Smt. Dr. J. Jayalalithaa
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Fort St. George,
Chennai- 9, Tamil Nadu.
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Fort St. George,
Chennai- 9, Tamil Nadu.
Hon’ble and respected Madam,
Sub: Your thoughtful and most relevant recommendation to the Prime Minister of India for the inclusion of SC Christians in the SC List in order to be treated on par with their counterparts in the Hindu fold.
This is to thank you Madam, on behalf of the Global Council of Indian Christians, for your thoughtful and most relevant letter to the Prime Minister of India recommending for the inclusion of Christians of Scheduled Caste origin in the SC List as per the Presidential Order of 1950 and to be treated on par with their counterparts in the Hindu fold.
It is indeed a very kind gesture on your part for the amelioration of the suffering and the most alienated section of the Christian community in the country. Your motherly concern for the orphaned SC Christians, your foresight and your great initiative to write such a studied letter to the Prime Minister of this country, shows the depth of your understanding of the socio-economic difficulties faced by these marginalized people and the social reality in the dynamic and ever changing society in India. This deserves all the appreciation and applause from all the progressive people of India. May the good God bless you for this bold and revolutionary step, for which act of kindness, the entire Christian community in the country in general, and the SC Christians in particular, would ever remain indebted to your bold initiative to rectify more than six decades old injustice.
In your letter to the Prime Minister dated 9-8-2013, you have very aptly summarized the situation prevailing in Tamil Nadu, and in a way in the whole of India. You have rightly remarked and demanded the most appropriate measures, saying, “The social tensions over the status of unbalanced growth between the Hindu Scheduled Castes and the Christian converts have only aggravated over time and the sense of alienation amongst the minority communities has further deepened. Therefore, I wish to emphasize that the matter cannot brook any further delay. I, therefore, request that Scheduled Caste Christians be treated on par with Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists, and should be included in the list of Scheduled Castes annexed to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. To enable this, as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission, para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, must be deleted.”
You have been equally thoughtful and concerned with a number of Writ Petitions pending before the Supreme court in this regard and you demanded that, “Early disposal of the pending Writ Petitions in the Supreme Court filed by or on behalf of Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity challenging the validity of para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order should also be ensured by the Government of India by filing its counter affidavit supporting the request of Scheduled Caste Christians”.
It is indeed very heartening to learn that you have been championing the cause of the Dalit Christians for a long time, which fact many Christians in the country may not be aware of. In your letter you have mentioned, “ I had written to the then Prime Minister of India on 28th November, 1995, urging that Scheduled Caste persons professing Christianity should be included in the list of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes through an Act of Parliament, meeting the requirements of Articles 341(1) and 342(2) of the Constitution. The issue of inclusion of the Scheduled Caste Christians within the definition of the term Scheduled Castes has been the subject of repeated representations by Scheduled Caste Christian groups and protracted correspondence initiated by the Government of Tamil Nadu with the Government of India. The substantive grounds that I had listed in my first letter on this issue still hold good,” and this clearly shows that you have been concerned with this problem for a very long time.
Late Shri. M.G. Ramachandran, your predecessor and mentor, decades ago, when he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, had also taken a bold and a progressive step to extend all such benefits to the SC Christians within the State as given to the SCs in the Hindu fold. He had also taken a bold step to treat all Christians converted from other backward classes on par with their counterparts in the Hindu fold for all State aids.
Walking as you are Madam, on his foot-steps, we are sure, you would never lag behind in your generosity to the suffering lot to whatever religions they may belong. That is precisely what is needed in a social, democratic and secular set up like ours. Hope and pray that the dreams dreamt by the Framers of our Constitution would become a reality better sooner than later. Our good wishes and prayers are with you in this great fight for the most neglected sections of this country.
With respectful regards,
Very thankfully yours,
This is to thank you Madam, on behalf of the Global Council of Indian Christians, for your thoughtful and most relevant letter to the Prime Minister of India recommending for the inclusion of Christians of Scheduled Caste origin in the SC List as per the Presidential Order of 1950 and to be treated on par with their counterparts in the Hindu fold.
It is indeed a very kind gesture on your part for the amelioration of the suffering and the most alienated section of the Christian community in the country. Your motherly concern for the orphaned SC Christians, your foresight and your great initiative to write such a studied letter to the Prime Minister of this country, shows the depth of your understanding of the socio-economic difficulties faced by these marginalized people and the social reality in the dynamic and ever changing society in India. This deserves all the appreciation and applause from all the progressive people of India. May the good God bless you for this bold and revolutionary step, for which act of kindness, the entire Christian community in the country in general, and the SC Christians in particular, would ever remain indebted to your bold initiative to rectify more than six decades old injustice.
In your letter to the Prime Minister dated 9-8-2013, you have very aptly summarized the situation prevailing in Tamil Nadu, and in a way in the whole of India. You have rightly remarked and demanded the most appropriate measures, saying, “The social tensions over the status of unbalanced growth between the Hindu Scheduled Castes and the Christian converts have only aggravated over time and the sense of alienation amongst the minority communities has further deepened. Therefore, I wish to emphasize that the matter cannot brook any further delay. I, therefore, request that Scheduled Caste Christians be treated on par with Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists, and should be included in the list of Scheduled Castes annexed to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. To enable this, as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission, para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, must be deleted.”
You have been equally thoughtful and concerned with a number of Writ Petitions pending before the Supreme court in this regard and you demanded that, “Early disposal of the pending Writ Petitions in the Supreme Court filed by or on behalf of Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity challenging the validity of para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order should also be ensured by the Government of India by filing its counter affidavit supporting the request of Scheduled Caste Christians”.
It is indeed very heartening to learn that you have been championing the cause of the Dalit Christians for a long time, which fact many Christians in the country may not be aware of. In your letter you have mentioned, “ I had written to the then Prime Minister of India on 28th November, 1995, urging that Scheduled Caste persons professing Christianity should be included in the list of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes through an Act of Parliament, meeting the requirements of Articles 341(1) and 342(2) of the Constitution. The issue of inclusion of the Scheduled Caste Christians within the definition of the term Scheduled Castes has been the subject of repeated representations by Scheduled Caste Christian groups and protracted correspondence initiated by the Government of Tamil Nadu with the Government of India. The substantive grounds that I had listed in my first letter on this issue still hold good,” and this clearly shows that you have been concerned with this problem for a very long time.
Late Shri. M.G. Ramachandran, your predecessor and mentor, decades ago, when he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, had also taken a bold and a progressive step to extend all such benefits to the SC Christians within the State as given to the SCs in the Hindu fold. He had also taken a bold step to treat all Christians converted from other backward classes on par with their counterparts in the Hindu fold for all State aids.
Walking as you are Madam, on his foot-steps, we are sure, you would never lag behind in your generosity to the suffering lot to whatever religions they may belong. That is precisely what is needed in a social, democratic and secular set up like ours. Hope and pray that the dreams dreamt by the Framers of our Constitution would become a reality better sooner than later. Our good wishes and prayers are with you in this great fight for the most neglected sections of this country.
With respectful regards,
Very thankfully yours,
Honorable Ashok Gehlot,
Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Chief Minister of Rajasthan
I am an Indian citizen living in United States of America. I am deeply concerned by the terrorist activities of Bajrang Dal and VHP in your state.
Media reports indicate that the village of Mishroli has been made ‘Muslim Free’. What is even more shocking is that this intolerance and hate is being perpetrated in a state ruled by Congress. We have faith in your government and we urge you to ensure that the safety and basic human rights of all citizen’s are protected. We also appeal to you to bring the culprits to justice and ban Bajrang Dal and VHP as these organizations are a threat to the very ideals on which our country was founded.
We also wish to remind you that though the bodies like the Bajrang Dal and VHP may be more visible and louder than those who oppose them — the majority of Indians do not support politics of hatred. Further, there is worldwide experience that divisiveness, hatred and violence hampers investment and thereby economic as well as social progress. We look to leaders like yourself to uphold the law and secure a prosperous and peaceful future for the people of Rajasthan and India.
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