Supreme Court last resort of Dalit Christians’ hope: AICU

Madurai – India’s 16 million Dalit Christians, having received no positive response from successive governments towards redressal of their historic grievances, have pinned their hopes on the Supreme Court which they have approached as a last resort, according to a statement issued by the All India Catholic Union (AICU) recently.

The statement, issued by the national secretary of AICU Edward M. Arockiadoss, said that Dalit Christians – converts from the once untouchable castes – were extremely disappointed at the position taken by the government before the Supreme Court in the matter of their plea for justice.

When the case came up before the Supreme Court, advocates Prashant Bhushan and M P Raju appearing on behalf of the petitioners maintained that the entire law flowing out of the Presidential order of 1950 limited affirmative action on grounds that religion was against the Constitution.

But the argument put forth by the counsel on behalf of the government was intriguing.

Though the constituent partners of the UPA government had assured the Dalit Christians of justice, it was sought to be denied before the Apex Court, Arockiadoss said.

Under these circumstances, the Dalit Christians were left with no alternative but to pin their hopes on the Supreme Court where the matter is being heard by a Bench headed by the Chief Justice, Justice Sabharwal, the statement added.