The recent Supreme Court decision to permit the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes while offering reservation benefits has intensified the debate in India's social and political spheres over the deeply contested issue of caste.
Outlook’s upcoming issue, ‘Caste vs Caste’, explores the decades-long debate over sub-categorisation and the creamy layer withing Scheduled Castes, especially in the context of a political push for a caste census.
In this issue, we explore how the sub-categorisation verdict could be a factor in the upcoming Assembly elections. In Maharashtra, we look into how the long struggle of Marathas for inclusion in the OBC category is playing out now. We also speak to Union Minister Chirag Paswan on his position within the NDA and the dynamics of caste in Bihar.
In conflict-stricken Manipur, we find that the Supreme Court's ruling on sub-categorisation has heightened concerns about further divisions, especially among the Kuki-Zo tribes who at present are united in their call for 'separate administration’.
The Hindu nationalist demand for the removal of tribals who have converted to Christianity or Islam from the reservation benefits list is another aspect that we look at in the context of the sub-categorisation verdict.
We also see how Tamil Nadu, with its 69 per cent reservation quota that exceeds the constitutionally-mandated 50 per cent, offers valuable lessons in the sub-categorisation debate.
