YSR Congress seeks SC status for Dalit Christians, cites continued caste discrimination

New Delhi: YSR Congress has approached the Justice KG Balakrishnan Commission pushing for the inclusion of Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Castes list, claiming that they face caste-based exclusion, social segregation, economic deprivation and institutional discrimination.

A party delegation led by Tirupati MP Maddila Gurumoorthy submitted a memorandum to the Commission, which was set up in October 2002 to study the grant of SC status to Dalits who have converted to Islam and Christianity and received its third extension recently, on Saturday. 

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 currently includes Dalits belonging to Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist Dalits in the SC  list. There have been demands for inclusion of Dalits who converted into Islam and Christianity.

“The continued denial of SC recognition has consequently deprived Dalit  Christians of reservations in education and employment, political representation, scholarships, welfare schemes, housing benefits, and statutory safeguards available to similarly situated Scheduled Castes,” the YSR Congress memorandum said.

It said the “continued exclusion” of Dalit Christians constitutes an “arbitrary” religion-based classification “lacking any rational nexus” with the constitutional object of protective discrimination. 

“Conversion to Christianity has neither extinguished caste identity nor eliminated the historical and continuing social disabilities attached to their caste origin. Despite exercising freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution, Dalit Christians continue to face caste-based exclusion, social segregation, economic deprivation, and institutional discrimination,” it said.

It said the 1950 Order establishes that “caste-based disabilities do not disappear upon religious conversion”, as SC status was extended to Dalits professing Sikhism in 1956 based on the Kaka Kalelkar Commission and to Dalit's professing Buddhism in 1990 following the recommendations of the High-Powered Panel on Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The memorandum also recalled that the Justice Runganath Mishra Commission (2007) concluded that Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims continue to suffer social, educational, and economic disabilities similar to other SCs and recommended removal of the religion-based restriction in the 1950 Order by extending SC status on a religion-neutral basis. 

It argued that exclusion of Dalit Christians is "inconsistent" with Article 14 (equality before law) and 15(1) that deals with prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religion and caste, and "defeats" the Constitutional intent underlying Article 15(4) and 16(4) relating to affirmative action.

The YSR Congress also projected that the present legal position "frustrates" the constitutional vision under Article 46, which obligates the State to protect weaker sections from social injustice and exploitation, as Dalit Christians remain excluded from protection under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 solely on account of religion