The OHRC’s Policy Position on Caste-Based Discrimination: A Law Student’s Perspective

On October 26, 2023, Ontario became the first province in Canada to cite caste-based discrimination under the Human Rights Code. Specifically, the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (“OHRC”) policy position is that existing Code grounds can indeed provide the necessary protections against potential forms of discrimination based on caste. Recently, Samantha Peters spoke with Nikisha Thapar, a third-year law student at Western University Faculty of Law and an incoming articling student at Cambridge LLP who is interested in exploring the intersection between governance, business, and social issues and its influence on the law, about the OHRC’s policy position on caste-based discrimination through a law student’s perspective.

For those who may be unaware, what is caste-based discrimination?

The caste system is a hereditary social hierarchy to determine social standing and occupation in South Asia, specifically in India. It arises from ancient Hindu doctrine and stratifies individuals into distinct groups, or "castes," based on perceived spiritual purity and proximity to the Divine. Like other social hierarchies, this system affords those in the higher-most castes more privilege than those in lower castes and groups, regardless of their individual power and wealth. Those that are considered outside of this hierarchy, the "Dalits," are often referred to as "Untouchables" because of their perceived impurity and spiritual pollution. Adherence to this system is incentivized both by the assertion that the caste system is necessary to maintain social order, and the promise of reincarnation into a higher caste for fulfilling one’s dharma, or duty (or into a lower caste for not doing so). This understanding, coupled with ancient doctrine, is used to justify the increased privileges and opportunities afforded to higher castes and the continued suppression of those in lower ones.