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The CSF Demands …

1) Dalit & Backward Christian, as per Mandal Commission & court rulings be given OBC benefits in all states of India.

2) The UPA Government Grant Dalit Muslims & Dalit Christians, the SC status, in the light of Status Report to National Minorities Commission

The CSF is of the opinion that the UPA government despite it being within reach, is compelling the Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians to take the judicial route, which tends to pit the judiciary against the legislature and the executive. The existing law is nothing short of unconstitutional discrimination by the government on the grounds of religion and the minorities could appeal to the courts to find it SC system followed as unconstitutional. But given the special circumstances that have shaped the history of this question, the political route may be a more desirable one. All previous amendments to the Presidential Order of 1950 have been achieved through that route. The earlier legislative initiatives have also not been explicitly and publicly justified, in terms of the kind of evidence that the courts are demanding now, in cases seeking inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. In effect, different standards are being applied to different religious groups situated similarly on the same question.

On the basis of the Status Report, in additions to volumes of evidence, The CSF calls for including Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Caste category. We also feel that there are compelling arguments in favour of such an inclusion being based on the Constitution, besides universal principles of natural justice and fairness. According due statutory recognition to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians would not only right a wrong, it would also remove an indefensible anomaly in our politico-legal system that can legitimately be construed as discriminatory. Such discrimination surely weighs on the conscience of every fair-minded Indian.

The CSF, which is against reservations per se, but as long as reservations continue, it will work with all concerned NGOs to ensure that Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are given their due, which is a basis human right, enjoyed by Dalits of other religions – Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

Further, Dr. Peter Rodrigues of Reservations Cell Chief, informs that a major highlight of the NSSO report is – Christians are among the poorest of all religious communities in India, the highest rural unemployment figures of 4.4% among Christians, 2.3% among Muslims and 1.5% among Hindus. In Urban areas, the unemployment rate of Christians was 8.6% higher than other religious groups, which was 4.4% for Hindus and 4.1% for Muslims. Also, unemployment was highest 14% among Urban Christian women. The Report was an extensive study, covering 1, 24,680 sample households, 79,306 of them in 7,999 villages and the rest in 4,602, urban areas. The CSF points out that although the report is over a year old, no action, and reservations have been given to the Christian community. Nothing has been done to improve the lot of Indian Christians & the UPA Government should stop this discrimination and immediately grant benefits to Christians or the NSSO report will prove to be an exercise in futility. The CSF calls for an Action Taken Report from the Union Government on the NSSO report and also from the National Minorities Commission, as to what it proposes to do with the Dalit Muslim & Dalit Christian Status Report presented to it.

Please find below brief info on the Status Report, which is a very important document on the issue.

Thanking you, with warm personal regards,

Yours cordially,

Sd/-

NB:

The Highlights – A Synopsis for the lay person

The objective was to produce a status report on the evidence available to answer the following questions:

1) What is the contemporary status of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians in terms of their material well-being and social status?

2) How does their situation compare with that of: a) the non-Dalit segments of their own communities and b) the Dalit segments of other communities?

3) Do the disabilities suffered by these groups justify state intervention within the spirit of the Constitution as interpreted by the judiciary, and in keeping with evolving national norms?

Two main kinds of data were gathered to answer the first two questions, ethnographic and statistical. The Status Report relies heavily on the most recent and important Government of India, National Statistical Survey Organization (NSSO) report released in 2007 and an unprecedented number of empirical records, spanning almost 4 decades. The major parameters considered include, poverty, consumption, occupation and education. Some of the conclusions reached are –

1) With respect to proportions of population in poverty or affluence, Dalit Muslims are unquestionably the worst off among all Dalits, in both the rural and specially the urban sector. Dalit Muslims are completely absent in the affluent group for urban India. There is a small gap between Dalit Sikhs are better-off than Dalit Christians, who have a much higher proportion in poverty than Dalit Sikhs, especially in rural India, but roughly comparable populations in affluence.

2) Dalit Muslims are only slightly worse off than non-Dalit Muslims, specially the OBCs, because the Muslim community as a whole, tends to be very badly off compared to other religious communities. Even Dalit Sikhs are better-off compared to Dalit Christians, who have wide gap, when compared to non-Dalit Christians and especially the Christian upper castes, who are much better off, though few in number.

3) This analysis brings out clearly that, all other Dalits, (with the exception of rural Dalit Sikhs) are basically the same in economic terms. Whatever differences there are among Dalits of different religions only become visible in the top 25% of the distribution. In other words, 75% of all other Dalits are economically indistinguishable from each other, both in the urban and specially the rural areas. It also becomes clear that there are serious levels of poverty, among Muslims of all castes including Dalits, in urban areas.

4) With respect to comparisons of educational levels, Dalit Muslims are the worst off in rural India in terms of illiteracy. there are no major differences in the levels of education across Dalits in rural India, except for Buddhists, who seem to have comparatively high proportions with graduate or higher degrees. Dalit Christians come next to the Dalit Buddhists in the field of education. However, all Dalits except Muslims do much worse than their non-Dalit co-religionists, specially the upper castes. Dalit Sikhs are slightly better-off than Dalit Christians. Intra-community caste differentials, between the higher & lower castes in the same faith, are very high for all except the Muslims, so that Dalits in general are much worse off educationally than non-Dalits in the same community.

On the basis of this extensive study, it becomes amply clear that –

A) There can be no doubt whatsoever that Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are socially known and treated as distinct groups within their own religious communities. Nor is there any room for disputing the fact that they are invariably regarded as ‘socially inferior’ communities by their co-religionists. In short, in most social contexts, Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are Dalits first and Muslims and Christians only second.

B) The manner in which social distance or superiority is asserted by non-Dalits (and specially the ‘upper’ castes) varies both across Dalit Muslims and Dalti Christians and also across regions and contexts. Such variation is present in all Dalit communities of all religions. ?Universally practiced forms of discrimination and exclusion include social and cultural segregation, expressed in various forms of refusal to have any social interaction; endogamy, expressed through the universal prohibitions on Dalit-non-Dalit marriages, and through severe social sanctions on both Dalits and non-Dalits who break this taboo. Social segregation extends to the sphere of worship and religious rituals, with separate churches and priests being almost the norm among Dalit Christians and not uncommon among Dalit Muslims. Forms common to both DMs and DCs include various modes of subordination in churches and mosques, as well as insistence on separate burial grounds. Occupational segregation and economic exploitation are also very common and usually related practices, though somewhat less widespread than segregation or marriage bans. Untouchability proper is sometimes practiced, but is not widespread, and its forms vary greatly.

The most recent national-level macro statistical data available from the 61st Round survey of the NSSO conducted in 2004-05, also suffers from limitations due to the ambiguous status of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians, who are not officially recognized. Thus the numbers reflected in the NSSO survey are certain to be undercounts, specially for Dalit Christians who are believed to be the majority of the Christian population but are shown as having only a 10% share in this data.

The major judicial pronouncements and body of evidence when taken as a whole, is unambiguously clear on the fact that there is no compelling evidence to justify denying Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Mulsims and Dalit Christians. If no community had already been given SC status, and if the decision to accord SC status to some communities were to be taken today through some evidence-based approach, then it is hard to imagine how Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians could be excluded. Whether one looks at it positively (justifying inclusion) or negatively (justifying non-inclusion), the Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are not so distinct from other Dalit groups that an argument for treating them differently could be sustained. The actual situation that exists today – denial of SC status to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians, but according it to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits – could not be rationally defended, if it did not already exist as a historical reality.

A pragmatic consideration is also that of the numbers involved. Here the weight of the argument is in favour of rather than against inclusion. For both Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians taken together (NSSO estimates) appear to be under three million people, constituting about 1.25% of all rural Dalits, and about 2.25% of all urban Dalits. Though it is certain that the NSSO estimates are undercounts, the eventual numbers are highly unlikely to be such that they justify exclusion. Finally, SC status is a fait accompli for some religious groups and can hardly be undone. The historical legacy of such an unjustifiable anomaly can only be addressed by robust, evidence-backed reasoning followed up with a broad-based social movement to build popular support.

Pl. contact for PDF on complete Status Report presented to the National Comission for Minorities or find it at http://www.thecsf.org/pdfs/dalit_christians.pdf

For more info contact –

The Catholic-Christian Secular Forum (CSF)
Regd Office : 75, Vakola Village, Santacruz (E), Mumbai – 55. (+91) 9869481357 

Govt of India NSSO Report

The demand for OBC benefits for Christians stems from the Supreme Court rulings, Mandal Commission & NSSO Reports. The recent Government of India National Sample Service Organisation (NSSO) survey report, clearly brings out the fact that Christians are economically much more backward than their counterparts of other faiths. The NSSO report released in 2007 reveals that the unemployment rate among Christians is higher than that of Hindus and Muslims. For instance, in rural areas, the unemployment rate was 4.4% among Christians, 2.3% among Muslims and 1.5% among Hindus, which highlights the need for the government to take serious note. Similarly, it urban areas the unemployment rate of Christians was 8.6% and much higher than other religious groups – 4.4% for Hindus and 4.1% for Muslims. Even more alarming was that the unemployment among urban Christian women was the highest at 14% and is cause for concern, among the community. The NSSO report is the most extensive study of religious groups undertaken across the country, covering 1,24,680 sample households – 79,306 families in 7,999 villages and 45,374 families in 4,602 urban areas of India.

Mandal Commission Report

The Mandal Commission Report earlier too had categorically granted OBC reservation to Christians, including all Schedule Castes converted to Christianity and all those Christians, who performed the same backward occupations, as their backward Hindu counterparts. Some of these jobs according to the Mandal Commission Report, could be washermen, barbers, potters, blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, marginal farmers, etc. and hence, Christians in these occupations should be entitled to OBC reservations. The Mandal Commission specifies that there are 43.7% Hindu OBCs and 8.4% non-Hindus, comprising Sikhs, Muslims and Christians.

Supreme Court Ruling

In November, 1992 the Supreme Court ratified OBC reservations to Christians, in its judgement, which said that non-Hindus, like Sikhs, Muslims and Christians, who are socially backward are entitled to reservations, under article 16 (4) of the Constitution. Christians have been excluded by the government at the center and in the states, because they do not enjoy political clout. Thus, the converts to Christianity face double discrimination and exclusion, even among the minorities. The Andhra Pradesh government has in fact granted a 4% reservation exclusively for the Muslims minority and could do well including Christians too. The union and other state governments need to follow suit.

According to Mr. Joseph Dias, general secretary, The CSF –

The recent attacks on Christians has not only exposed the vulnerability of the community, but also highlighted the need for the governments to consider its demand for OBC status, as well as proportionate representation. There is an eminent danger of Christians being reduced to the periphery of the national mainstream and with attacks on the rise, Christians in government postings, like the civil services or police, could prove useful. In the absence of reservations or representations, the poor Christians are unable to educate themselves or find employment. During the current rash of anti-Christian violence, should there have been a fair representation of community members in the police or government, the impact on Christians, would have been much lesser. In the light of police atrocities, where even women, children and clergy was targeted in the recent communal riots, The CSF calls for police to enter Christian places of worship or institutions, accompanied by community members.

Thanking you, with regards,

Yours Sincerely,

SpiceJet apologises to The CSF for promoting Jesus’ tomb in Kashmir

(Click for the letter of Apology)