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Asang Wankhede is an anti-discrimination lawyer, and comes from a Dalit community — a group of people treated in India as “untouchables”.
“Caste discrimination represents a form of social stratification, fundamentally rooted in the ideas of purity and pollution,” he explained.
This installment of Understanding Hate examines the presence of caste discrimination in Australia and explores the efforts by members of South Asian communities to challenge and overcome these biases.
Mr Wankhede led research on caste discrimination in Australia, and spoke with Dalit people across major Australian cities.
He found common stories of caste discrimination across all ages and places, including schools, universities and workplaces.
Caste discrimination has been able to operate quietly in Australia until now.
But the Australian Human Rights Commission and other institutions are beginning to recognise caste, and provide a pathway to legal protections against this form of discrimination.
This episode of Understanding Hate looks at how caste discrimination occurs in Australia, and how some people in South Asian communities are pushing back.
