Minority Affairs Minister urges Central Govt. to include Dalit Christians and Muslims in reserved quota

Abdul Rehman Antulay, Union Minority Affairs Minister, has urged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to consider the case of Dalit Christians and Muslims and include them in the reserved category of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST).

According to Antulay, the Dalit Christians and Muslims should get a "fair" share in jobs and equal opportunity in other aspects in the country. "By just changing their faith, their status, their social and economic backwardness and the burden of being downtrodden for centuries doesn't change overnight," he said.

"If reservation is there for Dalit Hindus and Sikhs, it is only fair that the reality of Muslim and Christian Dalits is recognized and they are eligible for reservation in the category," he added.

"Giving minorities – Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs – and even linguistic minorities their due share is not only practical but also necessary if India is to remain fully integrated. If one part of the body is paralyzed, isn't the entire body affected?" he queried.

According to Antulay, monitoring committees could be set up to examine to what extent justice has been done to "deserving candidates of all communities."

"If a law to this effect is not seen to be feasible, then the awe that government inspires in other organisations can be used to convince even the private sector of the need to have a more representative feel," he said.

"We can blunt the opposition of extreme political groups against giving minorities their fair share by making it clear that it is not kisi ka hissa lekar unhe dena (taking away someone else's share and giving it to minorities) but simply of correcting an injustice," he said.

Caste, a social stratification rooted deep in Hinduism, organizes people by a combination of descent and employment. The lowest group in the caste system is the Dalits. While atrocities against the Dalits have been practiced for thousands of years, caste–based atrocities are reaching new heights and are causing tension across many areas.

A 1950 Presidential Order excluded Dalit convert to Christianity from the quota system that reserved jobs to members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in the public service. The same exclusion applies to those who convert to Islam but not to those who become Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh.

However, in a significant step, the Supreme Court recently decided to consider afresh the crucial constitutional issue of affirmative action in the public sector for Dalit converts to Christianity, refuting the government plea that it be treated as a legislative problem.

The matter, however, has been adjourned several times and the apex court is expected to take up the hearing again in April 2007.

An estimated 70 percent of India's 26 million Christians belong to the socially discriminated Dalit groups, who need social and educational support to integrate to the mainstream of society.