Delink Caste from Religion make Caste Religion Neutral

Fr. AJS.Bosco SJ

It was a great gesture of generosity on the part of Mr. Prashant Bhusan and Mr. Shanti Bhusan, to file a Public Interest Litigation through their Trust in the Supreme Court, requesting the deletion of Para 3 of the Presidential Order 1950, and thus to do justice to the Christians of Scheduled caste origin, by granting Scheduled Caste (SC) Status. Mr. Franklin Caesar, a Christian from Tamil Nadu, is the second petitioner in the case Writ Petition-WP 180/04
The Presidential Order of 1950 Para 3, says "no person who professes a religion different from the Hindu Religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled caste" . The Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists of SC origin were denied the SC status. Dr. Ambedkar and the Fathers of the Indian Constitution knew that Dalits and Tribals/adivasis of our country, who form one fourth of the population, approximately about 200 millions, had been systematically exploited and oppressed for centures. Hence they devised measures of positive discrimination to help them come into the mainstream of the Society. The SC status and Tribal status, gave the right to contest in the elections for the Parliament, Assemblies, Pachayats, etc., in a given quota assigned to them. Speical legislations like The Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Attrocties) Act 1989 were enacted. And further, reservation in admissions and jobs and various scholarships and concessions were also worked out.
All the Tribals, whatever be their Religion, had been granted the Tribal status. The Dalit Sikhs after they demanded for SC status were the first to be given, after the Hindus SC status in 1956. The Buddhists were granted the SC status in 1990. THe Christians and Muslims too have been demanding for the same privileges but they have not been granted, though India claims to be a secular state.

Soosai-the icon of dalit Christian Struggle:
Soosai, a Christian cobbler, from Tamil Nadu filed a case in the Supreme Court (Soosai Vs Union of India, 1985) demanding the privileges of the SC status. The Supreme Court accepted that caste continues even after conversion. But the case was turned down becasue the Supreme Court said that there had not been enough evidence to prove that the Dalit Christians after conversion are socially and economically as backward as the Dalit Hindus.
The Struggle on the part of the Dalit Chiristians continued. In 1996 after a huge rally and meeting in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Narasimha Rao, the then Honourable Prime Minister promised and the Congress party brought in a bill to grant SC status to the dalit Christians but the bill was dropped by Mr. Shivraj Patil, the then Specaker, for procedural reasons. The Hindu fundamentalist BJP government which succeeded the Congress in 1996, openly refused to consider the matter, and so till the exit of BJP government the status issue was not taken. Then when the UPA government came to power headed by the congress party, the Christian Dalits revived their agitation. It was very timely that the case WP/180/04 was filed in the Supreme Court.

The outcome of Ranganath Misra Commission:
The chief Justice questioned the government as the why Christians of SC origin should not be given the SC status as Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. Mr. Gopala Krishnan, the additional Secretary General requested the Supreme Court for time to study the matter (Though a study was not required as a Bill had already been prepared in 1996 by the Congress government based on a through study undertaken by the concerned departments). The conseuqence was that Justice Rangnath Misra Commission for Religious and Liguistics Minorities (NCRLM.) was given additional reference to deal with the issue of SC Christian and SC Muslims. The terms of reference given to the NCRLM on 29 October 2004, were:
1. To suggest criteria for identification of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities;
2. To recommend measures for welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, including reservation in education and government employment; and
3. To Suggest the necessary consitutional legal and administrative modalities required for the implementation of its recommendations.
The terms of reference of the commission was expanded on 10 May 2005, to include the concerns of the SC Christians and SC Muslims;
4. To give its recommendations on the issues raised by WPs/180/04 (mentioned above) and 94/05 (filed by Adv. David from Vellore, Tamil Nadu), filed in the Supreme Court and in some High Courts relating to Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) order 1950.
Four eminent persons, Justice Ranganath Misra, the former Chief Justice of India and the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Anil Wilson, the Principal of St. Stephen College. Mr. Tahir Mahmood, Former Chairman, National Commission for Minorities and of the Faculty of Law, Delhi University and Mr. Mahinder Singh, Director Natural Institute of Punjab Studies, Delhi, constituted the Commission for Religious and Linguistics Minorities, NCRLM. Later on Mrs. Asha Das, Secretary to the government of India was added to the team as the Member Secretary, and she assumed office on 10 May 2005.
The Commission took the job seriously, went to 28 states in all and consulted the Religious Leaders, Politicians, Professionals and the common people. It contacted individuals and groups to depose their opinions with evidences before the commission. It conducted Seminars and Workshops in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Mysore. It sponsored studies through 9 different research institutions all over the country. Groups of dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians met the Commission and expressed their views. The commission also gave a hearing to the Hindu fundamentalists who opposed to granting SC status for Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. Finally after two years the NCRLM gave its report which was very much in favour of the SC Christians and Muslims. The most important observations are;
l Caste in a facts is a social phenomenon shared by almost all Indian communities irrespective of religion.
l Though the Consitution of India prohibits any discrimination between citizens based on caste yet it recommends affirmative action for SCs.
l Our constitution prohibits any discrimination based on religion.
l Any religion based discrimation, in relating to particular casts for affirmative action will go against the constitutions.
l Indian brand of Islam and Christianity never assimilated the important principles of their religions.
l Singling them out as not fit for positive discrimination is unrealistic and unreasonable.
The commission recommends the following :
lPara 3 of 1950 Presidental order must be wholly deleted.
lAppropriate action to delink the SC status from religion to the taken and make SC net fully religious neutral like that of ST.
l All the caste groups in Islam and Christinity whose counterparts in Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are included in the Central or State SC list should also be covered by the SC net.
l SC Mulims and SC Christians now included in the BC list should be deleted from there and be transfered to SC list.
l Since Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religious freedom change of religion should not affect the caste status.
Lone dissenting voice:
Only Mrs. Asha Das, dissented from the conclusions of the NCRLM, voicing the Hindu fundamentalists views. She observes the following:
l SC order 1936 says, "No Indian Christian shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled caste. The Presidential Order of the 1950 was based on that of 1936".
l Sikh and Buddhist religions are home grown, whereas Islam and Christianity are foreign religions.
l After 60 years of efforts to eradicate untouchability, to expend the lsit of untouchability is a retrograde step, not in keeping with the Constitutions.
l The discrimination is within the communities of Islam and Christianity and it must be addressed by internal reforms.
l To bring SC Christians and SC Muslims under SC list would mena that we are introducing Caste into Christianity and Islam.
The protection of civil rights Acts, 1955 is religion neutral.
l The Practice of untouchability has declined
l SC Hindus have opposed granting SC status to Muslims and Christians. They fear that it will affect their reservations.
Hence the Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians do not qualify for SC status.
Dr. Tahir Mahamood, considers mrs. Asha Das, not an essential part of the commission. She is only an ex-officio member by virtue of her administrative position. Therefore, he questions the propriety of this dissent note, against the unanimous recomendation of the Commission. He further observes that unwarranted caste link was made in the presidential order 1950, Para 3, that collides with the constitutional guarnatee of freedom of conscience and religious freedom and so that reasons that Mrs. Asha Das gives to justify Para 3 of the presidential Order 1950, are not valid. Moreover to compare Sikhism and Buddhism as home grown religions, with Islam and Christianity as foreign religions is an offence to Christians and Muslims.
The NCRLM is very definite and clear about the injustice done to Muslim Daits and Christian Dalits and recommended to the government concrete measures, in granting SC status to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. The UPA government, has not put them into practice though all the partners of UPA have given recommendations to delete paragraph 3 of the Presidential order 1950 and add Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims to the SC list.
Congress lacks political will:
The Congress leaders have no political will to do justice. They have not even tabled the report of the NCRLM in the parliament. Further the National SC Commission has also recommended strongly granting equal SC Status to the SC Mulims and SC Christians. The Congress party does not seem to care for justice nor for Indian consitution nor to the continous misery of the millions of SC Muslims and SC Christians. They still have not given a reply to the Supreme Court through the Attorney General. They are employing all the delaying tactics possible. In this context, supporting the congress anymore is equal to betraying the equal rights demands of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. We need to take all efforts to vote out the Congress Party,that cares neither for the welfare of the poor nor for justice, nor for the fundamental rights of the constitution.