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Include Christians and Muslims Dalits in the SC category : NCDHR
New Delhi, July 3 (IndianMuslims.info)National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) demanded that Christian and Muslim Dalits be included in the Scheduled Caste category and reservation and other benefits be extended to them.
65-70% of Christians in India have low caste origin. NCDHR noticed that even though Christian Dalits face same discrimination as Hindu Dalits they don't have access to the benefits that Hindu Dalits have. Similarly overwhelming majority of Indian Muslims have low caste background and high level of illiteracy make them most marginalized.
In a memorandum submitted by NCDHR to Justice Raganath Misra, Chairperson of National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities displayed concern that conversion to Christianity and Islam doesn't take away the discrimination that Dalits face. Removing of constitutional safeguards due to conversion is against the values of Secularism. Memorandum requests the Commission to recommend to the Government of India to bring Christian and Muslim Dalits under the purview of article 341 of the Constitution.
Designation of the two communities as Scheduled Caste will make them eligible for Reservation and other welfare programmes.
Meanwhile UP chapter of All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) demanded that the word "Dalit" imparts a sense of inferiority and therefore should be replaced by the word "moolniwasi". Moonniwasi which means "original inhabitants" is the appropriate word since most of the "Dalits" are the original inhabitant of India before Aryans came to India, argued BAMCEF.
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