Thousands of Christian and Muslim Dalits march against Discrimination

(November 19, 2009) Thousand of Christian and Muslim Dalits converged Wednesday, 18^th November in New Delhi to demand equality with Hindu outcastes. After leaving Kerala House at 9 am, they marched towards the gardens of the Jantar Mantar where they took part in a dharna ( protest fast) during which Dalit and Church representatives addressed the crowd. The event was sponsored by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC), and the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI). Mgr Vincent Concessao, archbishop of New Delhi, opened the dharna. He said that “India cannot claim to be a secular nation upholding religious freedom, when there is a discrimination of Dalit Christians purely on the basis of the faith they practice.” At present, Christian and Muslim outcastes are denied jobs and basic services given to Hindu outcastes. They are also denied economic help, job and educational opportunities as well as political representation guaranteed by law to untouchables. Dalits who convert to Christianity or Islam lose every right they enjoyed before. For Mgr Concessao, this clearly constitutes “religious discrimination” at their expense, because “a change of religion does not alter their socio-economic status,” he explained. Christian and Muslim Dalits want the central government to repeal Paragraph 3 of the Constitution Scheduled Castes Order of 1950, which grants Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh Dalits a certain status and a number of rights. The Order was adopted 59 years ago and since then Christian and Muslim Dalits have organised demonstrations at the local and national level to have the constitution changed. “It is most unfortunate that the Congress government by indulging in delaying tactics has joined the parties with vested interests, thus denying justice to our Dalit Christians,” Mgr Concessao said. For him, since the constitution guarantees every citizen the right to practice his or her faith, the 1950 Order patently contradicts that principle.