Revisiting Article 341: Caste, Conversion and Anxieties of Nationhood

<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences </strong> <strong>CSSS Colloquium </strong> <strong>Dr. Tanweer Fazal </strong> (Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU) a talk on <strong>Revisiting Article 341: Caste, Conversion and Anxieties of Nationhood </strong> <strong>Date : August 13, 2015 </strong> <strong>Abstract: </strong>This paper revisits the 1936 caste order and its subsequent incorporation in the Indian Constitution as Scheduled Caste Order 1950, appended to Article 341 of the Indian Constitution. The Order provides the list of scheduled castes and sets the pre-requisites 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 a SC status promises. The paper develops on the deliberations surrounding the promulgation of G.O 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 commonsense on the question of inequality and caste among non-Hindus, its fears and anxieties regarding proselytization, the emerging idea of nationhood and citizenship. <strong>Bio-Data: </strong>Tanweer Fazal teaches at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU. He specializes in sociology of nationalism(s), community formation and identifications with specific focus on their implications on discourse of rights and entitlements. His publications include Nation-state and Minority Rights in India (London: Routledge, 2015) and Minority Nationalisms in South Asia (ed., London and Delhi: Routledge , 2012)