The Presidential Order, 1950, which stipulated that “no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste” has become the source of grievance for Scheduled Caste converts to other religions. The Presidential Order was amended in 1956 and again in 1990 to include converts to Sikhism and Buddhism In the list. Scheduled Caste converts to other religions still remain excluded from this list.
In a recent civil writ petition, “Soosai vs union of India.” 1983, the petitioner stated that he was an Adi Dravida Scheduled Caste convert to Christianity and that on conversion to Christianity, he continued to be a member of that caste and suffered from the same social and economic disabilities like other members of his community. He prayed that by excluding him from the benefits meant for the SCs. he was in fact being discriminated against only on the basis of religion.
The petition was dismissed by the court on the ground that the petitioner had not established his case by clear and cogent evidence. The Court pointed out: “It is now well established that when a violation of Article 14 or any of its related provisions is alleged. the burden rests on the petitioner to establish by clear and cogent evidence that the State has been guilty of arbitrary discrimination.” In the opinion of the Court, this had not been done.
The findings of the present study suggest that conversion among the SCs has been primarily a form of protest. It does not automatically remove the social and economic disabilities from which they suffer. The study also finds that economic gain does not seem to have been the main motive of conversion.
Various Dalit convert organizations and religious leaders have protested against the Presidential Order as it Infringed upon the fundamental right to freedom of religion guaranteed in the Constitution of India and discriminated against a section of Scheduled Casts merely on the basis of religion. Such protests continue even today.
Supreme Court Verdict: In the Soosai vs the Union of India and others the petitioner had submitted that he was a member of the Adi Dravida community converted to Christianity, and that after conversion he continued to be a member of the same community and lived in the same social and economic condition as the rest of the SCs. He prayed that by denying him the facilities extended to other members of his community as Scheduled Castes by virtue of paragraph 3 of the Presidential Order 1950, he was in fact being discriminated against solely on the basis of religion and that the said paragraph 3 of the Presidential Order in its operation denied him freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate a religion of his choice.
The court in its judgement said:” To establish that paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950, discriminates against Christian members of the enumerated castes, It Is not sufficient to show that the same caste continues after conversion. It is necessary to establish further that the disabilities and handicaps suffered from such caste membership in the social order of its origin Hinduism – continue in its oppressive severity in the new environment of a different religious community.”
Since, according to the mind of the judges, “this had not been established by clear and cogent evidence.” the petition was dismissed, the present study was inspired by this Judgment. It examines the actual social and economic situation of the Scheduled Caste converts vis-a-vis Scheduled Caste non-converts.
The present study has acquired more relevance in the context of the recent Bill Introduced by the Janata Dal government and unanimously passed in Parliament to Include the Neo-Buddhists in the list of the Scheduled Castes. All the Scheduled Caste convert are happy that the Neo-Buddhists have been included in the list of the Scheduled Castes although the Supreme Court requirement of proving the existence of “disabilities and handicaps in its oppressive severity in the new environment” has not been established. They feel, however, that another Injustice has been perpetrated by selecting only the Neo-Buddhist and excluding others, and this in spite of the fact that various SC convert groups have been representing their case ever since the Presidential Order was promulgated in 1950.
This study has a limited purpose; to evaluate the economic and social disabilities suffered by the Dalit converts vis-a-vis their counterparts who are not converts, More specifically, this study looks at the disabilities suffered by converts to one particular religion in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Converts’ disabilities: This study set out to examine the economic and social disabilities suffered by the Dalit converts, Being the first stage in an all-India study, this section examined the condition of the Dalit converts to Catholic religion In Tamil Nadu. The respondents were selected through a process of cluster and random sample method from all the 14 Catholic dioceses in TN.
The major variables used In this study were the availability of approach road, access to drinking water and housing pattern: primary education and employment: the practice of untouchability by Hindus. by co-religionists, and among themselves; and the Incidence of atrocity. An overwhelming finding of this study is that, in the perception of the Dalit converts the socio-economic disabilities they suffer are substantially the same as those suffered by the non- converts. In not a single one of these areas do the Dalit converts say that their condition is substantially better than that of the non-converts.
Actually, in a number of the examined areas, their condition is worse. The main reason for this, in their perception, is the discriminatory reservation policy followed by the government.
It was also noticed that the perception of the Dalit converts about the disabilities they suffer is no single-dimensional. This is true not only in the case of responses to general questions about economic condition or social disabilities but also about questions about particular areas such as education, employment or the practice of untouchability by others. When a respondent says that in the matter of primary education his condition is worse than that of the non- converts in the area, he is not merely stating the physical presence or non-presence of primary school in the area but his over-all perception of the situation in comparison with those who are not converts. Such a perception may include the fact that the facilities extended to other Dalits are not available to him and that because of this he is unable to educate his children and provide them a better future.
Conversion is only one of the means the Dalits have been using to improve their condition. Some of the others have been giving up traditional occupations and taking up new ones such as agricultural labor. occasional labor and self-employment; migration to town and cities; technical and formal education leading to employment; taking advantage of the reservation policy and of the various welfare measure by the government forming cooperatives, political mobilization and political action. All these have In some form or other contributed to giving them strength to protest against the practice of untouchability, to fight against atrocities, to improve their economic resources and to strengthen their political action base. When one tries to measure the “oppressive severity” of the disabilities suffered by Dalits who call themselves Hindus and compare it with that suffered by others who do not call themselves Hindus, how does one go about? Any change in the disabilities suffered by the Scheduled Castes would seem to be the effect of many factors as stated above. And these changes have been taking place in the whole Scheduled Caste community whether they remain Hindu or have embraced another religion. The practice of untouchability, for example. is not the same today as it was 10 or 15 years ago. The economic condition has changed for many Scheduled Caste families and certain communities have benefited more in this than the others. Political reservation and job reservation have benefited many a Scheduled Caste family and again certain communities have taken advantage of these more than others. One can also notice a process of growing self-identify, self-dignity and self-expression due to these factors.
Dr. Ambedkar Influence: Hence the disabilities being suffered by the Scheduled Castes today cannot be compared with what they were 10 years ago. It is also not possible to reduce these changes to any single factor.
The religious conversion propagated by Baba Saheb Ambedkar was another means used by some of the Scheduled Castes in their search for a way out. Those who changed their religion seem to have got some psychological satisfaction or spiritual fulfilment by doing so. Some individuals may also have economically improved their status. For some It may also have contributed to the process stated above of a changing self-perception of one’s identity, dignity and ability to articulate. But our study shows that in social and economic spheres the situation of the Scheduled Caste converts as a whole continues to be the same as that of the non-converts. In many cases their situation seems to have become worse.
If, the above findings are correct, the general assumption that a major motive for conversion is economic consideration may have to be revised. Conversion does not automatically result in economic gains. Conversion continues even today inspire of the fact that the converts know they will lose the benefits of reservation by conversion. More over. the SC converts, while they deeply feel the discrimination of being denied the benefits of reservation, have not. by and large, left their new religion In spite of the fact that the prospects of economic gains by conversion or re-conversion to Hinduism is quite attractive, While some of the respondents are highly critical of the behavior and attitude of their new co- religionists, their response does not suggest that their major motive for conversion was economic consideration, or that In the absence of economic gains, they feel disillusioned, or that they are thinking of the possibility of reverting to Hinduism.
Motive for conversion: The motive for conversion seems to be much more complex than it is usually believed to be. As in the case of migration, search for new occupations and new environment, the search for something better in familial, social, economic and political terms might be part of this process. What is new in conversion, as Dr. Ambedkar has more than hinted at, is the protest against the existing social and religious value system and the implied search for a new identity, dignity and spiritual liberation.
The search for liberation has taken the SC converts to many new “environments”. The new religious environment is only one of them. Our study shows that for many the new religious environment is an Individual and psychological choice rather than a physical or social reality. In our sample only 43 (13.6 per cent) of the respondents live in what may be called religious communities. In a majority of the cases the converts are dispersed in the larger Hindu society. Even where there is a religious community which the new convert has joined, this does not automatically mean that the new convert is accepted into the new community as a full -ledged member. Social prejudices die hard even in the holy places of churches and pagodas where a Dalit convert is called a “neo-Christian” or “neo-Buddhist.
