Results of Supreme Court Hearing on Dalit Christians on November 28, 2005

Supreme Cour Asks Government whether discrimination can be made on basis of religion

The New Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Y.K. Sabharwal, carried further the argument of the former Chief Justice Mr. Lahoti, and asked whether the Government of India can discriminate against Dalit Christians on the basis of religion.

Disappointingly, the Government’s Counsel, with disregard for the broader political view in the nation, once again tried to get the case adjourned. They in fact wanted the case dismissed saying the issue was one that concerned Parliament and not the Supreme Court and that the Government had done enough by setting up a Commission to look into the matter.

The Counsel for the Public Interest Litigation, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, responded by saying that already enough Commissions had delivered the judgement that Dalit Christians can not be denied affirmative action benefits on the basis of their religious affiliation. He further argued that the matter was a Supreme Court issue because the Presidential Order of 1950 ran counter to the fundamental rights in the Constitution which stated that no discrimination must be made on the basis of religion.

The hearing has now been adjourned until mid-February 2006.

It is apparent that there are elements in the present Government that want to blatantly continue the discrimination against Dalit Christians. “This is a real shame when the present Government came into power thanks to the support of the poor, the Dalits, and the minorities which obviously includes Dalit Christians,” said Rev. Dr. G. Samuel, Andhra Pradesh State President of the All India Christian Council (AICC). “This discrimination against Dalit Christians is just another demonstration of the larger discrimination and oppression faced by all Dalits across the nation.”

In a concurrent development, the Rastriya Swam Sevak Sangh (RSS) – the extremist Hindu organization – deputed their own advocate to the Supreme Court to argue against giving Dalit Christians equal affirmative action benefits under the Constitution. The RSS is a fundamentalist, anti-minorities, anti-Dalit outfit that has been propagating the extremist ideology of “Hindutva”.

The Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) is the authorized partner of the All India Christian Council, the SC/ST Confederation, and other Dalit-Bahujan groups involved in the emancipation of the Dalits.