Recent controversies over amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, the continued exclusion of Dalit Christians from Scheduled Caste (SC) status, and the University Grants Commission’s anti-discrimination regulations appear to concern very different issues. Yet they are driven by a common difficulty: How the law defines discrimination. Across these domains, legal frameworks rely heavily on identifying who qualifies as a member of a protected group. But this focus on identity often produces unease — ranging from fears of exclusion to anxieties about misuse — because identity recognition and discrimination are not always aligned.

When discrimination persists without recognition

Consider first the debate around the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The law ties the SC status to specific religious categories, with the result that Dalit Christians and Muslims are excluded. This is not merely a question of affirmative action. It also determines access to legal remedies under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Yet it is widely acknowledged that caste-based discrimination does not disappear upon changes in religious affiliation. Individuals may continue to face the same social stigma and violence, even as the law ceases to recognise them as members of a protected category. Here, discrimination persists, but protection dissipates.

When identity becomes the dispute

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