A Presidential Order dating back to 1950 makes all non-Hindu Dalits ineligible for Scheduled Caste reservations, saying only Hindu Dalits can avail of reservations in government jobs, higher education and legislative bodies. This was amended to include Sikh Dalits in 1956 and Buddhist Dalits in 1990, but it has still not been extended to the other religious groups. This also means that Christian and Muslim Dalits are not protected against anti-Scheduled Caste atrocity legislation. A Bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar posted for February 24 final hearing on petitions challenging the Presidential Order of 1950 limiting reservation to dalits among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. The government had said that any change to include dalits, who converted to Christianity and Islam -- both religions not recognising any caste-based division -- had to be left to Parliament and could not be done by courts. This also means that Hindu Right Wingers propaganda of Dalits converting to Christianity and continuing to get benefits of reservation is totally false...
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:53:51 +0000
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