Pointing out that Dalit Chrisitians and Dalit Muslims have been excluded from caste-based reservation for over seven decades, the Tamil Nadu-based Dalit Christian Teacher Employee Assoctiation has released a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s verdict in favour of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota. Highlighting how Dalits from both religious communties were removed from the Scheduled Caste (SC) List in 1950 by the then Congress-led Union government, the statement says, “While nearly all parties, save a few, came forward to support the EWS quota, not one party at the state or national level have come forward to restore the right to reservation of Christian and Muslim Dalits in the last 72 years.”
The association is part of the National Dalit Christian Council (NCDC) and is advised by Supreme Court advocate and activist Franklin Ceasar, who is legally figting for the inclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the Scheduled Caste category.
Dalit Christians are presently categorised as BC in Tamil Nadu. In 13 other states including Kerala and Andhra, they are in the BC/Other Backward Class (OBC) or Most Backward Class (MBC) list. In the remaining states, they are in the General category. This categorisation is based on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which specifically excludes Christian and Muslim Dalits from being granted SC status. The current system of categorising only Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh Dalits as SC prevents many from accessing affirmative action schemes.
In the statement, the organisation says, “While the Church leadership benefits from measures taken to ensure minority rights, they have never supported the need for reservation for Christian Dalits.” It also emphasises that caste-based discrimination exists both within the Church and in educational institutions run by the Church.
“Premier Christian colleges are run by dominant caste groups, so a Dalit person will not be made the principal or the correspondent. But even those without required qualifications can get that post as long as they are from the dominant caste that has the majority in that institute. Caste is their qualification. Similarly, a church-run school or college is not likely to give admission to Dalit students, they are more likely to direct them to an affiliated institute or branch elsewhere,” association president John Britto tells TNM. Adding that untouchability exists in the Church congregation too just as it does in the rest of society, he says, “A Dalit Christian is seen only as Dalit. That is why we are demanding reservation.”
John goes on to explain the ways in which caste discrimination and segregationist practices are carried out within Church spaces. “In Roman Catholic churches, during the chariot festival, levies will not be collected from Dalits. They will instead ask them for donations. The difference is that collecting levy means Dalits will have a stake in the ceremony, which a one-time donation will not imply,” he says.
Churches under other denominations are no different, he further adds. “Caste is rampant in the Church of South India [CSI, a Protestant denomination]. Depending on the district, a specific caste group will have dominance and discriminate against Dalits, particularly when it comes to diocese elections. In Tirunelveli, it will be the Nadars (OBC). In Kumbakonam it will be the Vanniyars (MBC) or in Thanjavur it will be the Udayars (OBC),” he explains. Even in the case of ‘independent’ churches [those that do not come under conventional dioceses], John says that while many Dalit Christians are drawn to them, the churches themselves are mostly founded and run by dominant castes. “Dalit Christians will not be able to do the same.”
Referring to the report submitted by the Justice Ranganath Misra Commission in 2007 which recommends that Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims be included in the SC list, the association in its statement points out that the Union governments so far have not paid heed to it. “The NCDC’s plea to implement the Misra Committee’s report is still with the Supreme Court. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union Government instead set up another committee headed by retired Justice KG Balakrishnan on October 8. We are compelled to see this as a delaying tactic or an attempt to arrive at a different conclusion,” John tells TNM.
“It feels like an attempt to overturn the Ranganathan Misra report. If the new committee concludes that reservation should not be given to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims, there is a chance that this issue will be closed permanently. So we have no faith in this new committee. We see this as an eyewash,” he adds.