NEW DELHI: The issue of Scheduled Caste Status to those embraced Christianity and Islam became once again hot with the massive rally and Dharna held in Delhi on Wednesday.

The rally was inaugurated by Delhi Archbishop Dr. Vincent Concessao and Catholic Bishops Conference general secretary Archbishop Dr. Stanislaus of Gandhinagar and Archbishop of Chennai. Thousands of people took part in the protest. The organizer of the Dharna National Dalit Christian Council,(NDCC), demanded that “the Para 3 of the Presidential Order in 1950 on SC Reservation be removed.”

A large number of people addressed the gathering, prominent among those who addressed the gathering include Oscar Fernandez, MP, J D Seelam,MP,  Harsha Kumar, Members of Parliament from the ruling Congress Party, and Ali Anwar, MP, Janatha Dal United, Jose K Mani, MP, Kerala Cong.

The leaders unanimously voiced that injustice has been done to a section of the society based on religion. They assured that they will further strengthen the agitation against the Union Governments long silence on the issue.

National Coordinator of  NDCC and the one who approached the Supreme Court for Justice, Franklin Ceasar Thomas states that  ‘this discrimination based on the paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders, 1950 goes against the letter and spirit of many articles of our Constitution. Article 15 says; ‘ The State shall not discriminate against any citizen only on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them’. Article 25 further strengthens the same point, because it gives the right to all citizens of India to profess any religion according to his or her choice. This Article says, ‘ … all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion.’

The third is the about the third paragraph of the Presidential Order 1950 itself. It states that the criterion to define ‘ the Scheduled Caste’, which reads: “Not withstanding anything contained in paragraph2, no person who professes a religion different from Hindu, shall be deemed to be a member of a ‘Scheduled Caste’…”  so the religion was used as a criterion to define, who shall be Scheduled Caste.’ On the basis of that criterion all other people professing Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity and others were left out. But in 1956 and 1990 the third paragraph of the Presidential Order 1950 was amended by the Parliament to extend also the constitutional benefits to the ‘Dalit Sikhs’ and the Dalits Buddhists’ along with the ‘Dalit

The NDCC says that ‘the reservation granted to the Scheduled Caste is based on that fact that those persons living with the humiliation of untouchability continues to be in the same status even though they change their religion. They do not live in the secured for Christians but live along with whom they were living. Their they face the same apathy even though they have changed their religion. So reservation should be granted to them also.”

Major political parties in the country , CPI, CPI (M), BSP, SP, LJP, RJD, JD ( U ), JD ( S ), DMK, AIADMK, Telugu Desam Party, MDMK, PMK, Trinamool Congress, NCP, Shiromani Akalidal and some of the senior Congress Party leaders also have written letters to Prime Minister Shri. Manmohan Singh to extend Scheduled Caste Status to Christians and Muslims. 

Fr. Cosmon , Secretary to CBCI Commission for SC says, “It is to be noted that On 23.01.2008, the Additional Solicitor General of India had requested the Apex Court to grant eight weeks time to bringing reply with regard to the Writ Petitions. But still Union of India did not file any reply in the Supreme Court of India as per their Commitment , now about  one and half year has passed still silence prevails.”

Till today twelve State Governments and Union Territories have recommended to Union of India for granting the SC status to these people. In the year 2000, Bihar State Assembly passed resolution for granting SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims; in the year 2006 Uttar Pradesh State Assembly passed resolution for the same; in the year 2009 Andra Pradesh State Government had passed resolution in its assembly for granting the SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

Memoranda were submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Veerappa Moily, Law minister and Salman Kursheed, Minister of Minority Affairs. Veerappa Moily assured the delegation that their demands would be favourably considered and that his ministry was looking into the procedural details.  Shri Salman Kursheed said that the PMO has already initiated the process of considering the demands of Christians and Muslims of Scheduled Caste origin.

National Dalit Christian Council Chairperson Prof. M Mary John, National Convenor V J George, Convenor Fr. A X J Bosco expressed hope that the long pending issue will be taken up by the Union Government once for all.