In a step that would prove a hard-blow to the conversion mafia, the Union government has made it very clear that Dalit people who convert to Islam and Christianity cannot enjoy the benefits of reservation.
In a reply to a question asked in Rajya Sabha, the Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order outlines that… no person who professes a religion different from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.”
However, those converting to Sikh, Buddhism, and Jainism would continue to enjoy the benefits of reservation.
The conversion mafia especially targets the Dalits – the most vulnerable section of Indian society for conversion. Islam and Christianity – the two Abrahamic religions that are most prevalent in India – claim to be castless (although this is far from the truth) and the conversion mafia lures the people of the Indic religion community for conversion.
The Muslims of India allegedly practice a strict caste system, although it is very little known to the non-Muslim community of the country. The left-liberal intellectuals of the country, as always, are perhaps unaware of the problems, and the caste system among Muslims is very little discussed in the English-speaking mainstream media.
The Muslim community of the country allegedly practices a caste system and even untouchability, which is traditionally seen as a trait related to Hinduism. Research on untouchability among Muslims in the state of UP, published in Economic and Political Weekly, concluded, “The precarious condition of Dalit Muslims due to the actions of the state is further complicated by the position taken by the conservative elite of their own community. Every attempt of this marginalized group for recognition is countered by conservative Muslims citing certain Quranic verses.”
The All India Muslims Personal Law Board, the most powerful Muslim body of the country, has more than 200 members, but, the number of backward caste Muslims among them is negligible. Similarly, other influential bodies of the Muslims are also dominated by Ashrafs (the upper caste Muslims), and the representation of 90 per cent of Pashmanda Muslims (backward caste Muslims) is negligible.
Similarly, the Christian community also allegedly practices the caste system, as repeatedly mentioned by writers like Arundhati Roy. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Christian community adheres to the caste practices. “All Dalit Christians who came into the fold in the whole of the 20th century were fooled by this fake promise of a spiritual Achha Din. Yes, the sense of caste or notion of caste was absent from the minds of the Dalits, but never had the Syrian Christians given up their pride over their Brahmin and Roman ancestry or their claim of purity of blood,” wrote a Dalit Christian in The Indian Express.
So, the Muslims, as well as the Christian community of India, practice the caste system but thousands of the Dalits are lured into these Abrahamic religions in the name of living a caste-free society. Therefore, the government’s clarification on the matter – that a person who is converting to Islam and Christianity is set to lose reservation benefits – was very necessary at a time when conversion mafia are utilizing their full potential in the states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.