Abstract

Despite 62 years of independence, the Dalit or Scheduled Castes, who make up 16�33% of India's population, remain one of the marginalised groups in the country and suffer from flagrant violations of their human rights. Even more concerning are the ongoing instances of such exploitation and humiliation, despite the Indian constitution's particular protections for them and the state's purported affirmative action policies. From Gautam Buddha to Dr. Baba Sahib Ambedkar, a number of social reformers have started social and religious movements to uplift Indian society and safeguard the human rights of Scheduled Castes in India. But reactionary Hindu forces have left the reformers' social reform projects unfinished. The government of India also argued that caste based discrimination does not good of any society. In this paper, an attempt has been made to draw attention to the constitutional protections for Scheduled Castes. Additionally, an effort has been made to investigate the root reasons of India's untouchability policy and flagrant violations of the Dalits' human rights. The article concludes with some recommendations for stopping crimes against Scheduled Castes.

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