Christian,Muslim Leaders Want Community Members To Mention Caste
B Sivakumar TNN
Chennai: It is often thought that caste is an identity intrinsic to Hinduism.But the ongoing census has revealed that caste is no less a crucial identity issue among Christians and Muslims. Since the caste census began across the state last week,community leaders among Christians and Muslims have been issuing statements asking people to clearly state their caste while revealing their religion to enumerators.Mention religion as Christian or Islam and insist on recording the caste,but stay away from a discussion on sub-sect seems to be the advice they are dishing out to community members. Dalits among Christians have been specifically asked to mention that they are dalit Christians and if the enumerator does not record it,we have asked the householder to record religion as Indian Christian and caste as dalit, says Edward Arockiadas,a Madurai-based dalit Christian activist who heads the National Union of Dalit Christian Movement. According to Arockiadas,there are around 72 lakh dalit Christians in Tamil Nadu,who constitute around 62% of the states Christian population.Most of them live in southern Tamil Nadu.We have advised,through public announcements and advertisements,our community people to record the particulars correctly.We feel our religion may not be recorded as dalit Christian and after the caste census is over,we will approach the Supreme Court against the census, said Arockiadas. Muslims who are descendents of converts from backward castes have also been asked by community leaders to mention their caste.We have advised our community people to mention religion as Islam and also without fail mention the respective castes.Castes like Pathan and Parimalam,who constitute around 5% of the total Muslims in the state,alone are not backward.But in some cases,enumerators have not recorded caste and but just the religion.We will definitely seek a revision once the census is completed, said M H Jawahirullah,Ramanathapuram MLA and a leader of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi. The demand to recognize dalit Christians as a separate category is linked to the politics around the reservation policy.Reservation under the SC category is not extended to non-Hindus and,hence,dalits who convert to Christianity are denied welfare benefits extended to SCs.Dalit Christians argue that this position is discriminatory and want the government to recognize their unique identity and extend reservation benefits available to SCs. SGopalakrishnan,director,census operations in Tamil Nadu,says all discrepancies can be rectified once the census is completed.The data once completed will be uploaded online for city dwellers and will also be placed before the gram sabhas for the rural people to verify information regarding their castes and other details.Any correction can be made then, he says.
ISSUE OF IDENTITY
72 lakh dalit Christians in Tamil Nadu.They constitute roughly 62% of the total Christian population Many dalit Christians live in south TN.Community leaders have asked the members to mention their religion as dalit Christian Among Muslims,only 5% do not belong to any backward class
