Exclusion of Pasmanda Muslims and Dalit Christians from the Scheduled Caste Quota

Abstract

Based on a re-reading of the Indian Constituent Assembly Debates in light of subsequent developments, this article provides new insights about the extent to which the Indian constitution allows affirmative action for redressing historical disadvantages and empowering marginalised communities. Since the post-colonial Indian state introduced the criterion of religion in the lists of Scheduled Castes (SCs), this sparked suspicions of efforts to prevent conversions, further augmenting India’s Hindu majority. The article re-examines such claims in light of the Indian Constituent Assembly Debates and subsequent Government Orders for notifying/modifying SCs. It argues that the list of SCs was never envisioned as religion-neutral, so that the exclusion of Pasmanda Muslims and Dalit Christians from the SCs is not a communal afterthought, while religion has all along not been the only or main criterion for affirmative action policies.