RV Babu, the state president of Sangh-inspired Hindu Aikyavedi, stated that caste-based reservation is guaranteed by our Constitution for the members of the socially backward communities who have been pushed away from the mainstream of social life for long time. There is no caste discrimination in Christianity and Islam. Therefore, those who have converted themselves to those two religions are not entitled to enjoy the reservation provided for scheduled castes or tribes. Babu was submitting the statement before the three member Scheduled Caste Commission headed by Justice KG Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Bharat and also the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.
If the converted Christians or Muslims are awarded the status of Scheduled Castes, the genuine people belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled1 tribes will not get chance and opportunity to be elected as people’s representatives. The converted ones belong to organised communities hence they can easily get elected due to the pressure, influence and force the concerned communities enjoy and command. Then, the scheduled communities who opt to live as Hindus, despite suffering the inequalities and disrespect, will be kept away from the seats of power.
ES Biju, the leader of Samoohyaneeti Karmma Samiti (Social Justice Action Council), à submitted the statement, before the Commission, which projected the same spirit of R.V. Babu’s statement.
A host of Hindu leaders including Padmashree Acharya MK Kunjol, the patron of Hindu Aikyavedi, Kerala, was one among them. Representatives and leaders of several organisations of backward Hindu communities submitted their statements before the Commission insisting that converted Christians and Muslims should not be awarded the status of scheduled communities.
RSS, BJP and other Sangh-inspired organisations are the only bodies who oppose awarding the status of scheduled communities to converted Christians and Muslims. Both ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front have not come out with any open stand in the recent past. But, both have been holding the ‘pro reservation’ policy since long.
Recommendations of National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities alias Ranganatha Misra Commission is significant in this context. Commission was constituted by UPA-1 on October 29, 2004. Here are the Terms of Reference the Commission was entrusted with:
1) To suggest criteria for identification of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities;
2) To recommend measures for welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, including reservation in education and government employment; and
3) To suggest the constitutional, legal and administrative modalities required for the implementation of its recommendations.
After nearly five months since the Commission started its activities, the Terms of Reference were modified to add the following:
To give its recommendations on the issues raised in WPs 180/04 and 94/05 filed in the Supreme Court of India, and in certain High Courts, relating to Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 in the context of the ceiling of 50 percent on reservations, as also the modalities for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes.
These were the main recommendations:.
- Give 10 per cent quotas for Muslims and 5 per cent for other minorities in government jobs and in seats in all the higher educational institutions (graduation and above)
- Reserve 8.4 per cent quota out of the existing OBC quota of 27 per cent for religious minorities, mainly Muslim
- Permit Dalits who convert to Islam or Christianity to avail of reservation benefits under the Scheduled Caste reservation quota.
The above Terms of Reference and Recommendations speak out that they were aiming at laying hands on the reservations enjoyed by the scheduled caste communities within Hindu society; and of course an eye on the minorities vote bank politics.
The bill for Scheduled status for converted Dalits was introduced during the last days of Narasimha Rao regime and again under Dedva Gowda rule. BJP was alone to oppose it. In 1996, Dalit leaders of Kerala came out to denounce such a move. This author remembers that RSS Sarsanghchalak Prof. Rajendran Singh alias Raju Bhaiyya was in Kerala at that time. He said, while addressing a Sangh programme in Thiruvananthapuram, that RSS stands with Dalit organisations because, their stand was right. One of those days, they (Dalit organisations) unleashed a ‘rail rokho’ agitation in Kochi to press their stand. Family members of RSS workers distributed lunch packets for them while they were staging ‘sit in’ on railway tracks.
Those incidents played significant roles to create positive opinions about RSS among the Dalits in Kerala. Until then a good number of them were misguided by the Congress and CPM propaganda that RSS belonged to caste Hindus hence against Dalits.
Now, all right-thinking people in Kerala believe that Sangh-inspired organisations are moving in the direct direction in connection with the scheduled status for converted Dalits.
Some organisations of converted Christians had moved Supreme Court praying for SC status. Hindu organisations countered those petitions. Then apex court asked union government to submit their stand. That is how Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission appointed.
