Dalit, Adivasi groups protest SC verdict allowing sub-classification of reservation quotas
The demonstrations were largely peaceful with sporadic incidents of violence.
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Several states across the country on Wednesday saw protests by Dalit and Adivasi groups against the Supreme Court’s August 1 verdict allowing the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quotas for reservations in government jobs and education, reported The Hindu.
The protests were largely peaceful with sporadic incidents of violence, according to the newspaper.
The National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations had called for a Bharat Bandh on Wednesday to protest the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The groups have maintained that the verdict undermines the court’s earlier ruling in the landmark Indira Sawhney case, which held that caste is an acceptable indicator of social backwardness.
The Supreme Court has now allowed states to reserve seats for specific sub-groups within the quotas earmarked for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, based on the sub-groups’ socio-economic position.
The court held that these groups “did not constitute a homogeneous class”, and in doing so overturned its 2004 judgment in EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh that said there cannot be sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservation.
Soon after the judgement was pronounced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with a delegation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes MPs and assured them of his government’s commitment toward the welfare of the two communities.
Widespread protests
In Bihar, the police baton-charged protestors who had come onto the...
