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Revisiting Article 341: Caste, Conversion and Anxieties of Nationhood

Revisiting Article 341: Caste, Conversion and Anxieties of Nationhood

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Revisiting Article 341: Caste, Conversion and Anxieties of Nationhood
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<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)

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.