Church stir on Aug 10 for SC status to Dalit Christians, Muslims
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100809/5021517943918479316.htm
CAMIL PARKHE
Monday, August 09, 2010 AT 12:28 PM (IST)
Tags: Pune, Church, Christian, Muslim, CBCI, scheduled caste, Camil Parkhe
PUNE: Christians in the city will participate in a nationwide agitation on August 10 to demand Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalits belonging to Christian and Muslim religions.
The call for observing a nationwide black day on Tuesday has been given by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country.
The black day will be observed to demand deletion of the paragraph 3 of the Presidential order on Constitution (Scheduled Caste) which said that ‘No person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste’.
August 10 has been chosen the day for the stir as the Presidential order was issued on August 10, 1950. The Church has undertaken a signature drive to demand inclusion of the Dalit Christians and Muslims in the SC category. Signatures of the community members were collected during the masses at all the churches in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad on Saturday and Sunday.
The Church has planned to submit a memorandum to Pune district collector on Tuesday. Fr George D’Souza, vicar general of Pune diocese, has issued a letter to all churches in Pune diocese to seek mobilisation of support for the agitation. Fr D’Souza has asked all parish priests to send a two-member team from each church to meet the collector.
The nationwide agitation has been led by CBCI’s Commission for SC/ST and Backward Classes. Commission chairperson and Hyderabad Archbishop Marampudi Joji has addressed a letter to the church hierarchy in the country, soliciting their support for August 10 agitation.
The archbishop’s letter has said that in 1956 and 1990, Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists were included in the SC category and has argued that denial of this status to Dalit Christians and Muslims is discriminatory.
BLACK DAY
The CBCI has called for hoisting black flags on all churches and church institutions to condemn denial of the SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims.
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100809/5021517943918479316.htm
CAMIL PARKHE
Monday, August 09, 2010 AT 12:28 PM (IST)
Tags: Pune, Church, Christian, Muslim, CBCI, scheduled caste, Camil Parkhe
PUNE: Christians in the city will participate in a nationwide agitation on August 10 to demand Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalits belonging to Christian and Muslim religions.
The call for observing a nationwide black day on Tuesday has been given by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country.
The black day will be observed to demand deletion of the paragraph 3 of the Presidential order on Constitution (Scheduled Caste) which said that ‘No person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste’.
August 10 has been chosen the day for the stir as the Presidential order was issued on August 10, 1950. The Church has undertaken a signature drive to demand inclusion of the Dalit Christians and Muslims in the SC category. Signatures of the community members were collected during the masses at all the churches in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad on Saturday and Sunday.
The Church has planned to submit a memorandum to Pune district collector on Tuesday. Fr George D’Souza, vicar general of Pune diocese, has issued a letter to all churches in Pune diocese to seek mobilisation of support for the agitation. Fr D’Souza has asked all parish priests to send a two-member team from each church to meet the collector.
The nationwide agitation has been led by CBCI’s Commission for SC/ST and Backward Classes. Commission chairperson and Hyderabad Archbishop Marampudi Joji has addressed a letter to the church hierarchy in the country, soliciting their support for August 10 agitation.
The archbishop’s letter has said that in 1956 and 1990, Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists were included in the SC category and has argued that denial of this status to Dalit Christians and Muslims is discriminatory.
BLACK DAY
The CBCI has called for hoisting black flags on all churches and church institutions to condemn denial of the SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims.
