Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

On Dalit Christians

It is surprising that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has suggested that reservation need not be extended to converted Muslims and Christians as untouchability is not practised in Islam and Christianity. The reasoning by F.R. Vaghela, Vice-Chairman, implies that untouchability is the only criterion for the SC status.

In many parts of Tamil Nadu, there are separate streets for Dalit Christians. What was the basis on which the SC status was accorded to Dalits among Sikhs and Buddhists? Any Indian can embrace any religion at any point of time but no one can convert himself to another caste. A Dalit is a Dalit wherever he is.

A. Jesudoss,
Thanjavur

* * *

Dalit Christians dwell in the same society as other Dalits. Among Indian Christians, there is no inter-caste marriage or inter-dining. In fact, there are separate burial grounds for Dalit Christians. In rural churches, they are seated separately and even car festivals are separate. Was not the Christian Dalit revolutionary leader Emmanuel Sekaran murdered in the Muthukulathur riots?

The Constitution has abolished untouchability but the Commission argues that since Hinduism sanctions untouchability, it is necessary to give Hindu Dalits the SC status. Is it not a paradox?

Franklin Caesar Thomas,
New Delhi

* * *

Leo Tolstoy said: "The abolition of slavery has gone on for a long time. Rome abolished slavery, America abolished it, and we did, but only the words were abolished, not the thing." Similar is the case with untouchability in India. Despite constitutional guarantees and government action, hardly a day passes without atrocity on Dalits in some part of the country. Most of the Dalits butchered at Karamchedu and Chundur were Christians. It is not as if the Commission is unaware of these ground realities. It seems to be biased against Dalit Christians and Muslims.

Nandi Joseph,
Chennai

* * *

It is unjust to refuse the SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims on the ground that there is no untouchablility in Islam and Christianity. Many rural parishes of Tamil Nadu have earmarked places for Dalits. There are no inter-dining and inter-marriage between Dalit Christians and other sects. By denying reservation to Dalits among Christians and Muslims, the state is depriving them of a necessary social and legal protection. They are not covered under the Protection of Civil Rights Act. As a result, they cannot complain of discriminatory practices. The Government should immediately bring in an amendment to the discriminatory Presidential Order of 1950, which extends reservation only to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits.

L. Chinnappan,
Chennai

* * *

The argument that untouchability is not practised in Christianity and Islam is unacceptable. Is it practised among Sikhs and Buddhists? Reservation should be caste-based, not religion-based. Dalits are given step-motherly treatment in churches too. When it comes to matchmaking, Christians ascertain the caste of the person with whom marriage is proposed. It is therefore caste that should determine a person's social status.

P. Ezhilan,
Coimbatore

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