Page "Racial segregation" Paragraph 57

Controversy exists as to whether caste-based discrimination is equivalent to racial discrimination.

Such allegations have been rejected by some scholars such as Andre Béteille, an Indian sociologist, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is " politically mischievous " and worse, " scientifically nonsense " since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes.

While he admits the existence of caste-based discrimination, he writes that " Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination ".