Shouting slogans, preachers, community leaders, students, youth activists, women and several other members of Dalit Muslim and Christian communities urged the central government to grant them scheduled caste status.
Members of dalit Muslim and Christian community have remained excluded from the scheduled caste status owing to a 1950 constitutional order, which bars lower-caste people who adhere to religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism from the benefits of the status of schedule caste.
Voicing their ire, the activists urged the government to accord them equal status with the Scheduled Castes of the country.
"In the last 60 years, we have been suppressed by the central government. Since we became Christians and Muslims, we have been deprived of the constitutional rights that the dalit people received. So, we have come here in demand of our constitutional right," said Fr. Bijoy, a Dalit Christian preacher.
The activists urged the government to implement the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission Report, which had called for an extension of the Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.
"We want that the Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims get their rights. This is our right, we are not begging. We want that the report of the Ranganath Mishra Commission must be immediately implemented. When a Scheduled Tribe member retains his rights despite converting from one religion to another, why is injustice meted out with scheduled caste members?" said Sayad Ali, a Dalit Muslim community leader.
The protestors further threatened to impose a shutdown across Orissa if their demands were not met.
No comments:
Post a Comment