The Hindu : Kerala / Kottayam News : Paswan calls for Dalit unity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kottayam

Paswan calls for Dalit unity

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM, SEPT. 21. The Union Minister for Steel, Fertilizers and Chemicals, Ram Vilas Paswan, today made a fervent call to the Dalits, now divided among various religions, to unite as one force.

"If we stay together, we can rule the country but if we stand divided, others will treat us as bonded labour,'' Mr. Paswan told the crowd on the occasion of this year's Habel Day celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the conversion of the first Dalit to Christianity. The function was organised by the Church of South India (CSI) here today.

Dalit Christians

Extending all his support to the struggle of Dalit Christians to be included in the list of Scheduled Castes, Mr. Paswan said it was he who had included the Sikh Dalits and Buddhist Dalits (Neo-Buddhists) in the list of Scheduled Castes.

Today, only Dalits belonging to Christianity and Islam remain out aside the list, he pointed out.

While Dalits belonging to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions have been listed as Scheduled Castes, and tribals belonging to all religions, including Christianity and Islam have been included in the list of Scheduled Tribes, there was no logic in keeping out Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims, he said.

Private sector

His party would fight for extending reservation to the private sector also, the Minister said.

Reservation was necessitated by the presence of discrimination in society, he said. Whether it was on the basis of race, gender, religion or caste, all modern societies had resorted to reservation as a means to fight discrimination, he pointed out.

His party would fight for not only the rights of the Dalits but also for other sections of society who were discriminated against. The party's stance on women's reservation in law-making bodies is based on this philosophy, he said.

Discrimination

Dalits converted to Christianity because their social, economic, political and educational rights were getting trampled upon by the upper castes.

Earlier, even in the Christian churches, there was discrimination against them. However, things have changed much now, he added.

He called upon the Dalit community to educate their children, both boys and girls, and to unite as one force and struggle for their legitimate rights.

Bishop Thomas Samuel of CSI Madhya Kerala diocese presided. M.C. Mani, Sam Mathew (both retired bishops), the lay secretary, M.M. Philip, and others spoke on the occasion.