Indian Church’s “Black Day”
protest for Dalit Christians, Muslims
 |
| Indian Christians participating in a Holy Week service (AFP) |
A 1950 Constitution Order grants benefits to Hindu, Sikh and
Buddhist Dalits but discriminates against Christians and Muslims.
By Robin Gomes
India’s Catholic Church observed “Black Day” on
Saturday, to protest against the discrimination that low-caste Christians and
Muslims continue to face in the country.
Indian bishops want to remind the people that the country
bears constitution-based discrimination against Dalit Christians, i.e. Dalits
who embrace Christianity.
Who are Dalits?
Dalit which means "broken" or “downtrodden”,
denotes former "untouchables" who are so low in social status that
they were considered outcasts or outside the rigid caste system of Hindu
society. The Indian Constitution reserves special privileges and
benefits such as quota in government jobs and educational institutions for
Dalits, scheduled tribes (ST), scheduled castes (SC) and backward classes (BC)
to help their socio-economic uplift.
Dalits form the bulk (about two thirds) of India’s Christian
community, that makes up 2.3 per cent of the country’s some 1.3 billion
population.
Discrimination
The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order (Paragraph 3) that
India’s first president Rajendra Prasad signed on August 10, 1950, initially
stated that “…no person who professes a religion different
from the Hindu religion shall be deemed to be a member
of a Scheduled Caste.”
Dalit Christians and Muslims observe the Black Day protest
on August 10, the anniversary of the signing of this discriminatory
presidential order.
Subsequently, the Order was modified to include Sikhs (in
1956) and Buddhists (in 1990) after they protested but Muslims and Christians
of low caste origin were excluded.
Dalit Christians and Muslims regard the presidential order
and its amendments discriminatory and a violation of the Indian Constitution
that upholds equality before the law and prohibits discrimination of any
citizen on the ground of only religion, and guarantees freedom of conscience
and freedom to profess any religion.
Christians united
First observed in 2009, Black Day is organized by the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Churches
in India and the National Council of Dalit Christians.
Black Day is observed in almost all Indian states, but
especially in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,
says Fr. Vijay Kumar Nayak, the Secretary of the CBCI Office for Scheduled Castes/Backward
Classes.
Speaking to Vatican News, he explained that on Black Day
they bring together Christian Church officials, Dalit Christians and Muslims,
politicians and other people of goodwill and hold meetings, demonstrations and
rallies to protest against the discriminatory 1950 presidential
order.
They hand memoranda to the Indian president, prime minister
and other government officials.
Fr. Nayak noted that in 2004 they filed a petition in the
Supreme Court of India on behalf of Dalit Muslims and Christians against the
discrimination based on religion.
The priest is upbeat that the Supreme Court has given the
order for the hearing to start in September. Fr. Nayak says they have the
necessary documents in place but are looking out for a renowned advocate to fight
their case.
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