The Indian Christian Collective for Justice is a space for people who dare to speak truth to power, resist injustice and the abuse of leadership. The members work collaboratively to explore new meanings and expressions of being church in India. It is an open and inclusive space for activists, youth, academics, writers, artists, theologians, church workers and all who are committed to explore inclusive, non-hierarchical, and people-based expressions of Christian presence in the world. ICCJ engages in actions that are rooted in justice and compassion, and is committed to the vision of a transformed world.
This petition herein seeks to bring to your notice about the urgent need to repeal Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The text of the Para 3 of the Constitution (Schedule Castes) Order,1950 says:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 2, no person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.”
The impugned order is a major blow to the principle of equality and justice as enshrined in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
We contest this on the basis of the Fundamental Right, as enshrined under Article 25 of Constitution of India 1949, which guarantees freedom of conscience, free profession, practice and propagation of religion to every citizen. This means, every citizen, including a member of the Schedule Caste has this freedom of choice guaranteed by Indian Constitution. This Article 25 of the Indian Constitution read along with Article 366(24) and Article 344(1), removes the ambiguity and suggests that the Constitution of India does not restrict the Scheduled Caste status to any select religious community.
One of the primary recommendations of the Justice Ranganathan Mishra’s report on Religious and Linguistic Minorities, may also be quoted here:
“Once a person has been included in a Scheduled Caste list, a wilful change of religion on his or her part should not affect adversely their Scheduled Caste status – as that would in our opinion conflict with the basic constitutional provisions relating to equality, justice and non-discrimination on religious grounds; as also with the spirit of the old and time-tested Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850.” [1]
The impugned order further violates Article 13(2) of the Indian Constitution which clearly states that, “the state shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this part and any law made in contravention of this clause, to the extent of the contravention, be void.”
It also violates the basic principles attached to the Right to Equality and Non-discrimination as enshrinedin the Article 14, Article 15 and Article 16 of the Indian Constitution.
Caste, in fact,is a social phenomenon shared by almost all Indian communities irrespective of their religious persuasions. Many caste communities are found simultaneously in various religious communities, equally facing the same problems of discrimination and mistreatment both by their co-religionists and others. The caste-based untouchability status still remains with the person and s/he has to face this evil throughout their life irrespective or the religions/he converts into. So once we analyse this situation further, we realise that this impugned order is also contradictory to SC/ST(POA)Act, 1989.
This is also a violation and denial of human rights of citizens under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which India is a signatory. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlaws any discrimination in the enjoyment of human rights and freedom, inter alia, on the ground of religion. In furtherance of the same, Article 18 pronounced religious liberty including the right to convert individually or in group, to be everyone’s basic human right.
Reading all these constitutional provisions together, we are convinced that any religion-based discrimination in selecting particular castes for affirmative action will conflict with the letter and spirit of the constitutional provisions.
We, therefore, appeal that the caste system may be recognised as a general social characteristic of the Indian society as a whole, without questioning whether the philosophy and teachings of any particular religion recognise it or not.The Indian manifestationsof certain faith traditions like Christianity and Islam, while adapting themselves to local contexts, absorbed certain social norms and cultural practices. Caste is one such. We hold that the impact of these dynamics makessuch singling out for differential treatment is unreasonable and unrealistic.
We strongly feel that Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 which originally restricted the Scheduled Caste net to the Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists, thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis, etc. – should be wholly deleted by appropriate action so as to completely de-link the Scheduled Caste status from religion and make the Scheduled Castes net fully religion-neutral like that of the Scheduled Tribes.
[1]Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission report, page 154 Chapter 10, para 16.3.7 Recommendations and Modalities of their Implementation
Sincerely,
Indian Christian Collective for Justice
Annie Namala, Aruna Gnanadason, Chandran Paul Martin, David Selvaraj, Deenabandhu Manchala, Bishop Geevarghese Mor Coorilos,
Inbaraj Jayakumar, Israel Gollapalli, Jesudas Athyal, Joseph Prabhakar Dayam, Paul Divakar, Philip Peacock,
Samuel Jayakumar, Seno Tsuhah, Shanti Mathai, Sudipta Singh and Wati Longchar
We invite you to join ICCJ. Contact us: justicecollective@yahoo.com
The members of the Collective do not represent any church, organization or institution.
Indian Christian Collective for Justice is a space for people who dare to speak truth to powers, resist injustice and abuse of power, and work collaboratively to explore new meanings and expressions of being church in India. It is an open and inclusive space for young people, activists, academics, writers, artists, theologians, church workers and all who are committed to exploring inclusive, non-hierarchical, and people-based expressions of Christian presence and action that are rooted in justice and compassion. It is committed to the vision of a transformed world.