The Indian caste system has historically been one of the key dimensions through which society in India has been differentiated — alongside class, religion, region, tribe, gender, and language. To counter such divisions, Indian laws and the Constitution repeatedly emphasize justice and equality, often using the phrase “without any discrimination based on race, colour, caste, creed, sex, or religious belief.” This phrase appears in several Articles and statutory provisions that affirm the ideal of social equality. Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, employs this language with additions such as “property, birth, national origin, or distinction of any kind.”

However, the word “caste” does not appear in Article 2 of the UDHR, as caste-based stratification is a unique feature of Indian........

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