Bureaucracy Delaying Misra Commission Report On Dalits: Christian Groups By SAR NEWS
NEW DELHI (SAR NEWS) -- Christian groups and Dalit rights activists have expressed dismay at the inordinate delay in the Justice Ranganath Misra Commission submitting its report on Dalit Christians, which is required by the Government to present in the Supreme Court. The commission was given an extension recently. In a press statement released June 12 to SAR News, president of the All India Catholic Council and National Integration Council member John Dayal said the report could have been submitted to the government at least a month ago after the Commission completed its tour of many states. "However, while the members of the Commission wanted an early report on the Dalit Christian issue first, so that the Supreme Court could resume its hearings on a pubic interest writ, the bureaucracy sought to sabotage the issue," he added. He said the bureaucrats wanted the Commission to submit just one consolidated report – however long it takes – which will cover the Dalit Christian issue as well as the main recommendations on welfare measures for disadvantaged sections among religious and linguistic minorities, the panel's original charter. The Dalit Christian issue was given to the Commission much later – after a writ was filed in the Supreme Court by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation headed by former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan. At one stage, the members, who include such luminaries as former National Minorities Commission chairman and eminent jurist Prof. Tahir Mehmood and St. Stephen's College principal Dr. Anil Wilson who chaired the hearings in South Indian centres, and Dr Mohinder Singh, protested the delay. All three members were firm that the report on the Dalit issue be submitted first, Dayal said in the statement. He said that those involved in the advocacy campaign were surprised at media reports that the Misra Commission had again sought public opinion on the demand that Christians of Scheduled Caste origin be given the affirmative action benefits given to Hindu, Buddhist and Sikhs Dalits. "We are surprised because scores of organisations representing Dalit Christians have already submitted voluminous evidence before the Commission in New Delhi and during its sittings in various major cities in the country. In fact, the All India Christian Council and the All India Catholic Union delegations were the first to meet the full Commission at its offices in New Delhi the same day that the government told the Supreme Court that the matter had been referred to Justice Misra," he added. The Supreme Court reopens in July after its summer vacation. It had last heard the matter earlier this year, and had not listed it thereafter pending the report of the Misra Commission. The Christian groups and rights activists demanded that the Misra Commission give its report at the earliest so that the Christians of Scheduled Caste origin are restored their full civil rights which include reservations in education and jobs, and a range of other benefits designed to free the once untouchable castes of social, economic and other disabilities they have suffered over the last 3,000 years. "The bureaucracy, which has repeatedly worked against Christians of Dalit origin, should cease its continuing conspiracy against this hapless community," they said in the statement. _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)