Amid opposition from sections of Dalit Hindu communities to the granting of Scheduled Caste status to Dalits who have converted to Christianity and Islam, the National Council for Dalit Christians (NCDC) and other allied organisations are making efforts to build a consensus among them — especially in the southern States — to garner support for their cause, NCDC Chairperson V.J. George said on Monday. The statement comes even as their challenge to the religion criteria of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, is to be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
According to a notification issued last Thursday, the Union government has formed a three-member Commission of Inquiry, headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, to look into whether Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims can be granted SC status and the implications of such a decision, including on existing SC communities.
The NCDC Chairperson said that the terms of reference for the panel should not be unfairly skewed to consider the opposition from existing SC communities. “It should consider evidence, data, and constitutionality or the lack of it of denying privileges to communities based on the religion they profess. This should be the criteria to approach it,” Mr. George said.
As for the NCDC’s meetings with Dalit Hindu communities, Mr. George added that in southern States, “They [Dalit Hindu communities] are convinced that we should get the benefit but they do not want the quota to eat into theirs.” He said that this preliminary solidarity from existing SC communities in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, was encouraging but the conversation veering into the area of a separate quota was “not healthy”. “But we will continue talking to the communities to build support,” Mr. George said.
In addition to reaching out to Dalit Hindu communities, the NCDC said that it was also “negotiating and interacting with the Church hierarchy” to see how the Christian community could come together to fight the caste mindset prevailing among them.
With the notification for the Justice Balakrishnan Commission coming days before the Union government was expected to furnish its latest position on the issue to the Supreme Court, the NCDC has termed this as an “effort to run away from the court and the path of justice”, adding that such tactics had been conceived to delay the process.
“We are trying to raise this matter in the court. The hearings should continue and the government should face the court. If possible, we will object to the commission with another petition, if it comes to that,” Mr. George told The Hindu.
He added that while Dalit Christian bodies were not very hopeful of what the Justice Balakrishnan Commission would achieve, they would be extending full cooperation from their side to aid the Commission in whatever way possible.
