Christians, Muslims demand SC status for Dalits in joint rally in Delhi

Christians and Muslims expressed their solidarity by making a joint demand for Scheduled Caste (SC) status for Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in a rally.

Hundreds of people from the two minority communities participated in the rally that was organized jointly by the All India United Muslim Morcha, Dalit Muslim Liberation Movement and the National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians at Ram Lila Grounds in Delhi, Monday, April 30.

Urging the government to disregard the question of religion while considering the Scheduled Caste status of the Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims, Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan, general secretary, Church of North India (CNI) and chairman, National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) Commission on Polity and National Governance, noted that the 1950 Presidential Order excluded Dalits who have converted to Christianity and Islam from the quota system that reserved jobs to members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in the public service.

Calling the Order unconstitutional, Rev. Pradhan demanded that the Indian government should review the discriminatory Presidential Order of 1950 and grant Scheduled Caste status on basis of the social and economic disabilities experienced by Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims due to the consequences of caste–based discriminations.

While Hon'ble Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP and general secretary Jamiatul–ulema–Hind flagged off the rally, Mr. D. Raja, national secretary, Communist Party of India (CPI), Hon'ble. Brinda Karat, Member of the Politburo of CPI(M) and Member of the Rajya Sabha, Hon'ble Saleem Mohomed MP of CPI(M) addressed the gathering and expressed support to the demands of the Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) Commission on SC/ST and the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) Delhi office coordinated the mobilization of Christians in the city for participation in the rally on behalf of the National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians. NCCI Commission on Dalits and Adivasis (COD) also extended support towards organizing the rally.

Caste, a social stratification rooted deep in Hinduism, organizes people by a combination of descent and employment. The lowest group in the caste system is the estimated 300 million–strong Dalit population. While atrocities against the Dalits have been practiced for thousands of years, caste–based atrocities are reaching new heights and are causing tension across many areas.

In many areas, they are still not allowed to enter temples or even sit next to upper caste Hindus. Most Dalits are still forced to do manual labor jobs, such as cleaning up human waste.

A 1950 Presidential Order excluded Dalit convert to Christianity from the quota system that reserved jobs to members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in the public service. The same exclusion applies to those who convert to Islam but not to those who become Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh. According to critics, the Presidential Order is ultra vires the Constitution, which does not go into the religion of deprived caste groups.

However, in a significant step, the Supreme Court in 2004 decided to consider afresh the crucial constitutional issue of affirmative action in the public sector for Dalit converts to Christianity, refuting the government plea that it be treated as a legislative problem.

The matter, however, has been adjourned several times and the apex court is expected to take up the hearing again in mid–July 2007.

An estimated 70 percent of India's 26 million Christians belong to the socially discriminated Dalit groups, who need social and educational support to integrate to the mainstream of society.