Caste on Trial and the making of ‘India’ abroad.

Abstract

This paper examines the caste-discrimination case in California, USA 2000 of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, the wealthiest individual landlord in the city of California who was sentenced to 97 years in jail  (he served 7) for trafficking 99 Indian nationals into the United States using false visas and sexually abusing minors. These crimes came to light when a dead body of a 13 year old had been spotted on his property. Although all of his 99 victims were Dalit women and girls from Velvadam, his village of origin in India, he was not convicted of any caste based offenses (such as Article 15 of the Indian Constitution which prohibited discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) primarily because no such law existed in the United States. I will investigate and compare the proceedings, reportage and political mobilization that emerge around legal trials in which victims allege caste discrimination against defendants, be they corporations or individuals in Canada, the United States and Britain. I seek to specifically clarify 3 aspects: the ease (or unease) with which caste is discussed in courts of law in Canada, the UK and the US; the various depictions of caste-aware legislation by Hindu nationalist groups – (it has invariably been labelled as Hindu-phobic, discriminatory and damaging); and the arguments for and against fighting caste discrimination through case law rather than government legislation. This is an empirical study, based on discourse analysis of press coverage, demi official documents and case law. It will engage with recent social science literature on caste in order to try and understand why the path to the inclusion of caste in Equality legislation in these countries with the largest South Asian diasporic communities has been so protracted and contested.