Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Dalit Christians seek SC status implementation

Special Correspondent

Leaders flay Asha Das' dissenting opinion in Mishra panel report

VELLORE: Dalit Christian leaders, who met at the Yelagiri Hills on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM), have called for a sustained mass movement to ensure the Government implemented the recommendations of the Commission, headed by Justice Ranganath Misra, for grant of Scheduled Caste status to Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin.

Hearing in July

In a press statement issued here, Edward M. Arokiadoss, national coordinator of Union of Dalit Movements India and John Dayal, National Integration Council member, expressed the hope that the Supreme Court would also accept the demand when it begins hearing on their writ in July.

The union and its allied organisations also condemned NCRLM secretary Asha Das's dissenting report that extending SC status to Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam would amount to inserting caste in religions which did not recognise it. She has questioned the propriety of Parliament or judiciary in changing the tenets of religion. The Sachar panel, which was asked to go into the matter, left the decision to the NCRLM, which had already submitted its report to the Prime Minister.

The statement pointed out that the Commission, headed by Justice Misra and comprising Tahir Mahmood, Mohinder Singh and Anil Wilson, has termed the exclusion of Dalits from SC list after conversion out of Hinduism as violative of constitutional guarantee of non-discrimination on religious grounds. The Commission was united on this, barring Asha Das, who felt that SC list was basically a Hindu issue.

The NCRLM has also said that for educational uplift, a law should be enacted to set aside 15 per cent seats in all non-minority institutions for minorities, with 10 per cent for Muslims.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Implement Misra panel report: Dalit Christians
Dalit Christians seek SC status implementation
Subsidy on diesel for fishermen
Child handed over to adoption agency

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu