Dec 9 Dalit Liberation Sunday, campaign to intensify

In a bid to intensify the campaign for the rights of Dalit Christians, Churches and its organisations called for December 9 to be observed as Dalit Liberation Sunday.

Executive secretary of the SC/ST Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s, Fr Arokiaraj Cosmon, urged the Churches to “conscientise the faithful about the rights of Dalit Christians and ecclesial integration.”

“The Dalit Liberation Sunday on December 9 will be observed in churches across India, may I request you to take part in this gathering (on November 29) and urge the Union Government to implement the recommendations of the Ranganath Misra Commission and introduce the necessary Bill in the Parliament to include the Christians of Scheduled Caste origin in the Scheduled Caste list,” Fr Cosmon said.

According to reports, a dharna will be held a day after the next Supreme Court hearing on Dalit reservation issue on November 28. Although the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has favoured the inclusion of Christians of Scheduled Caste origin in the Scheduled Caste list, officially it is yet to be approved.

The decision to intensify the agitation and hold dharna was taken at a meeting on November 5 of the National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christians which is a joint program of the CBCI and National Council of Churches of India (NCCI), reported a Christian news source.

After the conclusion of the dharna, a memorandum will be submitted to the Prime Minister, the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Minister of Minority Affairs, the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Castes.