A man from Berkshire, England, has been charged with producing, and posting caste related hate messages on social media.
(Samaj Weekly)- Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, they have charged Amrik Singh Bajwa, aged 68, of Bowyer Drive, Slough with sending an offensive message. He has been charged with one count of sending by public communication network an offensive/indecent/obscene /menacing materials.
This charge relates to a video that Amrik Singh Bajwa posted on Tik Tok on 19 July 2022. The video he shared on TikTok in 2022, was of himself having an aggressive rant that included casteist, racist, religious and homophobic insults. Amrik Singh Bajwa threatened to rape women of the Dalit communities he was insulting. He also claimed to have raped their daughters, sisters and mothers in the past and that he would rape again.
In recent weeks, Internationally in both Seattle in America and Toronto in Canada, steps have been taken to outlaw Caste Discrimination. The Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA) has been campaigning for caste discrimination to be outlawed in Britain since 2008. ACDA was one of the witnesses in this case.
Ravi Kumar, General Secretary of ACDA said:
“The hurt this video has caused to the Dalit community is immense. Often the victims of: bonded and slave labour, physical attacks, murder, discrimination and rape – to have a man in the UK boast with impunity that he has raped Dalit women in the past and will rape them in the future has inflamed tensions in the community.
The Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance is grateful to Thames Valley Police for responding to this cast-related hate crime. We understand the difficulty the Police have faced, in light of a lack of clear legislation that would allow them to prosecute and sentence perpetrators like Mr Bajwa. Hate speech laws in the UK are designed to protect communities from such abuse. The fact that Mr Bajwa was able to produce and post these offensive caste-related videos on social media implies he felt he could, and get away with it.
We understand the charge did not specifically refer to ‘caste’ because caste is not a protected characteristic in law. We call on the Government to provide the legal clarity required urgently, and implement the law agreed by Parliament in 2013. This would make caste discrimination and caste-related hate crimes unlawful in this country. Without such clarity, cases like this will continue to take place under the radar and not be recorded.
Social media giants – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have recognised Caste hate speech as being unacceptable and say so openly in their guidance. It is time for TikTok to follow suit.”
Ms Santosh Dass, Chair of Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance said:
“The video Amrik Singh Bajwa of Slough posted on Tik Tik 2022 was highly toxic and casteist in content. I found the clear threat to rape Dalit women and girls very menacing and disturbing – especially in light of his boasts of having raped Dalit women in the UK in the past with impunity. These boasts alone should have been a criminal offence.
I come across regular reports of rapes, and gang rapes of Dalit girls and women – some resulting in murder and death in India by so-called higher caste men. The ‘Hathras’ gang rape case is an example. Bajwa’s social media post threats are in keeping with some so-called high caste men who believe it’s ok to discriminate on the basis of caste and to control, rape and de-humanise Dalit girls and women.
We welcome Thames Valley Police’s decision to charge Amrik Singh Bajwa. But nowhere on the charge sheet is it recorded his threats were caste-related. Another Indian man was convicted in 2020 after ACDA pursued the case on a similar charge. Caste was not mentioned on the charge sheet in that case either. The Government must outlaw caste discrimination/harassment in the UK to deter others and reduce the pain to the Dalit community. Progress is being made in California and Canada. We need progress in the UK too. A law is ready and waiting for implementation!”
Bajwa is due to appear at Slough Magistrates’ Court on 4 April for sentencing.
For more information visit our website www.acdauk.org.uk or contact the ACDA by email on infoacda@googlemail.com
