Big turn out expected for Dalit Christians' hunger strike

A large number of people are expected to turn out at the hunger strike and rally to be organised by the Church on Monday, July 25, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Bishops, pastors, priests, activists and lay people of different denominations would take part in the protest to demand equal rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims.

Christians of Scheduled Caste origin have been asserting their right for equal Constitutional provisions on a par with Dalits of this country for the last 60 years.

Para 3 of the Constitution Order 1950 made reservation in education and jobs available to those from the low caste that follow Hinduism. It was later modified to include Sikhs and Buddhists, but still excludes Christians and Muslims.

"On Monday, church leaders from all over the country will arrive in Delhi to join the hunger strike and rally which will conclude with a Parliament March. We are expecting a very huge response," said said Franklin Caesar, a Dalit activist leading the legal battle for Christians.

Besides bishops and priests, Caesar said the rally would see the participation of lay people and representatives of Christian organisations who will clamor against discrimination and marginalization faced by members of their community.

The July 25-27 hunger strike and rally is being organised by the National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians (NCCDC), a joint program of CBCI and NCCI.

"This protest will bring to light to the public one of the longest struggles in the history of independent India. Despite several rallies, letters and memorandums, the government continues to ignore the plight of Christians of SC origin," said Samuel Jeyakumar, secretary of Commission on Policy, Governance, Public Witness, NCCI.

"We hope this massive rally we are organising will boost our efforts to obtain justice. We want the government to take our concerns seriously," he added.

Earlier, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Minorities and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission asserted that non inclusion of SC Christians was discrimination based on religion.

"The Congress party and its Government are solely responsible for the communal paragraph 3 of the Constitution Order 1950. In spite of several observations and recommendations, they fail to fulfil their constitutional obligations," said Fr Cosmon Arokiaraj, secretary of the Commission for tribal and dalit communities, CBCI.

He noted it was right time to intensify efforts to secure equal rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims.