Dalits and the Indian Constitution

by Anand Teltumbde

English 160 pages 1 edition

‘It is perfectly possible to pervert the Constitution, without changing its form, by merely changing the form of the administration.’—B.R. Ambedkar Dalits and the Indian Constitution asks a stark question: what has the Constitution actually done for the community most closely identified with its emancipatory promise—and where has it failed? In the lucid, argument-led cadence of this series, Anand Teltumbde moves from nationalist politics and the making of the Constitution to its most consequential provisions—abolition of untouchability; reservations in representation, education, and public employment; secularism and the everyday realities of impunity. He shows how constitutional ideals met entrenched social power, and why formal safeguards, without structural change, could not deliver substantive equality. Refusing fatalism and nostalgia alike, Teltumbde insists that ‘constitutional morality’ must be cultivated through institutions that check arbitrary power and transform social habits, not merely recite pieties. Drawing on historical debate and contemporary evidence of discrimination, this compact monograph sets out first principles and practicable directions to turn rights into realities. Clear-eyed, rigorous, and deeply committed to the Preamble’s promise, Dalits and the Indian Constitution is essential reading for citizens, students, and policymakers who want to recover the moral centre of India’s democratic project.