Jalandhar (Punjab): The recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of an Andhra Pradesh-based pastor that converting to a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism would be seen as losing Scheduled Caste status, has touched a sensitive spot across the country, but especially among the Dalits of Punjab. The state with the highest proportion of Scheduled Castes – nearly one-third (31.9% as per Census 2011) of the population – also has a history of caste-based discrimination.In Chinthada Anand vs State of Andhra Pradesh, the pastor sought protection from the Supreme Court under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The judgement denying this protection has led to widespread concern among Dalit Christians in Punjab, who primarily belong to the Valmiki, Majhbi Sikh and Ad-dharmi communities, the major Scheduled Caste groups of the state.Census 211 records that around 1.5% of Punjab’s population is Christian, and there has been an apparent resurgence within the community, with independent ministries and churches coming up in villages, towns and cities around Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur and Pathankot districts in the Majha and Doaba regions.The Dalit Christians mostly live in the Doaba region, a belt with over 32% of the Punjabi Dalit population across faiths. Conversely, the Majha belt has a sizeable population of the Valmiki community and Majhbi Sikhs, who, too, have a significant number of followers of the Christian faith.Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a ‘badlav’ (change) rally at Moga in the state, said the BJP would ban religious conversion in Punjab through a new law.Also read: Despite Rising Persecution, Indian Christians Remain Invisible in Electoral LandscapeIn this context, the Supreme Court’s judgement has added to the fears among Dalit Christians, even though the BJP – Shah’s party – is a marginal player in Punjab’s politicsDalit Christians are disadvantagedTalking to The Wire, Professor Emanual Nahar, former chairman Minority Commission, Punjab, said he welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgement but urged it to consider the socio-economic condition of Punjab’s Dalits who adopted Christianity as their faith.“The apex court should consider the Ranganath Misra and Sachar Committee reports on Dalits and Muslims, respectively. Both commissions advocated reservations for Dalit Muslims and Christians,” he said.Nahar, who is Dean, Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, at Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University, Patiala said Dalit Christians were a depressed class and faced severe deprivation. “The Majhbi Sikhs and Ravidassia were included in the list of Scheduled Castes in 1956, when parliament passed the first amendment [to the constitution], and added the Buddhists following the second amendment in 1990. Christians and Muslims were left to fend for themselves,” he said.He said that over the years while the Ad-dharmi, Ravidassia and Ramdasia Sikh communities of Punjab flourished through reservation, the Valmiki, Christians and Muslims who converted remained disadvantaged, stagnating socially, educationally, economically and politically.On Shah’s announcement that religious conversions would be banned by law, he said, “It is unfortunate the Home Minister made such a statement. I condemn it. If the minister is sure about forced conversions, he should take action. But he should reveal the data on how many people changed their religion under pressure.”“As Home Minister, he failed to control ethnic violence in Manipur and was [expressing] concern about religious conversion. Punjab is a remarkable state, which has never bowed to such sentiments,” Nahar added.Nahar said he planned to approach Members of Parliament to raiese this issue in parliament. “I also plan to reach out to the President of India, seeking her intervention in a matter that has been long ignored just because of ideological differences with the dominant class,” he said.‘See the status of Dalit Christians’Calling the Supreme Court’s judgement controversial and discriminatory, Hamid Masih, president of Punjab Christian Movement, said, “The court does not consider Muslims and Christians as natives of India when, fact is, they have lived here since ages,” he said.He cites the controversial Presidential Order of 1950, which was the first official exclusion of non-Hindu Dalits from constitutional support and protections extended to Scheduled Castes.Masih said the apex court should also explain if its judgement was based on observations regarding caste or religion. “The court overlooked the caste system and focused on religious conversions,” he said. He asked a penetrating question: will the court consider a Christian a (native) Indian citizen if they were to convert to Hinduism?Also read: Why Is Punjab Sitting on a Tinderbox Again?He raised concerns over the timing of the judgement and Shah’s statement, saying they aimed to polarise voters when elections are around the corner. “Whether it is Punjab, where assembly elections are due early next year or the ongoing elections in six states, the BJP’s attempt has been to fan communal sentiment and create animosities among people,” he added.He said that if churches were being set up in Punjab, that did not imply forced religious conversions were taking place. “Look – only the Dalits benefit from reservation under the Scheduled Castes category. The rest, including the Muslims and Christians, face discrimination,” he said.He said that there was no provision of jobs for Christians under the Punjab government. “The Dalit Christians in Punjab are either working in the private sector or as daily wagers, leaving them with no scope of economic growth. In the church, at least they are treated equally and with respect, which they fail to get in other religions,” he added.Dalit Christians face discriminationTalking to The Wire, Tarsem Peter, President of Pendu Mazdoor Union, a body of landless labourers from Jalandhar said that Dalits face discrimination everywhere in India, including Punjab, which has a huge Dalit population.“It is sheer discrimination that Dalit Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists in Punjab get the benefit of reservation but those Dalits who convert their religion to Christianity end up in penury just because they fall under the minorities category,” he said.Talking about Punjab, Peter said that earlier the Christian missionaries had access to international funding but ever since that was stopped by the Union government, some pastors started raising independent ministries. “Following this change, there has been a steep rise in the ministries, who promise and preach miraculous changes in people’s their economic and physical conditions,” he said.Peter said that among the main ministries in Punjab were Ankur Narula ministry, Khojewal ministry and Barjinder Deol ministry. “Though the exact number of Christians will come to the fore only after the census is held. In every ministry, nearly 95% followers were Dalits. The fact is that wealthy churches have followers from economically weaker sections of society. It is not people but the governments, politicians who exploit the system,” he said.Earlier, Peter urged people not to become the victim of ‘mass phobia’ regarding the Supreme Court judgement on Andhra Pradesh high court. “Behind this lies the divisive politics of the BJP-RSS and the Godi media,” he said.Jasbir Sandhu from Patti town in Tarn Taran, who has adopted Christianity, told The Wire that whether a Dalit becomes Christian or remains in the faith they were born into, their economic condition does not change. “The government talks about Amrit Kaal and Digital India, then why this discrimination with us? They should understand our suffering,” he said.Sandhu said the apex court’s judgement has left him alarmed. He said hundreds of landless labourers in the border areas of Punjab were, like him, living in dire poverty. “How can they grow, if they are not getting reservation and representation in the society?”Sandhu asked why the BJP had not taken action against those adopting a new faith – because there was no official data on how many Dalits had actually accepted another religion in Punjab.“The BJP knows that largely, the minorities do not support them. As Punjab Assembly elections are due early next year, they have started raking up this issue to seek votes. Perhaps, the BJP does not know that the seed of hatred can never grow in Punjab. Punjabis have always remained together, irrespective of caste or religious preferences,” he said.Also read: At Least 400 Incidents of Violence Against Christians Since January; UP Tops the List: ReportOn the congregations springing up across Punjab, he said, though conversion was a hot topic on social and political platforms, religious conversions were not taking place in Punjab.“Most Dalits do visit a church but have not adopted Christianity officially. At the same time, there are converted Christians in Punjab, who still avail benefits under Scheduled Castes category,” he added.Sandhu emphasised that for a Dalit, church visits were about gaining acceptance as social equals than anything else, because whether a Dalit changes his faith or retains his caste identity, his life and struggles remain unchanged. “Neither has our condition improved nor have our sufferings come to an end,” he said.Petitions on SC status to Dalit Christians pending in SCDriven by the slogan “Grant Scheduled Caste Status to Dalit Christians” – and challenging previous judgements from 1976 and 1985 – approximately a dozen petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the deletion of a paragraph in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, to accord Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians.The National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC), Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) have stated that the apex court is currently holding a consolidated hearing of all these petitions.To date, the court has not delivered a judgement in these writ petitions.The Christian bodies noted in a statement that the March 24 judgement in Chinthada Anand pertained to an individual case, flowing out of a petition seeking the application of the Atrocities Act following an alleged assault on a pastor in Bapatla district, Andhra Pradesh.However, in the other case, involving over a dozen petitions, Scheduled Caste status – in accordance with Article 25 of the constitution – is being demanded on behalf of Dalit Christians as a whole. Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion to everyone within India. The petitions seek the removal of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, saying it runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, no verdict has been delivered to date.Meanwhile, the Union government in October 2022 appointed a three-member Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice K.G. Balakrishnan to examine the feasibility of granting Scheduled Caste status to Dalits who choose a faith other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, specifically focusing on Christians and Muslims.The commission has received objections from groups such as the Dr Ambedkar Anusuchit Jati Adhikari Karmchari Manch, who have been arguing that extending Scheduled Caste status to converts will dilute the existing rights and benefits of existing beneficiaries.