Union Govt. bluffing Supreme Court in Dalit Christian issue

New Delhi – The Supreme Court is justified in calling off the bluff of the Central Government of India in the Dalit Christian issue, said Dr. Udit Raj, chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations and Dr. Joseph D’Souza, national president, All India Christian Council, in a press release.

“The reply of the Government to the Honourable Supreme Court on 23 August 2005 on the issue of extending Scheduled Caste Reservations to Dalit Christians is misleading the honourable Court and the nation,” the release stated. “Although the Attorney General stated that there was a commission specifically constituted for the purpose, surprisingly the reply did not mention even the name of the Commission!”

“A complete search for the Commission on the Internet of the Government of India site for hours yields no results. Some sources said the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission known as the National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities is the Commission,” said Dr D’ Souza, adding, “The terms and references of the Commission are too broad that the issue of Dalit Christians is not at all given a point of reference to. The mentioned Commission was formed through a resolution on 29 October 2004 to submit a report in six months. Is there any report either completed or in draft form? When a member of the Commission was contacted, he pleaded ignorance wondering if the Commission had anything to do with extending reservations to Dalit Christians.”

According to Dr. Raj, when Hindu and Sikh Dalits are being given reservation, Christian and Muslim Dalits too should get it. “In fact, Christian Dalits deserve reservations much more than Sikhs because overall representation of Sikhs in Governance, Business and other important fields is better than that of Christians,” he said. “Sikhs, being only two per cent of the population in the country, have got highest posts like the Prime Minister and the President whereas Christians, who are numerically more, are yet to get any prominent posts.”

The press release demanded that the government stop giving “lame excuses and act upon this issue.”

“The CPI (M), CPI and the DMK, along with several secular parties, are for extending the reservations to Dalit Christians. Why is the United Progressive Alliance playing delay tactics in bringing a positive response to what was once a Bill about to be in Parliament but was dropped due to a small technicality of not giving enough notice?” it queried. “Many commissions like the National Commission on Minorities have already approved of giving reservation to Dalit Christians. Why do we need more commissions again?”