Dear
Marshall,
I
must thank you for your intervention. This encounter has widened my horizons. I
have come to realise that the abomination of caste as practised by Goan
Catholics is nothing compared to the tribulations suffered by their
counterparts in Southern India. These are some of the illustrative stories that
have come to my notice:
(1 ?? ?(1)?On 9th March, 2008, two
Christians died and 40 more were wounded in police firing during clashes between
Dalit Catholics and upper caste Catholics in the diocese of
Pondicherry-Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu).
Three
months earlier, Dalits from St Jabamalais Annai Church in Earyur built another
church dedicated to Saghaya Madha (Our Lady of perpetual Help) and sought to
have it erected as a separate parish with its own priest.
In
response some 500 upper caste Christians went on a rampage on Sunday, attacking
Dalits and torching over 30 huts. Police were pelted with stones and were thus "forced"to open fire on the aggressors.
Fr G
Cosmon Arokiaraj, secretary to the Commission for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India said, "For years Dalits have been discriminated
within the Church itself. They cannot sit with upper caste members in the same
church; they are buried in separate cemeteries; they cannot use the same roads
as upper caste people. When the mother of a Dalit priest died in the 1990s the
upper caste did not allow the funeral procession to use the main road; even the
bishop failed to bring about a compromise."
Pl. see
at: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11726
?
(2)???? The biennial report submitted by the Commission for
Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Backward Classes of the Catholic Bishop's Conference
of India at the CBCI Annual General Body meeting in 2000 at Chennai, says
"Dalit Christians, forming the majority in the Christian community, suffer
humiliation, discrimination and socio-educational disabilities even after
conversion due to the traditional practice of untouchability in the Church and
in society."
(3)???? Father K Amal, a catholic priest and the Head of Human
Rights Cell at the Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, says "Although
Christianity in principle does not have caste, the truth is different. There is
a huge resistance from the upper caste members of the church when it comes to
treating Dalit Christians as equals, or sharing power in the Church's hierarchy
with them. And a handful of people like me who favour it are not welcomed at all."
(4)???? In 1994 a church had to be closed at K K Pudur near
Chengalpattu district of Tamilnadu following clashes between Dalit Christians
and Reddy Catholics.
(5)???? In 1999 a Dalit Christian woman Jeyaseliammal's
funeral was not allowed to be held at the church in Eraiyur of Trichy district
in Tamilnadu by the Vanniyar Christians of the region.
(6)???? In the year 2000, Jnanaprakash, a Dalit Christian from
Hassan district in Karnataka, was allegedly murdered following a fight with an
upper caste member. His family members say that the police did not even
register a case.
Pl.
see at: http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/oct/soc-dalitsc.htm
?
If this is their plight in this enlightened twenty-first
century, one shudders to think about the situation extant in the 1940s when the
Constituent Assembly was debating such issues. Among the Christian members, Fr.
Jerome ( being from Madras) was certainly aware of all this and therefore
should have striven to ameliorate the lot of these brethren in Christ, instead
of sticking to the *theory* that Christianity does not recognise castes. The
Catholic dalits are not enjoying the theory, they suffer the reality! But he
did nothing of the sort, unlike some others who went out of their way to air
the sufferings of their constituents like Mr. Jaipal
Singh who, on 27th August 1947, said, "...... Sir, a good deal has been said by my friends, the
Scheduled Castes leaders in gratitude in regard to the reservation that has
been made for appointments. Only a few days ago the Government of India made
announcement that a certain policy would be followed so that the scheduled
castes would find a place in the central Government. I deeply regret that the
most needy, the most deserving group of Adibasis has been completely left out
of the picture." No such intervention is noticed
from any of the Christian members. Contrary to my earlier misconception (which
prompted you to intervene), it was not so much the influence as the acquiescence
of the Christian members which resulted in the exclusion of Christian dalits in
the Order of 1950, issued in pursuant to Article 341(1). Because this handicap
stems from the Act of 1935 and the Order of 1936. This is what they say:
?The
Act: First Schedule, on p. 217:
26-1 ............................
"an? Indian? Christian"? means? a? person? who? professes? any form of the Christian religion and is not a European or an
Anglo-Indian ;
?
"the? scheduled? castes"? means? such? castes,? races? or? tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races? or tribes, being castes,? races,? tribes,? parts? or? groups? which? appear? to His? Majesty in? Council? to? correspond? to? the? classes? of persons? formerly? known? as? "the? depressed? classes",? as His Majesty in Council may specify;?
?
Fifth
Schedule, on p. 243:
19.? In the foregoing provisions of this Schedule the
following expressions? have the? meanings? hereby? assigned? to? them,? that is to? say,-
"a
European,"? "an? Anglo-Indian,"? "an? Indian Christian" and? "the? scheduled? castes"? have? the? same? meanings respectively as
they have in Part I of the First Schedule to this Act ;
?
?
Sixth
schedule part I on p. 249:
?
13
? (1) In this Schedule, except where the context otherwise requires-
............
?
"European,"? "Anglo-Indian,"? "Indian? Christian "? and "scheduled
castes"? have? the same? meanings? respectively as they
have in Part I? of the First
Schedule? to this Act ;
?
The Order:
2.
Subject to the provisions of this order, for the purposes of the First, Fifth
and Sixth Schedules to the Government of India Act, 1935, the castes, races or
tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes specified in Parts
I to IX of the Schedule to this Order shall, in the Provinces to which those
Parts respectively relate, be deemed to be scheduled? castes so far as regards members thereof
resident in the localities specified in relation to them respectively in those
parts of that Schedule.
3.
Notwithstanding anything in the last preceding paragraph?
???? (a)? No Indian Christian shall be deemed to a member of a Scheduled Caste;
?
In the light of the above your contention
that "Article 341 speaks about Scheduled
Caste only and makes no reference to religion"holds no water. The Scheduled Castes have always been
treated as Hindu, and this was made amply clear by Mr. K M Munshi on 27th August 1947, when he said,"so
far as the Scheduled Castes are concerned, they are not minorities in the
strict meaning of the term; that the Harijans are part and parcel of Hindu
community."?Please therefore note that the Order of
1950 did not alter the status quo ante. From the above, it is also very clear
that benefits under Scheduled Castes could not have been given to any subgroup
under Indian Christian group automatically, because no such subgroup was ever recognised
till that date. Hence, it is but natural to expect that the Christian members
should have insisted on the creation of such a subgroup, by whatever name. Not
only did they fail to do this, but went on to forego all special privileges to
Christians. Mr. Mookherjee said on 27th
August 1947: "I am a member of a minority community myself and I
feel proud that the community of which I am a member has decided to give up all
special privileges, and first of all I must thank my colleagues of my community
who are members and who are present here today."
You poohpoohed Santosh's submission of the
article by a Jesuit published in a Catholic journal as of no consequence, and
are insisting that I should "provide documentary
evidence from official archives." But you are now producing
Wikipedia in support of your contention! How reliable is Wikipedia? Let me give
you an illustration. In the entry "Caste system among Indian Christians"
under "Goa" the final line reads: "The upper caste Gaonkar
Christians have demanded that only their community be given positions on the
Pastoral Council of Goa's Catholic Church." What would a reader understand
from this? Have you ever heard of such a thing happening in Goa? I looked for
the citation. It is a news item published in the Indian Express of November 24, 1999. It refers to a dispute in the parish
of Cuncolim. The parish priest had, for the first time, appointed two persons
from among the "moradors" (who are all non-chardo by caste, and not
dalits alone) on the Parish Pastoral Council. The "gaonkars" (all
chardo) insisted on having only members of their caste on that Body, as had
been the practice earlier. It was not an all-Goa issue. I also know the issue
first-hand since Cuncolim church is a bare 4 kms by road from my residence and also
on my regular route to Margao. Hence I would not give much credence to
Wikipedia. Moreover, this is what Mr. Mookherjee said about Mr. K M Munshi in
the speech cited above: "It is here that I must compliment Mr. Munshi, who
in the Minorities SubCommittee did so much running from one group to another,
in order to find their minimum demands, then pressing their case on the
attention of the Minorities Committee and who got them carried in the Advisory
Committee." How did Munshi change colours so soon?
Under the article by Fr. Izzo, I found the following
comment by one Fr. Iruthayaraj Thusnevish: "I am a
dalit catholic priest here in south India. Whatever has been said about dalit
in this article is true. I am myself going through such painful situations as a
priest. So much so I have started a separate church called DALIT CATHOLIC
CHURCH to work only for the betterment of dalits. Presently I am running a home
for the aged, providing educational help to poor dalit students, empowering
dalit women with tailoring learning and free sewing machines and planning to do
many more programs besides saying mass and prayers only for dalits. ....."
This is an unfortunate trend; the Catholic Church is disintegrating in South
India as a result of caste feuds. This is buttressed by another fact: In the
backdrop of the police firing cited above, a thousand Dalit Christians officially
got reconverted into Hinduism. ?
?
Regards.
Sebastian Borges
On ?3 Sep
2013 ?Marshall Mendonza <mmendonza55 at gmail.com> wrote:
3. Regarding hindutva influence in the
Constituent Assembly, please read
what wikipedia has to state about Dr K M Munshi
and Mr Purushottam Das
Tandon and? Dr S P Mukherjee,.
Re: Dr K M Munshi:
" He and Purushottam Das
Tandon<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purushottam_Das_Tandon> were
among those who strongly opposed propagation and
conversion in the constituent
assembly <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly_of_India>. He
was also the main driving force behind the
renovation of the historically
important Somnath <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnath> Temple by the
Government of India just after
independence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanaiyalal_Maneklal_Munshi
Re: Purushottam Das Tandon:
"Several controversies and contradictions
abound in the life of Purushottam
Das Tandon. While he emphasized the similarities
between
Hindu<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu>
and Muslim <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim> cultures, he is regarded
to have carried the image of a *soft* Hindu
nationalist<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_nationalist> leader.
He and KM Munshi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KM_Munshi> were among those
who strongly opposed religious propagation and
conversion of a people of
one religion to another; they strongly argued in
the constituent
assembly<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly_of_India>
for
a condemnation in the
constitution<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India> of
religious conversion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purushottam_Das_Tandon
Re: Dr S P Mukherjee:
"*Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee*? was an
Indian politician, who served as
Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime
Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru>'s
cabinet. After falling out with Nehru, Mookerjee
quit the Indian National
Congress <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Congress> party and
founded Nationalist Bharatiya Jana
Sangh<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Jana_Sangh> party
in 1951.'
" He emerged as a spokesman for Hindus and
shortly joined Hindu Mahasabha
and in 1944, he became the President."
"After consultation with Shri Golwalkar
Guruji of RSS Shri Mookerjee
founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh on 21st Oct. 1951
at Delhi and he became the
first President of it. In 1952 elections,?
The BJS was ideologically close
to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtriya_Swayamsevak_Sangh> (RSS)
and widely considered the political arm of Hindu
Nationalism<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_Nationalism>.
It was opposed to appeasement of India's
Muslims. The BJS also favored a
uniform civil code governing personal law
matters for both Hindus and
Muslims, wanted to ban cow slaughter and end the
special status given to
the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and
Kashmir<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir>.
The BJS founded the Hindutva <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva> agenda
which became the wider political expression of
India's Hindu majority. His
legacy still remains influential among the conservative
members within the
Congress."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syama_Prasad_Mookerjee
4. I have pointed out to you that the very fact
a Presidential Order was
issued on 10th August 1950 barely seven months
after the Constitution came
into force, negating benefits to dalits of all
other religions other than
hindus, itself is proof that the Constitution as
adopted by the Constituent
Assembly did indeed provide for social and economic
benefits to dalits of
all religions. If you will kindly go through the
Constitution and the
Directive Principles, you may kindly observe
that they are religion neutral
http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p04.html
5.You state "You are asking a rhetoric
question: ?If dalit christians were
excluded by the Constitution what was the need
for this Order?? I think you
will have to first prove that they were in fact
not excluded by the
Constitution.
Please do so.
Here is my response:
a) kindly refer to Article 15 which prohibits
discrimination on the grounds
of religion:
Article 15 in The Constitution Of India 1949
15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex
or place of birth
(1) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1942013/> The State shall not
discriminate against any citizen on grounds only
of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them
(2) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1952106/> No citizen shall, on grounds
only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth or any of them, be
subject to any disability, liability,
restriction or condition with regard
to
(a) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1732536/> access to shops, public
restaurants, hotels and palaces of public
entertainment; or
(b) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/820476/> the use of wells, tanks,
bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort
maintained wholly or
partly out of State funds or dedicated to the
use of the general public
(3) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1603957/> Nothing in this article
shall prevent the State from making any special
provision for women and
children
(4) <http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/251667/> Nothing in this article or
in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the
State from making any
special provision for the advancement of any
socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens or for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes
b). Pl also refer to Article 341 which states:
?SCHEDULED CASTES 341(1) The President may with
respect to any state or
union territory and where it is a state after
consultation with the
Governor thereof, by public notification,
specify the castes races or
tribes or parts of or groups within castes areas
or tribes which shall for
the purpose of this Constitution be deemed to be
Scheduled Castes in
relation to that state or Union territory as the
case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude
from the list of Scheduled
Castes specified in a notification issued under
clause (1) any caste, race
or tribe or part of or group within any caste
race or tribe but save as
aforesaid, a notification issued under the said
clause shall not be varied
by any subsequent notification.?
Pl note that this Article speaks about Scheduled
Caste only and makes no
reference to religion.
To cut a long story short, I would request you
once again to kindly
provide me documentary evidence from official
archives which prove that the
Christian representatives in the Constituent
Assembly sought denial of
social and economic benefits for dalit
christians since you made the
statement in the first place. In case you are
unable to do so, there is no
problem, we can let the matter rest here until
such time new light is
thrown on the matter.
Regards,
Marshall
..................
Sebastian Borges