Monday, March 7, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Cabinet must extend SC status to Dalit Christians, Dalit Muslims: Churches

 

http://twocircles.net/2011mar07/cabinet_must_extend_sc_status_dalit_christians_dalit_muslims_churches.html

Cabinet must extend SC status to Dalit Christians, Dalit Muslims: Churches
Submitted by admin4 on 7 March 2011 - 12:48pm

By TCN News,

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches (APFC) has
demanded the Union Cabinet to immediately decide for extending the
Scheduled Caste privileges to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. The
General Body of APFC which met here on 4th March made the demand. SC
status is limited to Dalits among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

APFC has also urged the Central Government to give an appropriate
answer to the query of the Supreme Court to the writ petitions
demanding the deletion of the paragraph 3 of the Constitution
Scheduled Castes Order 1950 in order to extend SC status to Christians
and Muslims of Scheduled Caste origin.

The group warned that if these demands are not fulfilled, many Dalit
Christians and Dalit Muslims will not vote for Congress and its allies
in the forthcoming Assembly elections and General Election 2014, Rev.
Gali Bali, Bishop of Guntur and General Secretary, APFC said in a
statement.

The Constitutional Scheduled Caste Order 1950 restricted Scheduled
Caste (SC) status only to Scheduled Castes professing Hinduism. Later
on it was extended to Scheduled Castes who embraced Sikhism and
Buddhism. However, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims have been denied
SC status for the last sixty years.

National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM)
stated that non inclusion of Scheduled Caste Christians and Scheduled
Caste Muslims in the Scheduled Caste list is a discrimination based on
religion and goes against the articles 14, 15, 16 and 25 of the
Constitution of India. Religion must be de-linked from caste. The
discriminatory paragraph 3 of the Constitution Scheduled Caste Order
1950 should be deleted by appropriate action.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has recommended
that Scheduled Caste status must be extended to Christians and Muslims
of Scheduled Caste origin.

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) too has supported the demand.

The hearing of the writ petitions filed in the Supreme Court in 2004
and other petitions is unduly delayed because of the unreasonable
tactics of the Union Government to give a reply to the Supreme Court.

On 24th Feb. the SC was to hear the case but the central government
did not file its reply.

Chief Minister of Tamilnadu M Karunanidhi on 25th Feb. wrote a letter
to the Prime Minister to take urgent decision and extend SC status to
Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

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