Reservations for religious minorities in India :: How Fair are Ranganath Misra C Repot Inferences
Daya Sagar Sharma
January 27, 2012
The debate on religion based reservations for "minorities" in India ( muslims / Christians/ jains / Parsi/ Sikh /others ) need be ended. Rather it has to be forcedly ended. But in the culture as it prevails in 2012 it can not be done so unless mass pressure is mounted on the politicians to stop playing unfair divisive cards. Otherwise the politicians will not stop pitching Indian against Indian simply for fleecing the VOTE. India has a parliamentary democracy and so the Indians have to live with the politicians. One would ask who can mount the pressure ?
In principle, Indian Elders while framing the Constitution might have been of the view that (i) over the centuries some people had been discriminated on the basis of professions they held (ii) such people had been unfairly pushed socially and educationally to the wall (iii) and hence they needed some extra support from the State in Democratic Republic of India. Ranganath Misra Commission Report ( 2007) has also in principle accepted this. The report says Group at Schedule Caste Art 15 (4) is religion and caste based and arises out of the practices of untouchability among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.
So, then it had been the Hindu who was accused the most of discriminating against fellow Hindu on caste basis. British too had advocated and promoted such concepts. During British times a group was titled ´Depressed Classes´ in the 1931 Census and it was only out of the " Hindu". The " depressed classes " were notified for the first time as "Scheduled Castes" in the Government of India Act, 1935.It was less for the welfare cause and more out of the British intentions to divide the Indians in more groups. Had it not been so, then surely the depressed classes would have been identified also out of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains , Buddhists, etc as well by the British Government. Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order was issued in April 1936. Ranganath Misra Commission (National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities ) report too acknowledges that the criteria adopted for purposes of specifying the Scheduled Castes was ( more ) based on the obnoxious practice of untouchability.
The test applied was the social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of the historical custom of untouchability. Social and Political leaders of Hindu did accept the allegations of untouchability. Where as the Social and Political leadership ( particularly) of Muslims & Christians did not that much plead / submit that there was also some caste / sect / occupation based social discrimination with in their communities. They claimed that they held a fully internally supported society.
It was assessed that the socially discriminated castes/groups were suffering of the worst social and educational backwardness resulting in marked and continued economic and administrative backwardness. So, in the Indian Constitution and while drafting THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER, 1950 only socially & educationally discriminated castes from amongst Hindu were included. The test applied was the social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of the historical custom of untouchability. THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER, 1950 adopted in full the list drawn in 1936 for Schedule Caste.
Later the Buddhist and Sikh leadership suggested caste discriminations amongst them also and hence castes from Sikh and Buddhists were also in included in SC in 1956 and there after. Unfortunately other religious leaders did not accept the reality of caste discriminations. Had they accepted such discriminations prevailing amongst them also, I am sure the scope of schedule castes ( list) would have been expanded and the politicians would have been checked from cultivating caste / religion based differences amongst Indians. I may be corrected in case my reading is wrong.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suggested for a Muslim quota and inclusion of Dalit Muslims in SC category at a Conference held by All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz on 1st July 2010 in Patna. In the words of Nitish Kumar
In principle, Indian Elders while framing the Constitution might have been of the view that (i) over the centuries some people had been discriminated on the basis of professions they held (ii) such people had been unfairly pushed socially and educationally to the wall (iii) and hence they needed some extra support from the State in Democratic Republic of India. Ranganath Misra Commission Report ( 2007) has also in principle accepted this. The report says Group at Schedule Caste Art 15 (4) is religion and caste based and arises out of the practices of untouchability among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.
So, then it had been the Hindu who was accused the most of discriminating against fellow Hindu on caste basis. British too had advocated and promoted such concepts. During British times a group was titled ´Depressed Classes´ in the 1931 Census and it was only out of the " Hindu". The " depressed classes " were notified for the first time as "Scheduled Castes" in the Government of India Act, 1935.It was less for the welfare cause and more out of the British intentions to divide the Indians in more groups. Had it not been so, then surely the depressed classes would have been identified also out of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains , Buddhists, etc as well by the British Government. Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order was issued in April 1936. Ranganath Misra Commission (National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities ) report too acknowledges that the criteria adopted for purposes of specifying the Scheduled Castes was ( more ) based on the obnoxious practice of untouchability.
The test applied was the social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of the historical custom of untouchability. Social and Political leaders of Hindu did accept the allegations of untouchability. Where as the Social and Political leadership ( particularly) of Muslims & Christians did not that much plead / submit that there was also some caste / sect / occupation based social discrimination with in their communities. They claimed that they held a fully internally supported society.
It was assessed that the socially discriminated castes/groups were suffering of the worst social and educational backwardness resulting in marked and continued economic and administrative backwardness. So, in the Indian Constitution and while drafting THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER, 1950 only socially & educationally discriminated castes from amongst Hindu were included. The test applied was the social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of the historical custom of untouchability. THE CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER, 1950 adopted in full the list drawn in 1936 for Schedule Caste.
Later the Buddhist and Sikh leadership suggested caste discriminations amongst them also and hence castes from Sikh and Buddhists were also in included in SC in 1956 and there after. Unfortunately other religious leaders did not accept the reality of caste discriminations. Had they accepted such discriminations prevailing amongst them also, I am sure the scope of schedule castes ( list) would have been expanded and the politicians would have been checked from cultivating caste / religion based differences amongst Indians. I may be corrected in case my reading is wrong.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suggested for a Muslim quota and inclusion of Dalit Muslims in SC category at a Conference held by All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz on 1st July 2010 in Patna. In the words of Nitish Kumar
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