In a letter to the Prime Minister Karunanidhi said though Paragraph three of the Constitution (SC) Order 1950 originally laid down that “no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a SC,” constitutional amendments were later made to include persons professing Sikhism and Buddhism in the SC list.

“The government of Tamil Nadu feels that members of Castes listed in SC have suffered social and economic discrimination irrespective of the religions professed by them,” he said. It would be “appropriate if paragraph three of the Constitution (SC) order, 1950 is deleted in toto.”