Seminar - Dr. Shireen Azam (DPhil, Oxford) delivered an illuminating talk on: "The Muslim Lower Caste in Modern India."
Drawing comparisons from the Population census from the pre-British period and the British Colonial period, the talk first established the historical primacy of caste in Indian society. The categorisation created by the Colonial Administration for the census, in turn, moved both the identities and discourses away from caste to religion.
She then moved on to ask:
What if we included the Muslim caste in our understanding of India's caste-religion-politics equation?
In aid of the formulation of this question, she laid out the central elements of her argument: -
(1) The erasure of caste among Muslims—by state and elites—has created massive blind spots in data, policy, and public discourse.
(2) Without proper caste data, we miss how it affects Muslim access to jobs, education, and dignity. The result? A reality rendered invisible.
(3) Caste is not exclusive to Hindu society. It shapes where Muslims live, the work they do, the jokes they make, and the names they hide.
It was more than a talk—it was an invitation to rethink how caste operates across religious lines in India, and how 20th-century frameworks still hold us back.
Thank you, Dr. Shireen Azam
@shireenazam for challenging old binaries and sparking new conversations at DMI.
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