India, March 30 -- The recent verdict of the Supreme Court of India on whether Dalit Christians can claim Scheduled Caste status would have been less troubling had it merely erred in law. What makes it profoundly disquieting is that it appears to endorse, almost uncritically, a historical wrong that has long masqueraded as constitutional wisdom. The case turns on a simple but deeply consequential question: Does caste oppression vanish upon religious conversion? The Court's answer, implicit if not explicit, seems to be yes-or at least, not enough to warrant constitutional protection.

This conclusion does not merely strain logic; it contradicts lived reality. By refusing to interrogate the continuing social disabilities faced by Dalit Chri...