By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Dalit Muslim and Dalit Christian groups like All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz and National Council of Dalit Christians seem all prepared to take the fight to get SC status to ballot box in the coming assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. During a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, this was their warning to the Congress led UPA government at the Centre, in the context of the Central government’s delayed approach towards extending the Schedule Caste status to Christians and Muslims of SC origin.
“If the government doesn’t pave the way for the deletion of the paragraph 3 of the Constitution Schedule Caste Order1950 which denies SC status to Christians and Muslims of Schedule Caste origin, then we are going to make this an election issue in the coming assembly elections in five states and will show the government the true power of the SC Muslims and SC Christians in this country,” threatened Ali Anwar Ansari president of All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.
The Rajya Sabha Member of JD (U) questioned “Why doesn’t the government understand the language of peaceful demonstration and activism? Does it want us to take law into our hands like Gujjars to get our demands fulfilled?”
Interestingly Ali Anwar, JD (U) MP, who was all out attacking Congress, refused to make the BJP, the partner of JD (U) in the Bihar government, accountable for the denial of Constitutional rights to the Muslims and Christians of schedule caste origin. BJP has always opposed any proposal to extend SC status to dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. Mr. Anwar said that the last assembly elections in Bihar had shown that no body can ignore dalit Muslims.
When TCN asked Mr. Anwar what about the BJP which is enjoying power with the JD (U) in Bihar, in spite of its traditional opposition to the proposal of SC stratus to Dalit Muslims, Mr. Anwar was slow to criticize the saffron party, blaming entirely Congress for not granting SC status to Muslims of SC origin.
“The case is pending in the Supreme Court since 2004 just for the reply of the central government but the way it hasn’t filed any affidavit explaining its stand on the issue, is very hypocritical,” said Dr M Mary John, national president, National Council of Dalit Christians.
“If the government is against extending SC status to dalit Muslims and dalit Christians, then it should make its stand clear,” Dr. John further demanded. The two dalit leaders demanded from the union government that it should 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 Schedule Caste Order1950 in order to extend SC status to Christian and Muslims of SC origin.
The constitutional schedule caste order 1950 restricts Schedule caste status only to schedule caste (SC) people professing Hinduism, which was later on extended to SCs practicing Buddhism and Sikhism. However Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians have been denied SC status since last sixty years.
Asking for the deletion of the 1950 constitutional order, which has been termed by many national level commissions as “discriminatory” Christian and Muslim groups filed a petition which is pending in Supreme Court. The hearing of the writ petition filed in the SC in 2004 and other petitions are unduly delayed because of the unreasonable tactics of the Union Government to give a reply to the apex court. Petitioners find the role of the central government to be very problematic as since last 6 years it hasn’t yet filed an affidavit on the issue as to where does it stand on the issue of extending the SC status to Muslims and Christians of schedule caste origin.
L-R: Ali Anwar Ansari and Dr M Mary John addressing the press conference in New Delhi
There have been tens of hearings in the apex court but the Central government has been asking for time in hearing after hearings. Finally the matter is again going to be heard coming Thursday.
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic minorities (NCRLM) stated that non inclusion of SC Muslims and SC Christians in the SC list is a discrimination based on religion and goes against the article 14, 15, 16 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Religion must be delinked from caste and the discriminatory Para 3 of the constitution SC Order 1950 should b deleted by appropriate action.
The National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe also has recommended that SC status must b extended to Christians and Muslims of SC origin. The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has also supported the demand.
The study by Prof. Satish Deshpandey on “Dalits in the Muslim and Christian communities” done for the National Commission for Minorities observes “since the last major pronouncement on dalit Christians issue there s a lot more evidence available on the social economic and educational backwardness of dalit Christians. As per this study, there is no compelling evidence to justify denying SC status to Dalit Muslims and Christians.”