India is celebrating Constitution Day but there’s a long way to go before the vision of its architect Bhimrao Ambedkar can be realised

Ambedkar was also a champion for the feminist cause. "I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved," he had said.

The controversial case of Sabarimala temple — that bans women of menstruating age from entering the temple — is showing no signs of conclusion.

The Supreme Court has ordered that women must not be discriminated against, enforcing the order on the ground has been a challenge. It is the state government’s duty to enforce law but the executive has put the fear of a political backlash ahead of the letter of the law.

With Mandala season welcoming devotees, the temple registered merely 36 women entries as compared to 740 last year. Added to that there was a case of 12 year old refused entry as their age was being checked before entry.

It has long been a debate if women can be allowed into religious places including Shani Shingnapur temple, the Haji Ali Dargah. Haji Ali Dargah Trust had said that it would be a ‘grave sin’ if women entered the dargah. Women, in fact, received death threats if they tried entering the dargah. However, in August 2016, the Bombay High Court lifted the man to allow women entry to dargah, if she wants to.

While the caste-based reservation has helped in uplifting some of for those historically discriminated against, violence against lower castes are still rampant. Over the last decade, crime against Dalits increased by 25% while several cases from marginalised groups are still pending for investigation.

“Untouchability though intended to be abolished, has not vanished in the last 70 years. We are still experimenting with ‘tryst with destiny'… condition is worse in the villages, remote areas where the fruits of development have not percolated down,” India’s Supreme Court said in its order on October 1, overturning an earlier verdict (from March 2018) which diluted the protection given to the country’s Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.