The Article 17 Project

Law, History, and Social Science on abolishing untouchability in independent India

coming soon on

The Article 17 Project

Harijan Sewak Sangh and Untouchability Litigation

  • Prevention of Atrocities Act: Part 2 Implementation, Violence, Rurality, and Disillusionment

    The Prevention of Atrocities Act is passed four years after the enactment of anti-defection laws. Discussion in the lok sabha is largely agreeable and one note even as MPs discuss how they distrust the intentions and abilities of the state, attempt to proffer novel legislative ideas to address corruption, and categorise untouchability as a solely rural and violent issue. Dalit MPs strike a different chord as they speak of the alienation experienced by their communities while encouraging their constituents to remain engaged in the political process more ›

  • Prevention of Atrocities Act: Part 1 Caste, Class, and Responsibility

    In the aftermath of the emergency increasing mob violence against dalits such as the Karamchedu Massacre are met with renewed calls for harsher criminal laws. Activists and parliamentarians engage in a debate about whether atrocities are a result of economic exploitation or whether economic inequalities are a by product of social heirarchies. The debate impacts who if anyone is held responsible for eradicating untouchability. more ›

  • Protection of Civil Rights Act: Part 2 Emergency Law Making

    The PCRA is discussed and passed during the 1975 National Emergency. Despite the opposition being in jail, members of parliament discuss the economic class struggle underlying the fight against untouchability,their distrust of the government , and the urgent need to act as casteist mob violence is more frequently reported and Hindu reactionaries defend untouchability. more ›

  • Protection of Civil Rights Act: Part 1

    Between 1955 and 1976 activist organisations and MPs push for committed implementation of the UOA while demanding an amednment act. The Elayaperumal Committee report recommends sweeping legal reforms. MPs in parliament condemn the Shankaracharya of Puri for justifying untouchability and reject a weak amendment bill. The PCRA is introduced in parliament in the wake of the Kilvemani verdict and is partially discussed before being revisited during the emergency. more ›

  • Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955: Part 4 Committment, Implementation, and Resources

    Parliamentarians debating the UOA expressed deep distrust about whether the government would be interested in or able to end untouchability. They argued that the police and administrative machinery were complicit in the practice of untouchability. They called for the creation of new institutions to ensure government accountability. more ›

  • Untouchability (Offences) Act 1955: Part 3 Civil Rights or Criminal law?

    Parliamentarians disagreed with each other about whether the UOA would be sufficient or necessary to realise equal civil rights for Dalit citizens. They expressed dissent with a simple penal approach calling for economic reforms. They exhorted the government to keep offences under the UOA non-compoundable and cognizable. And they sought higher punishments. for untouchability offences. more ›

  • Untouchability (Offences) Act 1955 :Part 2 Defining Untouchability, Religion, Legal Design, and Rurality

    Members of Parliament disagreed with each other on how to define untouchability and whether untouchability was solely a rural problem when discussing the Untouchability Offences Act 1955 more ›

  • The Untouchability (Offences) Act 1955 Part 1

    Between 1949 and 1954 Dalit parliamentarians consistently spoke in parliament nudging and shaming the government into making an untouchability law more ›

  • Article 17 in the Constituent Assembly: Part 3

    Part 3 of this series delves into discussions about Article 17 on the floor of the Constituent Assembly in April 1947 and November 1948 more ›

  • Article 17 in Constituent Assembly : Part 2

    Part 2 of this series discusses debates within the Sub Committee on Minorities and the Advisory Committee of the Constituent Assembly on the abolition of untouchability. more ›

  • Article 17 in Constituent Assembly: Part 1

    Part 1 of this series interrogates legislative history of Article 17 in the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights in the Constituent Assembly. We discuss B.R. Ambedkars States and Minorities Proposal and the weaving together of civil rights claims with criminal remedies. more ›