New Delhi: Christians and Muslims joined a silent rally in New Delhi on March 10 to protest what they said was the government’s continued refusal to include their Dalit brethren for reservation.
“We are seeking the scrapping of Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, which excludes Dalits among Christians and Muslims from its purview,” said Samuel Jeyakumar, executive secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).
Jeyakumar was addressing a sit-in demonstration at Jantar Mantar, India most famous protest arena in downtown Delhi, to demand that Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin be included for constitutionally granted benefit such as free education and representation in legislative houses.
The protestors covered their mouths with a black cloth to signify their silent demand.
The demand was endorsed by bodies such National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities as well as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. However, it is yet to see results because of lack of political will, Jeyakumar alleged.
The National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians organized the protest. Church leaders such as Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, G Dyvasirvadam, Moderator of Church of South India, and Alwyn Messih, general secretary of Churches of North India, appealed the government to end the discrimination based on religion.
When the Indian Constitution was promulgated in 1950, it had set apart special quota for Dalit and tribal communities to help their socioeconomic advancement.
However, a few months later, a presidential order limited the benefits only to Hindu Dalits. Sikhs and Buddhists were added to the list through later amendments to the order. However, the order continued to exclude Christians and Muslims under the pretext that their religions reject casteism.
The immediate reason for organizing the protest was a statement from federal Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot denying Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Christians and Muslims.
Inviting people to the protest rally, Fr. Dr. Z. Devasagaya Raj, secretary of CBCI Office for Dalits and Backward classes, said the Churches “strongly” condemned the minister’s “sinister statement” that went against the “fundamental tenets of our Indian Constitution.”
Initially, the organizers had planned a silent march from Ramlila Grounds in Old Delhi to Jantar Mantar, a 3-km distance. However, the administration denied them permission for the march. “We regret as a community that we are not even given the democratic right to hold a rally and express our grievances and make our just demands,” said the message from Fr Raj.
Masih claimed the protest has sent out a “roaring” message from thousands of Christians and Muslims that they want justice.
An estimated 70 percent of India’s 25 million Christians reportedly come from the Dalit background.
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities had earlier stated that the discrimination based on religion goes against the articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution of India that assert equality of all before the law.