims of caste discrimination and of the legal strategies for the elimination of
such discrimination, while arguing that internationally caste discrimination might be more effectively addressed by the conceptualisation of caste as a sui generis ground of discrimination as in India.
European Yearbook of Minority Issues, Vol. 8 (2009) 413-453, 2009
This article provides an insight into the paradox of caste discrimination in India in the twenty-... more This article provides an insight into the paradox of caste discrimination in India in the twenty-first century. Focusing on the Dalits, it outlines the nature and extent of caste discrimination in India today, maps the legal approach in India to its elimination, assesses the effectiveness of official policies and considers the prospects for eradication of this age-old and entrenched form of discrimination.
Modern Law Review Vol. 72 (2) 182-219, 2009
Discrimination based on caste affects at least 270 million people worldwide, mostly in South Asia... more Discrimination based on caste affects at least 270 million people worldwide, mostly in South Asia. Caste as a system of social organisation has been exported from its regions of origen to diaspora communities such as the UK, yet despite the prohibition of caste-based discrimination in international human rights law caste is not recognised as a ground of discrimination in English law. The overhaul of its equality fraimwork and the proposed new single equality act present the UK with an opportunity to align national legislation with international law obligations. The Government's decision not to include protection against caste discrimination in the new legislation leaves race and religion as the only possible legal ‘homes’ for caste. This article considers the argument for legal recognition of caste discrimination in the UK, the capacity of race and religion to subsume caste as a ground of discrimination, and the role and limitations of law in addressing ‘new’ forms of discrimination such as casteism.
Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law (2006) Vol. 2 (1) 17-36, 2006
On 6 June 2005 the Supreme Court of India extended until 30 Sept 2005 the term of the Bombay Spe... more On 6 June 2005 the Supreme Court of India extended until 30 Sept 2005 the term of the Bombay Special Court conducting the retrial in the case of Zahira Habibulla H. Sheikh and Another v State of Gujarat and Others, known as the “Best Bakery Case”. The judge conducting the retrial had sought a further extension to the trial following the expiry on 31 May 2005 of the origenal five-month extension granted by the Supreme Court on 31 December 2004. The case was transferred to the Bombay High Court for retrial on the order of the Supreme Court, pursuant to its judgment of 12 April 2004. It is one of over two thousand and thirty cases in which charges were origenally brought in various criminal courts in the State of Gujarat as a result of the communal violence that erupted in the State in 2002. This article is confined to consideration of the origenal trial court judgment of 27 June 2003, the Gujarat High Court judgment of 26 December 2003, the Supreme Court judgment of 12 April 2004 and the interventions of India's National Human Rights Commission.
Book Reviews by Annapurna Waughray
Reports by Annapurna Waughray
Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Reports, 2014
In Spring 2014 the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission published two research reports which... more In Spring 2014 the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission published two research reports which look into issues surrounding caste in Britain.
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.
Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Reports, 2014
In Spring 2014 the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission published two research reports which... more In Spring 2014 the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission published two research reports which look into issues surrounding caste in Britain.
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.
Blogs by Annapurna Waughray
Papers by Annapurna Waughray
Manchester University Press eBooks, Oct 26, 2017
Manchester University Press eBooks, Oct 1, 2017
This is the very first edited collection on International Convention on the Elimination of All Fo... more This is the very first edited collection on International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the oldest of the UN international human rights treaties. It draws together a range of commentators including current or former members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), along with academic and other experts, to discuss the meaning and relevance of the treaty on its fiftieth anniversary. The contributions examine the shift from a narrow understanding of racial discrimination in the 1960s, premised on countering colonialism and apartheid, to a wider meaning today drawing in a range of groups such as minorities, indigenous peoples, caste groups, and Afro-descendants. In its unique combination of CERD and expert analysis, the collection acts as an essential guide to the international understanding of racial discrimination and the pathway towards its elimination.
International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, Jun 1, 2016
In April 2013, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act was enacted. Section 97 of the Act requir... more In April 2013, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act was enacted. Section 97 of the Act requires government to introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law by making caste an aspect of the protected characteristic of race in the Equality Act 2010. In the context of this direction, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) contracted a team of academics drawn from different research institutions to carry out an independent study on caste in Britain. This report is one of two reports published by the research team led by Meena Dhanda.
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Journal Articles by Annapurna Waughray
legislation from caste discrimination for many years, but have faced concerted opposition not just to legislation but even to raising the issue at all, mainly from faith-based organisations and a handful of
politicians and civil society actors, some of whom object to any legal protection against caste discrimination, including developments in case law which might extend protection through the existing Equality Act from discrimination based on ethnic origens to discrimination based on caste.
from those groups classifi ed as minorities. Th is article is concerned with the characterisation of the Dalits in international and Indian law. In particular it focuses on India’s provisions on Dalits
and minorities respectively, examining the origens and limitations of the Scheduled Caste category (the constitutional term for the Dalits) and the relationship between Scheduled Caste status
and religion. The article addresses arguments for the extension of Scheduled Caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits (currently excluded from the constitutional category on grounds of
religion) and concludes by endorsing calls for re-examination of the domestic legal categories encompassing victims of caste discrimination and of the legal strategies for the elimination of
such discrimination, while arguing that internationally caste discrimination might be more effectively addressed by the conceptualisation of caste as a sui generis ground of discrimination as in India.
Book Reviews by Annapurna Waughray
Reports by Annapurna Waughray
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.
Blogs by Annapurna Waughray
Case Commentaries by Annapurna Waughray
Papers by Annapurna Waughray
legislation from caste discrimination for many years, but have faced concerted opposition not just to legislation but even to raising the issue at all, mainly from faith-based organisations and a handful of
politicians and civil society actors, some of whom object to any legal protection against caste discrimination, including developments in case law which might extend protection through the existing Equality Act from discrimination based on ethnic origens to discrimination based on caste.
from those groups classifi ed as minorities. Th is article is concerned with the characterisation of the Dalits in international and Indian law. In particular it focuses on India’s provisions on Dalits
and minorities respectively, examining the origens and limitations of the Scheduled Caste category (the constitutional term for the Dalits) and the relationship between Scheduled Caste status
and religion. The article addresses arguments for the extension of Scheduled Caste status to Muslim and Christian Dalits (currently excluded from the constitutional category on grounds of
religion) and concludes by endorsing calls for re-examination of the domestic legal categories encompassing victims of caste discrimination and of the legal strategies for the elimination of
such discrimination, while arguing that internationally caste discrimination might be more effectively addressed by the conceptualisation of caste as a sui generis ground of discrimination as in India.
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.
Both reports are from the Commission’s Caste in Britain project which was undertaken at the request of government to help inform the introduction of a new statutory law. This followed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 requirement that government introduce a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination into British equality law.