Rally to urge SC status to Christians

A rally is being organised in New Delhi to protest the partisan character of the government, which is yet to render Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Christians of SC origin.

The rally by the National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC) on 24 February is in alliance with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) and National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).

A large number of Christians including Church leaders are expected to be part of the rally, which protests the "unwillingness, lethargy, and dishonesty of the Union government on the issue of granting SC status to Dalit Christians."

Some of their demands include: Publicizing and implementing the recommendations of Justice Ranganath Misra Commission, Response to the query of the Supreme Court demanding SC status, Deleting the unjust para 3 of the Constitution Scheduled Castes Order 1950 and granting SC status to Dalit Christians.

The organizers explained that para 3 of the 1950 order restricted SC privileges only to those who profess Hinduism. However, later it was amended, including Sikhs and Buddhists but not Christians. Christians claim that injustice has been done to community from the last fifty nine years.

The Misra Commission, which was set by the government to study the socio-economic and educational status of Dalit Christians, recommended extending the reservation to all Dalits irrespective of religion.

"All the political parties except BJP have supported the demand of SC Christians," the organisers said, urging the government to "act immediately to give a reply in the Surpreme Court and to introduce the Bill in the Parliament."

"Any delay would be a betrayal on the part of the govt and we would respond appropriately in the forthcoming General Election to the Parliament," they said.

There are over 16 million Dalit Christians in India who have been deprived of their SC rights and benefits.