National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians (NCCDC)
& National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC)
are organizing a
Massive Hunger Strike from 25th July to 27th July 2011 at New Delhi

Concluding with a Parliament March on 28th July 2011

To Demand Scheduled Caste Status for Dalit Christians and Muslims

Christians of Scheduled Caste Origin (CSCO), also called Dalit Christians, have been asserting their right for equal Constitutional provisions on a par with Dalits of this country. This has been denied to them historically by the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 1950, Paragraph 3. This exclusion of people of Scheduled Caste (SC) Origin who adhere to religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism from their fundamental rights has caused great concern and has been debated from the very beginning of its promulgation. If providing reservation is a way of including the historically excluded, then denying it merely on the basis of religion is a serious violation of the Constitution and its principles of Secularism and Freedom of Religion. The paragraph 3 of the Order denies the constitutional rights of Christian and Muslim Dalits. On the basis of this argument, various attempts have been made to ensure the Scheduled Caste rights to them.

Even in legal terms, after the verdict in Soosai vs. Union of India, the judgment on Mandal case (Indra Sawhney vs Union of India), there are many articles that speak about the reservation issue and there is clear indication that religious criterion is against the spirit of the Constitution. In the judgment on Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India, it has been upheld by the apex judicial body of India that "Untouchability is a humiliating and shameful malady caused by deep-rooted prejudice which does not disappear with the change of faith”.

Progressively it is becoming clear that the present UPA Government itself is against giving this right to the Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. We have been pursuing this campaign and have obtained the letters of support for this cause from major political parties. Moreover, prominent Dalit leaders have sent their letters to the Prime Minister of India strongly supporting reservation to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice Ranganath Misra constituted by the UPA government itself has reiterated the same. The study by the University of Delhi, Dalits in the Muslim and Christian Communities: A Status Report on Current Social Scientific Knowledge by Satish Deshpande has clearly said that paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes Order 1950) has to be deleted by appropriate legal means.

The National Commission for Minorities has already given a reply to the Union Government stating that Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims should be included in the Scheduled Caste list. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has expressed the same in April 2010.

From what is happening in the political corridor, it is rather evident that it is not the Constitutional mandate which is a hurdle, but the lack of genuine political will of the ruling elite of the country to uphold and concede the Constitutional rights to the Muslim and Christian Dalits. The UPA Government plays politics on this issue by spreading the falsehood that Christian and Muslim Dalits are not discriminated by Untouchability because of their religious Faith. If backwardness and exclusion caused by historical discrimination and deprivation are the reasons for providing reservation, the Constitution mandates that all Dalits who are the victims of the continuing ill effects of the same prior discrimination should receive the same protection and benefits, whatever be their faith and religion or whether they profess any religion or not, as it is done in the case of the Scheduled Tribes.

The Congress party and its Government are solely responsible for the communal paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950. In spite of the observations of the Mandal judgment and irrespective of the recommendations by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Minorities and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, the Congress party and the Government are not fulfilling their constitutional obligations. This clearly proves that they are not friends of the Dalits and the downtrodden nor do they stand for social justice of Minorities but only want to use them as their electoral fodder.

It is the time we collectively with commitment to intensify our efforts to secure equal rights to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.
A Hunger Struggle is organized from 25th to 27th July 2011 ending with a Parliament March on 28th July 2011 in Delhi. Bishops, Leaders, people of Christian community, Muslim community and Civil Society from different parts the country will participate.

All are most welcome to join the struggle for Justice!

Contact Persons:

Fr. G. Cosmon Arokiaraj, – Mobile: 09810066919, cbciscst@gmail.com
Mr. Samuel Jeyakumar – 011-23730657, samncci@gmail.com
Fr. AXJ. Bosco – Mobile-0948408236, boscofr@gmail.com
Mr. V. J. George -Mobile-09895555832, george.ncdc@gmail.com
Mr. M. Mary John - Mobile – 09444181037, maryjohnms@gmail.com
Mr. Franklin Caesar Thomas Mobile-09818805668, franklincaesar@rediffmail.com