By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, March 28, 2023: Hundreds of Christians of Dalit origin from all over India on March 28 organized a sit-in to renew their demand for reservation for themselves as well as their Muslim brethren.
A press note from National Council of Dalit Christians, the organizers, regretted that although the Article 341 of the Indian Constitution guarantees Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin the status of Scheduled Caste, the government by a Presidential Order in 1950 denied them the constitutional rights.
“They are fighting against this unjust order ever since it was promulgated,” says the note signed by council president V I George, Michael Martin, secretary, and Vijay Mothukuri, treasurer.
The said the sit-in at the Jantar Mantar, the site earmarked for public protests in downtown New Delhi, is the latest in the series of national and regional protests the Dalit Christians have organized for this cause.
Sociopolitical leaders, including some members of parliament, addressed the six-hour sit-in that began at 10 am.
The event took place in the backdrop of the federal government submitting a negative response to the Supreme Court on the question of extending reservation to Christians and Muslim of the Dalit origin.
At the same time, the government has referred the matter to a new commission headed by former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan even after several earlier commissions had submitted favorable reports.
The latest protest urged the government to not prolong the matter in the apex court for another two years by putting the burden on future commissions.
The protesters reiterated their demand for the deletion of para 3 of the 1950 Presidential Order, extend the Scheduled Caste status to Christians and Muslims of the Dalit origin and implementation of the Justice Ranganatha Commission on Dalit Christians.
The Mishra commission appointed by the federal government in 2007 had suggested abolishing paragraph 3 of the 1950 Presidential Order. Denying Scheduled Caste benefits to a section of people based on religion was a denial of justice, the Mishra commission noted.
However, the government told the apex court December 7, 2022, that the commission had not studied the impact of this recommendation on communities already enjoying the Scheduled status. It said the recommendation was “flawed” and composed within the “four walls of a room.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the government, submitted before a three-judge Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that the commission had not done any field study on the matter. It took “a myopic view of the social milieu in India,” he added.
The government also argued that Dalits who had converted to Christianity or Islam to overcome caste oppression cannot now return to claim reservation benefits enjoyed by those who chose to stay back in the Hindu religious system.
Besides, the government said, Christianity is an egalitarian religion which did not adhere to any caste system. A person who claims to be a Dalit convert cannot profess Christianity and claim reservation benefits granted to the SC community, it asserted.