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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland |
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House adopts Kirkland resolution seeking end to caste system in India
HARRISBURG, March 10 – State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-Chester, said the Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously adopted his resolution today that calls for an end to the discriminatory caste system in India.
The resolution recognizes that more than 160 million people in India are dehumanized by the social caste system in that country, which divides people into higher and lower social castes.
Kirkland's resolution (H.R. 383) calls the caste system a discriminatory institution in India, since it results in millions of people being considered "untouchable." These people have great difficulty finding jobs and accessing food, health care and education.
"It's such a tragedy that in some parts of the world we still have institutionalized social segregation," Kirkland said. "Millions of people in India still live in poverty and with the public humiliation that the caste system allows and even encourages. This type of behavior is demoralizing to all men and women around the world."
Kirkland's resolution calls on leaders in Pennsylvania to work with the government and social organizations in India to seek an end to the caste system and to the official intimidation and institutionalized discrimination and dehumanization that result.
"We need to find new approaches to address the social caste system problem in India and the poverty, death and social destruction it causes," Kirkland said.
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