Vijayawada: Around-table organised by the CPI state committee here on Tuesday demanded that Dalit Christians be recognised as Scheduled Castes and called for a review of the recent Supreme Court verdict denying them SC status.
The meeting, held at Dasari Bhavan under the chairmanship of CPI state secretary G Eswaraiah, brought together leaders from Left parties, Congress, and various Dalit, labour, women, youth, student, minority and Christian organisations.
Speakers expressed concern over what they termed as growing ideological influence on institutions, alleging that such trends were impacting policy decisions and judicial pronouncements.
Moving a resolution, Eswaraiah said the Supreme Court’s March 24 judgment reiterated that SC status does not extend to Dalit Christians. He stressed that Paragraph 3 of the 1950 Presidential Order must be removed to enable their inclusion and noted that several petitions on the issue are pending before the apex court.Despite religious conversion, Dalits continue to face social and economic discrimination, he said, adding that denial of SC status deprives Dalit Christians of reservations in education and employment, as well as protections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
He also stated that the judgment violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and urged the Centre to seek a review before a full bench of the Supreme Court.
AP Congress president YS Sharmila criticised the verdict, stating that it goes against the spirit of the Constitution and fails to adequately consider Articles 14, 15, and 25. She pointed out that the social and economic conditions of Dalits do not change even after religious conversion, making the denial of SC status unjust.
She termed it discriminatory that conversion does not affect other castes in the same manner and warned that injustice to nearly 80 lakh Dalit Christians in the state would amount to a serious social concern. Former Union Minister JD Seelam said efforts were made during the Congress regime to address the issue, but remained incomplete due to the government’s tenure ending.
CPI national secretary K Ramakrishna said caste discrimination persists from birth to death and cannot be eliminated through religious conversion. He demanded a nationwide caste census and questioned why Dalit Christians should be denied SC reservations when discrimination continues.
CPM state secretary V Srinivasa Rao said the Supreme Court verdict is not justified, explaining that caste is a social construct and does not change with religion. He suggested that the issue be examined by a Constitutional bench.
YSRCP state spokesperson and former MLC Jupudi Prabhakar Rao recalled Dr B R Ambedkar’s view that the State has no religion and said the verdict would cause irreparable loss to Dalit Christians.The meeting unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to seek a review of the judgment and called upon the Andhra Pradesh Assembly to pass a similar resolution.
Courtesy : THI
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