The Andhra Pradesh Assembly, in the last week of March, passed a unanimous resolution requesting the Union Government to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes), 1950, facilitating the inclusion of Dalits converted to Christianity to receive the SC status and consequential benefits of reservations.
Church Behind Poll Victory
This resolution is the culmination of a series of pro-Christian decisions taken by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, himself a convert, since he assumed power in 2019. That the Church was behind his electoral victory is a well-known fact. The religious prayer meetings held by pastors of every Christian denomination including CM’s brother-in-law Anil Kumar, an evangelist, are undeniable. It is the Church which is pushing its agenda through CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. Therefore, the Hindu society in the State needs to be alerted.
Challenging the Centre
The resolution is a challenge to the Union Government as it was moved and got the approval of the House at a time when the Centre emphatically stated before the Supreme Court regarding the constitutional mandate of reservations for the religions, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhism, having caste denominations.
By moving the constitutionally unacceptable demand, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is planning the Christian card in the upcoming elections. Building Churches using State funds, sanctioning salaries of over 30,000 Pastors in the State, subsiding the Jerusalem trip for Christians and liberal sanction of lands for Christian NGOs in the name of social services are examples of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s pro-Church agenda.
Notably, Majority of the MLAs elected on Jagan party ticket from the SC reserved constituencies are practicing Christians.
Pursuing Proselytisation Agenda
By passing the resolution in the Assembly, Jagan Mohan Reddy wishes to hit the Hindu society by allowing Crypto-Christians, currently estimated to be about 15 to 20 per cent, to add to the Church’s strength. It is also aimed at giving a free hand to the proselytisation activity in the State. What surprises is the presence of over 50,000 Churches in the State when the Christian population is hovering around seven lakhs as per the 2011 census.
The census data of 2011 states the Christian population in Andhra Pradesh is 1.39 per cent, while the Hindus form 90.86 per cent.
The Christian minorities who protest even for the slightest suggestion of reform, claiming it as an interference in the personal matters of their religion, are surprisingly welcoming the resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, which is nothing short of blasphemy. Christianity, unlike Hinduism, is believed to be a “great” religion which treats all with no distinction based on one’s birth. “There is absolutely no untouchability in the religion” is what all these centuries the clergy claimed and used as a tool for conversions. With the move from suffocative caste-ridden Hindu religion to inclusive Christianity, the converted should have felt happy for the liberation they got from the caste tags. When converts have forgotten the caste and joined the alleged homogenous religion, the resolution to stamp the caste brand on the converts is certainly an interference by the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government into the sacred tenets of Christianity, and it should be opposed by the true believers of Jesus. For the sake of a few jobs through reservations, those in the Christian faith welcomed the caste, thus degrading their own religious beliefs.
Building Churches using State funds, sanctioning salaries of over 30,000 Pastors in the State, subsiding the Jerusalem trip for Christians and liberal sanction of lands for Christian NGOs in the name of social services are examples of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s pro-Church agenda
The argument that the social status of the Dalit has not changed despite moving into Christianity means that the Church is making bogus claims regarding the inclusivity in their religion. When they are continued to be suffocated and not liberated by changing their faith, the converts can as well revolt against the Church and return to their original faith.
(The writer is Vijayawada-based freelance journalist)
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