A new imagination of social justice, it seems, is gradually replacing the conventional discourse of inclusion or exclusion in contemporary India. There is an overwhelming support for the complete secularisation of the affirmative action policy framework in the country, especially with regard to the inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the Schedule Caste (SC) category.
On the other hand, this deeply secular impulse is not yet directly linked to any political formation. Despite the fact that caste census is recognised as an important policy consideration, there is an apprehension about the seriousness of the political class about it. The idea of social justice, in this sense, is being redefined at least in three different ways.
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First, the inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the SC list makes the notion of affirmative action truly secular. It is worth noting that the Constitution of India has accepted secularism as a principle for providing reservation to all social-religious groups and communities. The Presidential Order of 1950, interestingly, introduced religion as a defining criterion for SC category. According to this Order, only the Hindu caste groups were eligible for reservation as SC. The Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists were included in the SC quota after subsequent amendments to the 1950 Order. This makes the SC category rather exclusionary as there is no possibility for Muslim Dalits and Christians Dalits to avail the benefits of reservation as SC communities.
The CSDS-Lokniti pre-poll survey shows that a significant majority challenges this overt communalisation of reservation. Over 57% respondents assert that the scope of SC category must be expanded to provide reservation to both Hindu and Muslim Dalits (Table 1).
This finding, in a way, legitimises the demands made by Pasmanda Muslim groups over the years. A recent report titled “Bihar Jati Ganana 2022-2023 Aur Pasmanda Agenda” (in Hindi) published by the All-India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz is very relevant in this regard. This report makes a persuasive argument that the Union government should include Muslim Dalits in the SC category. This support for secularised politics of social justice also confirms the recommendations made by the Sachar Commission Report (2006) and the Rangnath Misra Commission Report (2007), which strongly assert that the 1950 Order needs to be re-read in relation to the established constitutional principles.
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, the support for Muslim reservation under the SC category is not restricted to any particular social group. Table 2 shows that a significant majority of Hindu upper castes (who do not have SC reservation) and Hindu Dalits (who are the beneficiary of reservation) do not hesitate to hold the view that SC list should become more inclusive to accommodate Muslims. This assertion goes against the dominant view that the purpose of reservation in India is to reform Hinduism. The survey clearly demonstrates that common Indians still subscribe to the constitutional meaning of affirmative action policy framework, which relies entirely on socio-economic backwardness as the defining criteria for reservation.
Finally, the emerging notion of social justice is not clearly articulated in electoral terms. One finds a rather vague and overlapping response to the Congress’s support for countrywide caste census. Around 32% respondents view this demand as a political tool, while 24% find it a serious political concern (Table 3).
It is important to note here that 28% respondents did not express any opinion on this question. In fact, only Muslims seem to be more positive about the INDIA bloc’s intention for the caste-census (Table 4).
One can draw two broad inferences from this set of survey data. One, it shows that the INDIA bloc, and particularly the Congress, has not yet evolved a persuasive argument in favour of caste census, and for that matter, social justice. Second, the caste-centric imagination of social justice is still relevant; however, it has not yet discovered a clear electoral overtone.
Hilal Ahmed is Associate Professor at CSDS
