MADURAI, INDIA, July 18, 2005: The first-ever public hearing on the plight of the struggle of Dalit Christians for equal rights today concluded that the community should be extended the same opportunities, facilities and benefits provided for its Hindu counterparts. (HPI adds: Dalit Christians are those of the Dalit or “Untouchable” caste of Hinduism who converted to Christianity, but were still regarded as “Untouchable” even by their fellow Christians. Hindu Dalits are eligible for affirmative action type programs for education and jobs, called “reservations” in India.)
The Dalit Christian People’s Tribunal, comprising Retired Supreme Court Judge P. B. Sawant, noted lawyer Sona Khan and Congress MP S. K. Karvendhan besides others, said it was very unfortunate that the community was being deprived of equal rights ever since the Presidential Order of 1950 (made on the basis that Christianity did not observe caste). Addressing the media after a day-long public hearing, members of the jury panel pointed out that the converts from Hindu religion to other faiths continue to carry their caste with them, irrespective of whether they belonged to higher or lower castes. Stating that this was the reality, they said Dalit Christians remain a disadvantaged section of society as the same disabilities continue to haunt them. The panel was unanimous in its view that the disabilities faced by Dalit Christians would disappear only when similar disabilities suffered by their counterparts in other faiths, viz Hindu, Sikh and Neo Buddhists, were wiped out.