Indian state backs welfare benefits for Dalit Christians
Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam are currently excluded from India’s affirmative action program A provincial government in southern India has urged the Indian federal government to award scheduled caste status to Christians who were former untouchables to enable them to claim welfare benefits. The Andhra Pradesh government on March 24 passed a resolution in its legislative assembly to support Christians from the Dalit community becoming a Scheduled Caste (SC) which, if approved by the central government could one day allow them social benefits they are currently excluded from. These benefits include reservations in legislative bodies, educational institutions, and job quotas in state-run institutions. “Somewhere or somebody has to start it for this noble cause, hence we appreciate and thank the Andhra Pradesh government for taking such a step as it is in the right direction and at the right time,” Father Vijay Kumar Nayak, secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Scheduled Castes and Backward Castes, told UCA News on March 27. “The Andhra Pradesh government’s support will have an immense impact" “It’s the need of the hour,” he added. Father Nayak said other states like Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal already support the claim by Dalit Christians to
Religious event disrupted by cyclone in Jashpur district of Chhasttisgarh state
A religious event organized to forcefully convert the Christian converts to Hinduism was disrupted by an unusual cyclone. The cyclone destroyed the temporary shade structure under which the event was taking place. Religious event disrupted by cyclone
‘Congress in Chhattisgarh Has Utterly Failed to Defend Rights of Christian Adivasis’
Brinda Karat tells Karan Thapar that attacks on Christian Adivasis in Chattisgarh have continued for 5 months and have done extensive damage to homes, churches and livelihoods and forced up to 2,000 people to flee their villages. Senior politburo member of the CPI(M) and former Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat, speaking about attacks on Christian Adivasis in Chhattisgarh, which have continued for 5 months and have done extensive damage to homes, churches, belongings and livelihoods and forced up to 2,000 people to flee their villages, says, “The Congress has utterly failed to defend the constitutional rights of Christian Adivasis.” She has raised this matter in a letter addressed to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and, in response, the home minister met a CPI(M) delegation on February 7. They asked why no one from the government has met the victims but did not get a meaningful answer from the home minister. She says even the Congress party president in Chhattisgarh, who is also the MLA for Narayanpur, where many of the 60-70 villages where the Christians have been attacked are located, has failed to visit his own constituency. She also says “not a single family or individual victim has received any compensation”. In a 30-minute
Indian hardliners ask to stop welfare benefits to tribal Christians
Hindu nationalist body wants tribals who converted to Christianity to be left out of the nation's affirmative action program A radical Hindu group has demanded to stop the benefits of India’s affirmative action program to tribal Christians ahead of state polls in two Christian-majority states in the northeast region. A pro-Hinud forum for protecting indigenous faith and culture, called Janajati Dharma-Sanskriti Suraksha Manch, said they want the government to remove tribal people who converted to Christianity or Islam from the official list of Scheduled Tribes (STs). Those on the list are eligible for social welfare benefits meant for indigenous and social groups designated as socio-economically disadvantaged. Forum members told media that they plan a demonstration before the state secretariat in Guwahati on Feb. 12 and march to the capital city of Dispur demanding both the federal and state governments make constitutional amendments to prevent tribal Christians from drawing government benefits. Binud Kumbang, a forum leader in the northeastern state of Assam, said tribal Christians are drawing double benefits by getting their children admitted to Christian schools and also seeking scholarships and jobs quotas under the government’s welfare policy. Socially poor Dalit people are denied welfare benefits on the ground that their religion does not practice the
Assam: RSS-affiliate JDSSM demands removal of Christians from ST list
Over 1 lakh members of the JDSSM will be staging a demonstration at Janata Bhawan on February 12 under its “Challo Dispur” programme RSS-affiliate demands removal of Christians from ST list, amendment of Article 342A Guwahati: Ahead of the assembly elections in Christian-majority Meghalaya and Nagaland, an RSS-backed organisation called Janajati Dharma- Sanskriti Suraksha Manch (JDSSM) has decided to intensify its agitation demanding to delist tribals who have undergone a religious conversion from the Schedule Tribe (ST) status that entitles them for reservation in jobs. Over 1 lakh members of the JDSSM will be staging a demonstration at Janata Bhawan on February 12 under its “Challo Dispur” programme, demanding both the Central and the State governments to amend Article 342A of the Constitution of India. The organisation will also submit separate memorandums to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in support of its demand. The organisation is pushing a demand that was first raised by Congress MP Karthik Oraon in the sixties, who had flagged the issue claiming that ST converts were getting a major chunk of reservation benefits. In 1968, a joint parliamentary committee was formed to examine the issue. “The people who have adopted foreign religions like Christianity and Islam are getting
India’s new path to social equality disregards justice
The Indian constitution has been amended to accord special quotas for the poor among upper-caste people in an unjust manner In the past eight years during which the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been in power, the Supreme Court has mostly supported the government policies, leaving political observers worried and perplexed about the political and social road map India is traversing. They point to various legal victories the ruling party scored in India’s highest court, often the final arbitration point for vexatious and long-drawn legal cases, which have tremendous implications in a complex country like India. One such case that hits Christians in India coming from Dalit backgrounds was a legal challenge to the government denying them welfare benefits meant for all Dalit people, the socially poor across India. Dalit people among Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs get these benefits, but not Christians and Muslims because, according to the government, their religions do not follow caste. After some five decades of legal wrangling, and several commissions asserting that Dalit people among Christians and Muslims deserve these benefits because conversions failed to change their social status, India’s Supreme Court sought the government’s view on the subject last year. The government asked
Tribal factor at play ahead of crucial elections in India
More lip-service and tall poll promises await the nation’s tribal people Tribal factor at play ahead of crucial elections in India For the first time, tribal people in India are a much sought-after community as nine Indian states face elections this year, ahead of the crucial general election next year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third term. Tribal people can tilt the balance in seven of the nine states going to the polls this year, including Christian-majority tribal states of Meghalaya and Nagaland. The other tribal heartland states that go to polls this year are Tripura and Mizoram along with Karnataka and Telangana. The term of legislatures in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan--the three other tribal stronghold states--are ending early next January and so elections are expected by the end of this year. Never in the poll history of India have tribal people enjoyed such limelight. Of the 543 seats in the national parliament, 131 seats or close to 25 percent seats have been reserved for tribal and Dalit people since 2008. Tribal people alone get 84 seats. Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Droupadi Murmu — a woman from eastern India’s Santal tribe — as president last year, making her India’s
Indian court refuses to scrap panel on Dalit Christian quotas
The petition by a Christian of Dalit origin pointed out that the government has been studying the issue since 1955 India’s top court has dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of a panel to examine if Dalit people who converted to Christianity or Islam are eligible for the government's social welfare programs. The federal government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Oct. 6 last year set up a three-member commission to consider granting converted Dalit people the Scheduled Caste status, making them eligible for the government's affirmative action programs mean to bring Dalit people to the social mainstream. The committee was also asked to study the implications of extending the benefits to Dalit Christians and Muslims, and submit a report within two years. Dalit Christian leaders dismissed the appointment of the panel as a tactic to delay their recognition as SC, which will ensure them a share in the 15 percent reserved quota in parliament and state legislatures, government jobs and education. Currently, Dalit people among Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist religions enjoy these benefits but Christian and Muslim people from Dalit backgrounds are denied the benefits on the ground that their religions are caste-free. The petitioner, Pratap Baburao Pandit, who claims to be
