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Showing posts with label quota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quota. Show all posts

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Christians hail caste inclusion in census

Christians hail caste inclusion in census

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100513/5741562463657674903.htm

CAMIL PARKHE

Thursday, May 13, 2010 AT 01:23 PM (IST)
Tags: CBCI, Church, caste, census, Christianity, Dalit Christians
PUNE: The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country, has welcomed the government’s willingness to include caste in the national census.
The CBCI has said that the move will facilitate identification of the dalit Christians - the erstwhile untouchables converted to Christianity - and help them get benefits extended to dalits belonging
to other religions.
In an interview to a Christian website, Fr Babu Joseph, CBCI spokesperson, welcomed the Centre’s proposal and said that since caste remains a social reality, there should be the “actual picture of people belonging to a particular caste.” However, such data should be used for ‘our long term aim of removing caste’ from society, he said.
The Church, which does not endorse casteism in its community, however recognises existence of dalits in its fold and has been demanding that they should be given all the concessions given to dalit Sikhs and Buddhists.
Fr Malcolm Sequeira, spokesperson of Pune diocese, has said that mere religious conversion does not bring any changes into the socio-economic status of the dalits. Therefore, dalit Christians should not be discriminated on the grounds of their religion. Fr Sequeira said that the census form should have two separate columns for caste and religions, so that even dalit Christians or dalits of any religion may be able to specify their caste as well as religion.
Tribals from northeastern states converted to Christianity continue to get quota meant for scheduled tribes even after conversion. This benefit is not extended to the dalits Christians, formerly belonging to various scheduled castes.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Jai Bhim Jai Khrist Unity of Dalit Christians and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar followers

‘Dalit Christians: Right to Reservations’

By Camil parkhe
Publisher: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi

ISBN 9788172149796




18. Solidarity of Jai Bhim and Jai Khrist
Unity of Dalit Christians and Dr Ambedkar followers


Renowned Marathi Christian poet Shahu Dagdoba Ujagare, had in 1929 dedicated his poetry entitled Nave Anjan to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who fought against untouchability.1 It was the first conscious move on the part of a dalit Christian to establish and maintain close ties between the dalit Christians and the Ambedkarite movement.

Delivering the presidential address at the fifth Marathi Khristi Sahitya Sammelan held at De Nobili College in Pune in 1972, Satyavan Namdeo Suryawanshi, editor of Marathi weekly Aapan had strongly advocated that the dalits Christians should unite with other dalits and minority communities in the State. His ideology is important even today.

Suryawanshi gave the call for uniting all dalit forces at a time when the dalit movement in the State had just started making its presence felt. The established Marathi litterateurs and majority of the society had not recognised this separate rebellious ideology till then. Suryawanshi’s call came at a time when even the dalit community itself had not realised the potential of the movement. Significantly, Suryawanshi at that time was editor of a weekly, which was run by the Jesuits.

Suryawanshi enjoys a special place in Marathi literature and also in the dalit movement in Maharashtra. In the 1970s, a series of autobiographies by dalit writers created a major upheaval in Marathi literary circles as well as in the society. The autobiography of Suryawanshi – ‘Aga Je Kalpile Nahi’ (‘I had never even imagined this’) published in 1975, was the front-runner of these autobiographies. Suryawanshi had stated in this book that in his childhood, despite being a Christian, he was always treated by the high caste Hindus as a Mahar, an untouchable caste.

Unfortunately, Suryawanshi’s autobiography remained neglected for quite some time due to lack of effective marketing system. Veteran dalit writer and poet Daya Pawar’s autobiography ‘Baluta’ and P. E. Sonkamble’s autobiography ‘Athavaniche Pakshi’ were published subsequently in 1978 2 and became landmarks in Marathi literature.

In his presidential address at the Khristi sahitya sammelan, Suryawanshi had said, “In today’s democracy, a handful of Christians have absolutely no value. Even in a democratic set up, the government’s facilities and rights cannot be distributed evenly to all because every community thinks for itself and lives by protecting its own interests. Everyone is trying hard to gain a major share of cream for one’s own community, and gets maximum benefits with the help of majority votes in democracy. Due to this ‘Might is right ‘ situation, the sweet fruits of democracy are being enjoyed by majority communities and at the same time our poor community is merely watching it in bewilderment. All the minority communities also face a similar situation. However hard we may try and get our community organised and united, we would never be the rulers!. We would never be able to acquire the power to rule. If a dalit Christian writer is shrewd, intellectual and practical, he will realise mere uniting the Christian community would not yield any major benefits for the society. In a democratic set up, some social benefits can be secured only if the people are able to cause some kinds of nuisance to the government or the rulers, if they can cause terror or pose challenges on the basis of their solidarity. A handful and peace-loving Christians can never pose such challenges. Therefore, why should we waste our strength and intellect in running after mirage of securing and protecting welfare and interests of the Christian community?

Instead, let us mingle and be a part of the crowd of those who are helpless, dalit, distressed, ignored, weak and exploited. Let us share their misfortune, their pain, let us wipe out their tears, and while protecting their welfare, and while pleading for them, let us protect our welfare as well. Our interests and welfare are no different from them, nay, without them, we do not have any existence!

Sometimes, referring to my Aapan weekly, some of my friends ask me, ‘’You take up issues of Muslims, Buddhists, Harijans and tribals in your weekly very enthusiastically. But in comparison, you are less enthusiastic while fighting for the Christians’ issues, why is it so? Who will protect our interest? Who will fight for us Christians? Who will plead for us?’’ I reply to my friends, “Our interests are not different from the interests of the sad, exploited and the dalits. One who pleads for these people also pleads for the Christians. Because, I perceive Lord Jesus in every sad person. If some one is making a false and unjust propaganda against the Muslims, he is doing the same against the Christ and defaming Him. If Buddhist women are stripped, I feel my sisters Martha and Maria have been molested.3

Christians as well as some others from my native town Shrirampur were astonished when they saw a photograph of Dr. Ambedkar prominently placed at the local Catholic parish priest’s office. Most of the people are under the impression that they should keep themselves away from the Ambedkarite movement if they are Christians. Marathi writer Avinash Dolas has described this mentality of dalit Christians in following words: “Members of this community find themselves in a fix. On one hand , they looked at Christ for the heavenly abode and on the other hand, there was Dr Ambedkar who could solve their worldly problems and help them to lead life on this earth. The dalit Christian community was caught in a dilemma. Will they, as Christians, be able to march on the streets, shouting slogans of Jai Bhim? Can they, even after remaining true Christians, become Ambedkarites and return the salute of Jai Bhim of the Amberkarite brigade? 4

It was Rev. Arvind Nirmal who succeeded in solving the predicament faced by the dalit Christians in Maharashtra. Rev Nirmal, an authority on Christian theology, declared that the dalit Christians can retain their umbilical cord with the Ambedkarite movement while still practicing Christianity. Rev Nirmal who is credited with bringing in the dalit Christian liberation movement in Maharashtra motivated many dalit Christian writers and social activists to be a part of the Ambedkarite movement.

Rev Nirmal was a student of Milind College, one of the institutions founded by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He had the fortune to see Dr. Ambedkar from a very close quarter. While in Chennai, he started Christian Dalit Liberation Movement (CDML) . He has edited a book, entitled ‘Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a centenary tribute’.

One of the major contribution of Rev Nirmal is starting the tradition of holding separate dalit Christians’ sahitya sammelans, Until his death in 1995, he took the initiative to hold the annual sammelans for consecutive four years. Until Rev Nirmal established this rebellious path in literary circle, the dalit Christians considered themselves as a part of the `main stream’ literary circles although their existence was not even acknowledged there. Rev Nirmal himself presided over the first and third dalit Christian sahitya sammelans held at Ahmednagar in 1991 and at Lonavala in1994. The presidents of other sahitya sammelans were S N Suryawanshi (Jalna, 1993), Devdatta Husale (Ahmednagar 1995), Bishop Pradeep Kamble (Pune 2001) and Rev Subhash Chandorikar (Sangamner 2004).

On behalf of ‘ Sugava’ magazine of Vilas Wagh and Usha Wagh, and also on behalf of ‘Christian Dalit Liberation Movement’ (CDML), a seminar was organised in Aurangabad some fifteen years ago. Along with Shantaram Pandere, Sharad Patil and Avinash Dolas literary personalities and leaders from Christian community like, Rev. Nirmal, Anil Dahivadkar, Sunil Adhav also had participated. 5 The organiser Rev. Nirmal had tried to take Marathi Christian community to Dr. Ambedkar’s movement through this seminar.

After the death of Rev Nirmal, Dr Gilbert G Londhe, Rev Chandorikar and Vasant Mhaske have kept up dalit Christians’ movement in Maharashtra alive.

Well-known Marathi author Devdatta Husale has succeeded well in maintaining the ties between dalit Christians and the Ambedkarite movement. Well known for rural literature, Husale has commented on the situation of the dalit Christians often in a terse manner.

Delivering the presidential address of the 19th Marathi sahitya sammelan, at Ahmednagar in 2001, Husale said, “Instead of praying ten times and living in constant fear, the dalit Christians should just erect a memorial ( of Dr Ambedkar) and then not a single organisation will ever have the courage to challenge the Christian locality. In any case, do we not attend birth and death anniversaries of people who have never come to the rescue of Christians? We will definitely have the solid backing of our own Buddhist brothers if we give them call at any time. If we participate in Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary celebrations and if the Buddhists attend the Christmas celebrations, the unity of the two communities will have the desired effect.“

The large number of dalit Christians from Marathwada region, from Pune, Nashik, Jalna, Latur and Ahmednagar districts and the migrants to Bombay should serve as a natural vote bank to various factions of the Republican Party of India (RPI) and its alliances. The dalits in Maharashtra originating from the same castes, roots and after living together for ages in villages have now got divided into three religions, Hindu dalits, neo Buddhists and the dalit Christians. Fortunately, they have never got separated geographically and psychologically. It is a fact that the neo-Buddhists have progressed more than the dalit Christians due to the availability of reservations and other concessions.

The social and political leaders of both these communities have not realised that the interests of the people would be served better if these communities remained united politically. These leaders are yet to realise that their social, economical, educational and political problems may have a common answer in spite of their different religious streams, as the root of these communities is one and the same.

During my first meeting with Vilas Wagh of Sugava Publication, he asked me whether I was in any way connected to the movement of the dalit community. Wagh, who is a prominent leader of the dalit movement in Maharashtra, said. “Dalit Christians must maintain strong ties with the Ambedkarite movement,’’ adding “though the two communities follow different religions, their original root and community is the same, their problems also are similar. Therefore, the two communities must stay together in their struggle.” .

Dalit Christians belonging to the older generations greet each other, saying ‘Jai Khrist.’ People from the Ambedkarite movement have the tradition of greeting each other with the ‘Jai Bhim’ slogan. When a dalit Christian participates in Ambedkarite movement, it cannot be considered as being disloyal to his religion. Therefore, he may well greet a fellow dalit from the Ambedkarite movement with salutation, ‘Jai Bhim’.



References:



1.Sunil Adhav –‘Dharma Khristacha, Vichar Sahityacha- Shatakateel Khristi Sahitya Sammelanadhyakshiya Bhashane Va Tyavareel Samiksha’ (page 409)

2.Dr. Vasudeo Mulate ’Dalitanchi Atmakathane : Sankalpana Va Swaroop’, Swaroop Prakashan, ‘Akshar’, 858, Sahyadri nagar,n-5(south) CIDCO, Aurangabad,431003, 2nd edition April2003(pages 25, 26)

3.Sunil Adhav – Dharma Khristacha, Vichar Sahityacha- Shatakateel Khristi Sahitya Sammelanadhyakshiya Bhashane Va Tyavareel Samiksha (page187)

4.Avinash Dolas, ‘Ambedkari Chalval : Parivartanache Sandarbh, Sugava Prakashan, Pune, first edition 1995 (page 47)

5.Avinash Dolas, As above (page 45)

6.Sunil Adhav – Dharma Khristacha, Vichar Sahityacha- Shatakateel Khristi Sahitya Sammelanadhyakshiya Bhashane Va Tyavareel Samiksha’ (page 410)

7.As above (page 344)

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Dalits’ right to quota continues after conversion: Dr Ambedkar

'Dalit Christians: Right to reservations'
Camil Parkhe

Published by:
Indian Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge (ISPCK)
New Delhi



CONTENTS



Foreword – Rev S M Chandorikar
Preface
1Dalit Status did not end with conversion
2Untouchability, casteism among Christians in South India.
3Untouchability, casteism among Christians in Maharashtra.
4The Church’s stance on untouchability, casteism
5Reservations to dalit Christians during British regime.
6Reservations to Hindu SCs, STs and dalit Sikhs
7Reservations denied to neo Buddhists
8Dalits’ right to reservations continues after conversion- Dr Ambedkar
9Initial moves to organise dalit Christians
10Dalit Christians’ manifesto on right to reservations (1970)
11Justification for dalit Christians’ right to reservations
12 Stir by the Bishops’ Council and Graduates Association
13. Dalit Christians in Maharashtra included among OBCs
14. Reservations extended to neo Buddhists
15. The RSS opposes reservations to dalit Christians
16. Reservations to dalit Christians in south India
17. Attitude of urban Christians towards dalitatva and reservations
18.Solidarity of Jai Bhim and Jai Khrist








8. Dalits’ right to reservations continues after conversion - Dr Ambedkar


Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, had emphasised that even after giving up Hinduism and accepting Buddhism or any other religion, the right to reservations and concessions remained unaltered. Babasaheb, having drafted the Constitution of our country, must have definitely known the legal and social basis for the statements he made. He embraced Buddhism along with thousands of his followers in Nagpur in 1956. After the mass conversion ceremony, he explained his stand on conversion, while assuring his followers that even after the conversion, reservations would continue for the converted dalits. Dr Ambedkar’s this address is an excellent example of his immense brilliance, his self-confidence and his concern for the dalits.

Some people often do ask –‘ if the right to reservation is still demanded after conversion, then why to resort to conversion at all?‘ Dr Ambedkar has explained the need for conversion, besides giving an assurance to his followers that whatever concessions he had helped them gain, he would ensure that the same would be given to them even after giving up Hindu religion.

Dr Ambedkar in his speech said, ”The press and many people have criticised me for the mission I have initiated. Some have criticised me severely. According to them, I am misguiding my poor, innocent untouchable people. They are instigating some of us by saying that untouchables would remain as they were even after conversion while they would be forgoing their existing concessions. They are asking them to go by the path already marked for them. If there is suspicion in the minds of some young and old people, it is our duty to dispel it”

Dr Ambedkar further says,” Yesterday, a Brahmin youth came to me and said, - there are reserved seats for you in Parliament and Assemblies, why do you forgo them?” I answered, “You become Mahar and fill up those vacancies in Parliament and the Assemblies. Whenever there is a vacancy, it is filled. Some Brahmins and many others apply for it. Why don’t you Brahmins become Mahars and fill the reserved seats as well? My question to them is why they have to cry when we suffer a loss? ”

‘As a matter of fact, human beings love dignity and not benefits’, Dr Ambedkar said, adding that the aim of the conversion was to lead a life of dignity and honour.

Dr Ambedkar said, ”Even though, we have become Buddhists, I am absolutely confident that I would retain our political rights. I cannot say what will happen after my death. This movement ( to retain reservations for dalits after conversion) will need tremendous work. I have given a thorough thought to circumvent the problems, to put in efforts and to argue the case to for the same. Whatever concessions I have acquired are for my people only. I am confident that the one who acquired these rights will help secure the same once again. I myself have been instrumental in granting of these rights and concessions and I am sure I will get them again. You should therefore trust me for the time being. I shall prove that there is no substance in the propaganda by the opposition.”

Two months after the mass conversion ceremony, Dr Ambedkar died in New Delhi. And a new question arose; whether the erstwhile untouchables and neo- Buddhists should enjoy the right to reservations and concessions after they had given up Hinduism. Dr Ambedkar who had emphasised that dalits’ right to reservations continued even after their conversion to Buddhism, was no longer there to fight on behalf of the neo Buddhists.

The government of Maharashtra, however, under its own special powers, decided to continue the concessions to the neo Buddhists. At the national level, these reservations and concessions were denied in totality to Dr Ambedkar’s followers on the grounds of their conversion. The neo Buddhists in the country had to struggle for over two and half decades to get their just rights restored. The Janata Dal government at the Centre, under the progressive leadership of Prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, at last extended the reservations and other concessions to the neo Buddhists at national level. An injustice meted out to dalit Sikhs was done away in 1956, the neo Buddhists too received justice in 1990. The dalit Christians in the country, however, continue to await a messiah who would deliver justice to them. .


Reference:

1.Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Charitra Sadhana Prakashan Samiti, Editors- Hari Narke, Vasant Moon, Prof. Ashok Godghade, Prof M. L. Kasare, N. G. Kamble, ‘Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Lekhan Ani Bhashane, Vol 18 , Part 3, 1946 to1956- (published in Marathi daily Loksatta, 9 October, 2005)