India's Dalit Christians Come One Step Closer to Equality

A long-awaited report from India's National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities has brought Dalit Christians one step closer to their dream of living with the same rights as those Dalits who remain in the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths.

The commission was initially appointed by India's Supreme Court two years ago to assess the extent to which Dalits who leave their traditional faith groups - mainly Hinduism - are subsequently victims of persecutions. The report, which was supposed to be released after six months, was finally released last week after repeated delays.

If the Indian Supreme Court follows the Commission's recommendations, thousands of Dalit Christians and Muslims will receive the same affirmative action benefits as those who choose to remain in the country's majority Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths.

"This is a significant and giant step toward justice for the Dalits," said Gospel for Asia President KP Yohannan. "If the court follows the commission's recommendations, it will free many Dalits to choose to follow Christ. They will no longer have to fear losing their rights."

Studies conducted by the commission concluded that Dalit converts to Christianity continue to endure caste-based discrimination. In response to the findings, the commission recommended that Dalit Christians, Muslims and other religious minorities receive several affirmative action benefits, including the reservation of 15 per cent of the seats in non-minority institutions for the religious minority Dalits.

Currently, affirmative action benefits are only awarded to Dalits who are Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Since 1950, the Indian government has ruled that only Dalits who are from those religions need these benefits.

The government claims that once a Dalit leaves Hinduism, or what has been deemed a Hindu-based religion, they are free from discrimination caused by the Hindu caste system. Many upper-caste Hindus, meanwhile, argue that providing affirmative action benefits for all Dalits would encourage Hindus to leave their traditional religion.

Until now, Dalit Christians have been excluded from the affirmative action benefits awarded to other non-Christian Dalits. The case asking to award Dalit Christians the Scheduled Caste status, a special status given to those who are economically or socially marginalised because of their caste, was originally filed in 2004.

If the Supreme Court rules in their favour, Dalit Christians will receive the benefits guaranteed to them by the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case again on 19 July.

The complex issue has also been taken up by India's National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which rejected the premise that Christian and Muslim Dalits should still have access to affirmative action benefits. The committee denied the need for the benefits on the grounds that "untouchability," the main criteria for the benefits, only applied to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs and some Buddhists.

There are an estimated 300 million Dalits in India who, according to GFA, suffer "unimaginable oppression and exploitation". According to the charity, nearly 65 per cent of Christians, including the Dalits, in India belong to Scheduled Castes. Christian groups have long argued that it is unconstitutional for the government to deny the Christian Dalits the same rights as others.

Although the caste system was outlawed in 1950, it still maintains a stronghold on almost all of Indian society. Men and women born into a Dalit family live in virtual slavery to those in the upper castes, GFA said, and are expected to perform manual labour jobs, such as cleaning sewers, and are routinely abused and even murdered without consequence, it added.

The charity concluded, "GFA leaders in India request prayer that the case will no longer be delayed, and that the court will give the Christian Dalits the benefits they desperately need."