NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR DALIT CHRISTIAN RIGHTS Camp Office: No 55 Bharatidasan Salai, TB Road, Madurai 625 010 Tamil Nadu, India PRESS STATEMENT MADURAI, July 18th 2005
'Justice SB Sawant-Barrister Sona Khan Public Tribunal' says 1.6 Crore Dalit Christians must get full Scheduled Caste rights irrespective of religion South India Dalits narrate assault on Human Dignity and Social, Political and Economic Disempowerment [Statement by Dr John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council, Government of India, New Delhi and Advocate Edward Arokia Doss, MA.BL. Convener and Coordinator respectively of the NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR DALIT CHRITIAN RIGHTS, supported by the All India Christian Council, the All India Catholic Union, The Voice of Dalit Christians and Bishops and leaders of all major Christian denominations in India] The Public Tribunal headed by Supreme Court of India retired Justice SB Sawant and famed Jurist Barrister Sona Khan has said "It is necessary that the Christian Dalits are given the same benefits aids and advantages, facilities and opportunities as are given to Dalits of Hindus, Sikhs and Neo Buddhists on the basis of caste to which they belong before conversion and which they are carrying even today." The historic judgment of the first ever People's Tribunal hearings into the six decade old Constitutional struggle came at the end of tumultuous day of hearings in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on 18 th July 2005. The judgement, dictated on behalf of himself, Dr Sona Khan and a distinguished jury by Justice Sawant himself, said "The Dalit Christian People's Tribunal after recording evidence both oral and written has come to the conclusion that it is highly unrealistic socially and as well as legally to make distinction between Dalits on the basis of religion. "It should not be forgotten that we are considering social reality of Indian life were the followers of all Non Hindu religions other than Parsis, have been converts from the Hindu religion, except for a microscopic minority." "It is also unfortunately the sad reality the converts from Hindu religion to other religions have carried their caste marks with them whether they belong to higher caste or lower caste. "The result today is all the religious communities in India except Parsis, have an ingrained caste system prevalent in all spheres of life. We had assembled here to consider the special case of Dalit Christians who were similarly converted from Hindu religion to Christianity and carried with them the same disadvantages and disabilities and they are carrying them even today. They will disappear if at all, only when similar disabilities suffered by Dalits of other religions, namely Hindu, Sikhs and Neo Buddhist, will disappear." :"It is therefore necessary that the Christian Dalits are given the same benefits aids and advantages, facilities and opportunities as are given to Dalits of Hindus, Sikhs and Neo Buddhists on the basis of caste to which they belong before conversion and which they are carrying even today," Justice Sawant, Barrister Sona Khan and the Jury said. As many as 573 witnesses from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Pondicherry registered at the public hearing. Hundreds of others came to see the proceedings. The tribunal heard 20 persons, and took written depositions from others. Documentary evidence on the entire case was presented to the tribunal by Dr. john Dayal and Mr. Edward Arokia Doss on behalf of the organizers of the Movement, the All India catholic Union, the All India Christian Council and Voice of Dalit International. Earlier, lighting a 'kuthuvilakku' traditional brass lamp , the Archbishop Emeritus M. Arockiaswamy said the Government should provide benefits to Dalit Christians on the basis of caste to which they belonged and not discriminate them on religious grounds. Dindigul Bishop Antony Pappusamy said Dalit Christians were being discriminated and as a result had to forego all Government benefits meant for Dalits. Apart from Justice P B Sawant and Barrister Mrs. Sona Khan, the People's Tribunal Jury included Member of Parliament Karvendhan, President of the All India Bar Council, Former Labour joint commissioner VB Balram, Former MP Dr Kulaindaivel, Former Minorities Commission member Jawahar, State Women's Commission former Chair Dr Vasanthi Devi, Dr. Lakshman, MIDA, Chennai, and Dr Manikumar of Sundaranar University. Deposing before the tribunal, headed Mrs. John Mary from Cuddalore district said Dalit Christians affected by the tsunami in certain villages in her district had not been provided relief by the State Government so far. The Public Hearings was held on the eve of the Supreme Court of India taking up an appeal by the Public Litigation Centre, New Delhi, on the Constitutional validity of existing legislation, which denies affirmative action and special rights to many people of former untouchable castes, including Dalit Christians, on grounds of religion. Protection of the Law and many privileges that are available to Dalits of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist faith are denied to their brothers and sisters who have adopted Christian or other faiths. The Public Hearings, organised by the Movement set up jointly by the All India catholic Union, the All India Christian Council and Voice of Dalit International, were fully backed by Catholic and Protstant Church leaders. Present were Catholic Bishops Conference of India executive secretary for Dalit affairs Fr Philomen Raj and former secretary Fr Lourduswamy. Messages of solidarity and support have been received from Bishop Percy Fernandez, Secretary General, Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Bishop Dr Jeypaul David, President, national Council of Churches in India, Dr Joseph D Souza, President, All India Christian Council, and many Indian and International Human Rights organizations. The report of the Tribunal will be sent to the President of India, the Chief Justice of India and Judges of the Supreme Court of India, the National Integration Council, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and to the Prime Minister, State Chief Ministers and leaders of National and State political parties, apart from the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Minorities and the National Commissions for SC and ST, Women an Children respectively. Madurai was chosen for the First Public Hearing as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Pondicherry and Karnataka contain over 70 per cent of the entire Dalit Christian population with Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh containing the rest. Of India's approximately 2.5 Crore (25 million) Christians, estimates are that over 60 per cent are converts from the former untouchable or Dalit castes. The struggle of the Dalits was also born in South India where under casteist influence even the Christian Church and other religions at one time fell prey to the practice of discrimination and ostracisation of people converts from the untouchable castes even after untouchability was outlawed. The People's tribunal heard that even some cemeteries once had separate areas for the burial of Dalit dead and the dead of families who converted from the upper castes. Remnants and reminders of such practices remain. The Church long ago renounced casteism. But as Mahatma Gandhi famously noted in his magazine Harijan, the social evil of casteism crosses the boundaries of religion. Although several States now give Backward Class or Most backward class status to coverts from certain castes, this does not meet the aspirations of the people seeking dignity and equality. In their formal deposition before the tribunal, the organizers, AICU, AICC and VODI said the Founding Fathers of the Constitution of India and the Freedom struggle leaders had NOT discriminated against Dalit Christians. The Constitution when first signed by the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and others, had affirmative action programmer for ALL Dalits suffering a 3,000-year history of debasement and caste tyranny. It was under the influence of a few casteist elements that Presidential Order of 1950 restricted the privileges only to Dalit Hindus. This effectively denied freedom of faith to all Dalits and kept out a large section of Dalits from the protection of the Constitutional guarantees of basic human rights. Buddhists and Sikhs from Dalit origin wage bitter battles before the Constitution was amended twice to restore them the rights that were given to Dalits of Hindu faith. The fifty-year old struggle of the Dalit Christians has so far been stalled by vested interests despite a former Congress government moving a Bill in Parliament to correct the injustice. The Bill could not be discussed because the Lok Sabha was dissolved. The presentation before Justices Sawant and Sona Khan emphasized that the struggle was not for mere reservation in jobs and educational institutions in the public sector. This is important. More important is Human dignity and protection of law as equal citizens of India. Dalit Christians cannot fully participate even in the Panchayat Raj and grass roots democracy structures from reserved constituencies even if they are the major group in the village or constituency. There are other areas of discrimination also, including economic disempowerment. The participants in the Public hearings will narrated their life experiences. The Movement will present documentary ad historic evidence before the Judges of the Public Hearing. Forwarded By: Ancy S. D'Souza Paladka
