Slicing the Pie

Distinct from quick technical solutions offered by the judiciary the Dalit-Bahujan movements have suggested new momentum and reforms in the agenda of social justice

- Harish S. Wankhede

A seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court recently suggested that states can now “sub-classify the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)” in order to help the worst-off sections within these categories.

A longstanding constitutional directive that earlier identified the uniformity of these groups— based on socio-cultural history, like the clause of untouchability for the SCs and geographical alienation for the STs—has thus been radically altered.

The judges remarked that both categories are heterogeneous as certain sections within them have achieved class mobility by utilising the benefits of the reservation policy. It initiated a heated debate over the idea of social justice, the mandate of the reservation policy and its political fallouts. 

The Constitutional Mandate

The modern Constitution makers had sincerely acknowledged that the Brahmanical caste system is the most oppressive order against the untouchable castes. The untouchables and Adivasis were denied basic human entitlements and were forced to survive away from the modern developmental processes. Babasaheb Ambedkar provided the needed mantle to their plight and made them a crucial subject in the nationalist deliberation. He utilised modern political ideas and constitutional identities (like the Depressed Classes earlier and later the SCs) to organise the diverse untouchable castes as a unified national bloc, demanding their participation in the modern institutions as crucial partners. He further proposed Buddhist religious conversion to escape the blot of untouchability, inviting them to join the democratic processes as dignified individuals.