“A two days’ conclave named “Conversion and Reservation’ is being organised by Vishwa Samvad Kendra on the March 4-5, 2023 in Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar. The conclave is being organised to discuss whether the converted Scheduled Caste people should get the benefit of reservation or not. In this conclave, jurists, educationists, scholars and volunteer organisations from different parts of India, will participate,” said Dr Pravesh Chowdhary, coordinator of the program and assistant professor at Centre for Comparative Politics & Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, on February 24.
“We all know that this matter is under consideration by the Supreme Court. To understand the opinion of society on this, the government has also constituted a commission under the chairmanship of former judge Shri KG Balakrishnan,” Dr Pravesh Chowdhary said.
The subject of this conclave is — Conversion and Reservation: with special reference to KG Balakrishnan Commission, he informed.
“In this two-day discussion, we endeavour to have a point-wise discussion on conversion and reservation. After the constitution of the Sachar Committee, the Ranganath Mishra Commission and its recommendation, a situation has arisen among the Scheduled Caste brothers in the country regarding whether the converted Christians and Muslims should get a reservation or not. There is also an ongoing discussion on this in society. Some people believe that converted Christians and Muslims do not find any change in their social status even after converting from Hinduism. Many questions have been raised in society regarding the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission, its validity, study, method of analysis, and time period. On the other hand, the majority society of the country believes that the scheduled castes whose religion is Hindu, should get all the facilities, representation and reservations provided by the constitution,” Dr Chowdhary added.
“Recently the Government of India has set up K. G Balakrishnan Commission. In such a situation, this discussion is being organized only to give an independent platform to the intellectual class of society. The speciality of this discussion is that professors, deans of schools, heads of departments, vice-chancellors, research scholars and representatives of nongovernmental organizations are also participating in this discussion. Many former judges and senior advocates are also participating in this. Organised by the joint efforts of Vishwa Samvad Kendra and Gautam Buddha University, some such points will definitely emerge from this discussion which will be beneficial for the country’s integrity and social harmony,” Dr Pravesh Chowdhary further added.
