Scheduled Castes, reservations and religion: Revisiting a juridical debate

Abstract

This article revisits the promulgation of the Scheduled Caste Order 1950, appended to Article 341 of the Indian Constitution. The Order provides the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and sets the prerequisites for a series of robust entitlements to India’s ‘untouchable castes’. The Order of 1950, however, also serves as a dampener to the equality claims of low castes of non-Hindu denominations by precluding them from the entitlements that the SC status promises. The Order has been amended twice—in 1956 to include Sikh low castes and in 1990 to accommodate the neo-Buddhists. However, the untouchable convertees to Islam and Christianity continue to remain outside its purview. The article develops on the deliberations surrounding the promulgation of the Government Order of 1950 in the Constituent Assembly, subsequently in the Indian Parliament, in the courts and in the public domain. Through an analysis of the discussions and disputes around this question, it attempts to deconstruct the nationalist common sense on the question of inequality and caste among non-Hindus, its fears and anxieties regarding proselytisation and the emerging idea of nationhood and citizenship.