Christian, Muslim leaders seek quota for Dalit converts

Christian and Muslim leaders have demanded reservation for Dalits from both the communities under the Scheduled Caste quota and have urged the Centre to confer the Scheduled Caste status on them by removing a restrictive clause in the Constitution.

"A Presidential Order of 1950 discriminates among Dalits on grounds of religion, leaving out Muslims and Christians while recognising Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists as SCs depsite the fact that they too are minorities," spokespersons of Dalit Christian Liberation Movement and All India United Muslim Morcha (AIUMM) told reporters at a joint press conference.

The Constitutional (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, states "No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu (the Sikh and the Buddhist) religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste."

According to C. Franklin of Dalit Christian Liberation Movement, the founding fathers of the Constitution had given Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists the dual privilege of being 'minorities' as well as Scheduled Castes while leaving Dalit Muslims and Christians "to fend for themselves."

"A major part of the quota benefits are enjoyed by only three percent of elite Dalits or SCs. The majority are still victims of age–old social evils like untouchability. If the goverment recognises our backwardness, why does it not give us the support we really need," Frankiln queried.
Terming this as "discriminatory," Kamal Ashraf demanded the removal of this 'religious bar' from the article 341 of the Constitution because 'backward' Dalits from among Muslims and Christians needed reservation.

"The question of religion does not arise in caste–based reservation," he said.