When Rakesh Kumar migrated to Australia from Punjab in India 16 years ago, the discrimination followed him. Before he could even enter the house he would be staying in he was asked: “What is your caste?”
“I said I’m Chamar,” Kumar says. The term is a Punjabi equivalent of the Dalit caste.
With India now the third most common birthplace of Australian residents, according to the 2021 census, and with migration from south Asia on the rise, many are worried about caste discrimination escalating in Australia.
The Hindu caste system, which is assigned at birth and determines occupations and social status, is made up of four tiers, with Brahmins or priests and teachers at the top and Dalits at the bottom. Dalits are often tasked with scavenging and street cleaning, are considered “untouchable” and are outcast from Indian society.
Questions about Kumar’s caste followed him into his career. He now manages a team at a Melbourne logistics company.
In 2013, Kumar says, he bought a car with a number plate that read chamar “so that no one asks me”.
Kumar, who has a career as a logistics manager, subverted a trend among upper-caste south Asians who flaunt their status on Australian number plates: “When I tell them my caste with pride, people feel ashamed, they realise they did something wrong.”
Despite his professional success he has still been discriminated against. He once overheard a colleague suggesting that he had only progressed so far because his mother or grandmother must have slept with someone from a higher caste.
This story was originally published in theguardian.com . Read the full story here