Saturday, September 20, 2008

Demand immediate implemetation of : JUSTICE RANGANATH MISHRA COMMISSION REPORT


- V.J. George, National Convenor
National Council of Dalit Cristians, Chennai

Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are gravely agitating over the delay in extending Scheduled Caste (SC) status to them for more than five decades. Owing to the continuous struggleby the Dalit Christians and Muslims, the Central Government entrusted to the ‘National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities’ headed by Justice Ranganath Misra to study the issues relating to Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) order 1950.

After a detailed study on the issue the Misra Commission has strongly recommended the deletion of Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) order 1950. The Commission said that this order violates the secular fabric of our country and the Constitution in letter and spirit. It also underlined the fact that Freedom of Conscience and Religious freedom is a Fundamental Right of every citizen. It pointed out that almost all Indian communities, irrespective of religion, share the existence of Caste as a social phenomenon. It further said that differential treatment of SC status on the basis of religion is unreasonable and unrealistic.

Accepting the just demand the Dalit Christians and Muslims, Dr.Buta Singh,Chairman of the ‘National Commission for Scheduled Castes’ has recommended SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. Later on ‘National Minorities Commission’ and ‘National Backward Classes Commission’ were also recommended the same. It must also be noted that the Sikhs and Buddhists of SC origin were granted SC status in 1956 and 1990 respectively by an ordinary Bill simple majority. The same formality must be adopted now without complicating the procedures.

Political parties such as BSP, CPI, CPI (M), Forward Block, RSP and the UPA partners like Lok Jan Shakti, RJD, DMK, MDMK, SP, NCP, PMK and also members of NDA like Janatha Dal (United), Siromani Akali Dal, AIDMK, TDP, AITC etc have openly supported the status for Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. Leaders such as Kumari Mayavathi, Sri.Ram Vilas Paswan, Sri.Laluprasad Yadav, Sri.Nithish Kumar, Sri.Prakash Karat, Sri.A.B.Bhardhan, Kalaingar M.Karunanidhi, Dr.Y.S.Rajashekhara Reddy, Dr.J.Jayalalitha, Kumari Mamta Banerji and Sri.V.P.Singh have personally written to Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh urging the early implementation of Ranganath Misra Commission’s Recommendation.

In this situation, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims feel betrayed over the inactiveness and lethargic attitude of the Congress party and UPA Government on the issue, despite their assurance in the Election Manifesto. In the recent meeting of ‘National Council of Dalit Christians’ (NCDC), held at Chennai, the Dalit Christian leaders have expressed great anguish over the dreadful silence of the UPA Government on this long pending Human Rights issue. The meeting unanimously decided to launch Nation-wide ‘Rail-Roko’ Struggle on 26th August 2008.

No comments: