Demanding equal rights for Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims with other Dalits, Christians in the country observed 10th August as 'Black Day' once again; the day when the then President of India signed the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) order 1950, which denied them the Dalits from the Scheduled Caste status, depriving them of equal rights with their Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist counterparts.
In Delhi, demanding the repeal of the Presidential order of 1950, dozens of Christian, leaders and head of churches assembled in front of the Sacred Heart Cathedral main gate at Gole Dhakana in the afternoon where speeches from Christian leaders and slogan shouting were held alternately.
The event was led by Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, the General Secretary of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), Most Rev. Anil Couto, Archbishop of Delhi, Bishop Collin C Theodore, Secretary of NWICC and Mr. Alwan Masih, General Secretary of Church of North India (CNI) who presided over the gathering. Mr. Anwar Ali, Member of Parliament of Janata Dal (United) and Mr. J.D. Seelam, Member of Parliament from the Congress party also showed their support.
The Christian leaders have questioned the very nature of the Republic of India and termed the exclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims from the Scheduled Caste (SC) net as "racism".
Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad who was among who spoke first at the gathering said, "What kind of Republic is this where Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are continually oppressed and discriminated."
"India became republic the day the Constitution was signed on 10th August 1950 - it was a Black Day for Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims because they have been denied equal rights with other Dalits. It is a tragedy of being Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the country. The government must give equal rights to them," said the church leader.
Dr. John Dayal, the President of United Christian Forum said, "This (exclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims from Scheduled Caste net) is nothing but racism. And it must be repealed without further delay."
The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) order 1950 signed on 10th August 1950 by the then President of India which says, "No person who profess a religion other than Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste," which was later amended to include Sikhs (1956) and Buddhist (1990) in the Scheduled Caste net.
"This order is against the Secular nature (Preamble of the Constitution) of the country, against Article 14 (Equality before the law), article 15 (prohibition of discrimination of any citizen on ground of only religion). Further, Article 25 (Freedom of Conscience and free to profess any religion), Article 26 (equality before the law and equal protection of the law) and against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party," said the press statement made by the National Co-ordination Committee for Dalit Christians which is a joint programme of Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) and National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), who held the event jointly with National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC).
"A Civil Writ petition 180/2004 in the Honourable Supreme Court of India requesting the deletion of paragraph 3 of the Constitution is still pending for the past 11 years." This way, "the Constitutional rights for Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are denied based on religion for more than 65 years," the statement added.
Various commissions appointed by the Government have clearly recommended that Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims should be included in the Scheduled Caste list.
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistics Minorities (NCRLM), popularly known as Justice Ranganath Misra Commission too had recommended the same. It says,
"Constitution Scheduled Caste Order 1950 para 3 is unconstitutional and it is a black letter written outside the Constitution introduced through the back door by an executive order."
Christians and Muslims leaders have demanded the Scheduled Caste status should not be linked to religion, it should become neutral like the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
"We recommend that Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) order 1950, which originally restricted the scheduled caste net to the Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists, thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis, etc – should be wholly deleted by appropriate action so as to completely de-link the Scheduled Caste status from religion and make the Scheduled Castes net fully religion – neutral like that of the Scheduled Tribes," the press statement added.
The organisers are surprised why Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are still denied the same right although the National Commission for Minorities has recommended that Scheduled Caste for them. "The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) too has given its consent and till now twelve State governments and Union Territories too have recommended to Union of India for granting SC status to these people. The State Assemblies of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have passed resolution for granting SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the year 200, 2006 and 2009 respectively," they said.
The event witnessed speeches by Christian leaders as well as Mr. Anwar Ali, MP from JD(U) and Mr. J.D. Seelam, MP from Congress who said their party give full support to the cause.
The organisers have requested the Union government to come forward to resolve the issue immediately without further delay; and also to give appropriate answer to the query of the Supreme Court based on the recommendation of Justice Ranganath Misra Commission's report.
The Black Day was also observed throughout the country. Christians all over the country spent time in mass prayer and gatherings in certain places showing their solidarity with their Dalit brethrens.
