But, a careful consideration of the facts, reveal a completely different picture.
Over the last several centuries, the English Protestants or WASPs ("White Anglo-Saxon Protestants"), contrived to divide Catholics against Catholics in South Asia, by means of the Padroado vs Propaganda Conflict, which they contrived. (See Padroado-Propaganda Schism)
However, they, the English Protestants, were the supreme puppet-masters of both parties, the Padroado and the Propaganda parties, in this contrived "conflict."
("Propaganda" here means the Catholic Church in South Asia governed by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide.)
These WASPs ruled Portugal by proxy, and thereby, they also operated the Padroado Party, through the trojan Brigantine House ("Braganca Dynasty"), raised up in rebellion against the Spanish-Portuguese Union, the trojan Joseph de Melo "Pombal," and the subsequent fake "Braganca-Saxe-Coburg dynasty," cadets of the Hanover usurpers-pretenders ruling England since the Damnable Usurpation of 1688.
They were also the supreme puppet-masters of the Propaganda party's (mainly Irish) priests and bishops who were forced, carrot-and-stick, into a "Stockholm Syndrome" idolatry of the WASPs, the most vicious enemies of God and His Catholic Church, as their patrons, saviors and, most importantly, their paymasters.
This faked "conflict" finally culminated in a "victory" of the Domesticated, poodle dogs "Propaganda party," brainwashed into a fanatical devotion of the WASP's most resplendent posteriors.
Since then, the "Catholic Church" in "India" has always been diffident, obsequious, docile and servile servants of the rulers of "India," first of the WASPs, and thereafter, of their "designated heirs," the Manuwadi Brahminist Nehruvian "Indian National Congress" Party.
Till today, nothing has changed, the same nonsense continues.
The brainwashed "Propaganda party" PoodleChurch was co-opted by the WASPs into being conveyers of the WASP's MacAulayan brainwashing in the guise of an "Education system," in which there is not a ghost of Catholicism: It Glorifies the Deformation, the Satanic and "Jewish" "French Revolution," etc.
The succession of Valeriano Disgracias de Dramapor as "Bishop" of Bombay was designed to ensure the perpetuation of this Poodle Church, to ensure continuity, to ensure that there would be no disruption.
Ostensibly, the various "Churches" in "India" have been "fighting" for the rights of Dalit Christians "since 1950," for their Emancipation.
Or have they?
Look carefully. It is a pageant, fakery, shadow-boxing, pulling the punches.
This "fight" was designed to be perpetual, endless, but to never actually achieve its end, the emancipation of the Christian Dalits; it was designed to never "rock the boat," to never antagonize the ruling Brahmins.
If they wanted, if they couldn't make headway with the "Indian judiciary" over the last 72 years, there was nothing stopping them over the last 72 years from "hitting the town," agitating the world, exposing India's blatant, daylight hypocrisy and aggravated criminality against Christian Dalits in front of the world! What stopped them? Why did they resile?
They never threw their all into this fight. They never put their hearts into this fight. They have only been playing charades. If they truly desired it, they would have gone the whole hog in this fight. They didn't. They won't.
Lucio Joao Mascarenhas, Sept. 28, 2022.
As per "Indian Law," as per Congress, and as per the BJP, which emerged from the Congress, if a car climbs the foothpath / sidewalk & injures you, and you sue for damages, "judge" will say, "You were a Hindu when you were injured, but since you converted to Christianity, you no longer have a right to sue for damages, by abandoning the Hindu religion, you forfeited the right to restitutions, to reparations, to rehabilitations! Convert back to Hinduism, & you'll magically recover those rights!" #Justice #AggravatedInjury #Reparations #Restitutions #Rehabilitation #DalitChristians #Mockery
Lucio Joao Mascarenhas, Sept. 24, 2022.
Statement of Dec. 11, 2018.
A car accident victim goes to court for justice. Judge says, "At time of accident, you were Hindu but now you have converted to Christianity. As such, under Indian Law, you are no longer entitled to Restitution, Reparations, Rehabilitations, unless, of course, you become Hindu again." Christians have kept quiet in face of such bullshit, lies and malice, far too long, in a craven manner disloyal to God, and this must end.
Information collated from Dr John Dayal & the Internet.
An amalgamated bunch of PIL(s), Writ Petitions & Suits primarily WP180/2004 & WP693/2017 challenging the Constitutional Validity of Paragraph #3 of the "Constitution Scheduled Castes Order, 1950," as subsequently amended (1956, to include Sikhs, 1990, to include Buddhists) to read, as of now, "Notwithstanding anything contained in Para 2, no person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, or the Sikh or the Buddhist religions shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste," are pending before the Supreme Court of India ("SCoI") filed by, inter alia, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), of Advocate Mr Prashant Bhushan, also a Politician, Human Rights Activist & Social Activist, Advocate Mr. Franklin Caesar Thomas, the "Catholic Bishops Conference of India" (CBCI), the "All India Catholic Union" (AICU) through its Secretary-General S Chinnappan, and by Dalit Christian Social Activist Dr John Dayal, ex-President, AICU, lastly, the "National Council Of Churches Of India" (NCCI); Advocate P.I. Jose represents Dr Dayal & the AICU; the SCoI bench of then Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud ruled that the matter be transferred to a Constitutional Law Bench, which has not been constituted or assigned since, so that the Cases are in effect Dormant, in limbo, with no judgment or final orders.
This is confirmed by the following: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=138027
Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, March 16, 2016 13:21 IST.
KSD/KM/PK/RS-3039.
Reservations for Dalit Christians
An individual belonging to Scheduled Tribes ("ST") may profess any religion, and the Castes / Tribes included in the list of Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution, are entitled to get the benefits of reservation in services of the Central Government.
Members of the Scheduled Castes converted to Christianity included in the Central List of Other Backward Classes ("OBC") of some of the States, are entitled to the benefit of the reservation in services of the Central Government.
However, the issue of extension of Scheduled Caste status to Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity is presently sub judice in the Honorable Supreme Court of India.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question by Mrs. Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh in the Lok Sabha today.
SUPPORT FOR THESE CASES
1. Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission, also called the National Commission For Religious And Linguistic Minorities, has strongly recommended deletion of Para. 3 of the "Order" & extension of Reservations to all Dalits;
2. The Sachar Committee also recommended reservation for Dalit Christians and Muslims;
3. The National Commission For Minorities, Study Report, "Dalits in the Muslim and Christian Communities: A Status Report on Current Social Scientific Knowledge," supported reservation for Christian and Muslim Dalits based on the National Sample Survey Organisation data and other studies on the status of Dalit Muslims and Christians.
These cases were:
1. Passively opposed by the UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh Kohli, and
2. Since 2014, actively opposed by the Narendra Modi NDA regime.
NDA's stated objections (stated in the SCoI) are that acceding will:
1. Dilute the quota for existing beneficiaries;
2. Will result in automatic extension of coverage under the Scheduled Castes And Tribes Prevention Of Atrocities Act, 1989 (Atrocities Act); and
3. Allow Christian and Muslim Dalits to contest and win Reserved seats in legislatures and Parliament.
Are These Serious And Relevant Objections?
NDA's unstated objections, not stated before SCoI but stated & reported publicly:
1. Christianity & Islam do not recognize the Caste System, so Dalits who become Christians or Muslims are no longer victims of discriminations;
2. The Kerala High Court has ruled that a Dalit who converts back to Hinduism is entitled to Reservations, while the NDA's main constituent, the BJP and its siblings of the Sangh Parivar are urgently working to persuade Christian and Muslim Dalits to return to Hinduism promising them access to Reservations, therefore, magically, a Dalit in effect ceases to be a Dalit if he officially leaves Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, for example, for Christianity, Islam, Raelism, Mormonism, Judaism, etc, or even for Atheism, so that he loses rights to Reparations and Restitutions for Hinduism's 3000 years of Apartheid, but equally magically becomes a Dalit with rights to Reparations and Restitutions for Hinduism's 3000 years of Apartheid if he converts officially to Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism!
REFERENCES:
Ranganath Mishra Commission Report:Â http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/volume-1.pdf AND http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/volume-2.pdf
I have refuted, in each and every point, the lies and pretensions "hallowed" so despicably and cavalierly by the "Honorable" Judges of the Supreme Court of India, in my former webpages, and also on my former blog. Anyone sincerely interested can look up the old posts there.
Jai Ho! Jai Jingostan! Indian Supreme Court again treats Indian Constitution and all notions of fairplay and of justice as toilet paper!
The poltroons of the "Indian Supreme Court" are at it again, exceeding themselves, if that could be. For once, we have it confess to its own ugly nature: "We contribute to falling standards." Yes, indeed, you do. And no, you haven't changed one bit. Not at all. As your recent actions betray.
1. You gave a tongue-lashing to Ms. Teesta Setalvad because she had the "insolence" to report crimes against humanity, not only to you, but also to international fora! How dare she! After all, isn't India the sum of all human civilization, all humanity without being uncivilized barbarians! Next you will be telling us, the Honorable Judges of the Indian Supreme Court, that India is a signatory to international laws, agreements, treaties, conventions, and such-like rot!
2. The CAG has the right to make its understanding of the alleged A. Raja Telecom Scam public, but a (Federal) Minister (Mr. Kapil Sibal) does not have the right to question the CAG's report, regardless of whether the CAG's report is right or wrong. After all, the CAG's report is Divinely Inspired, Infallible, and it is the highest blasphemy and sacrilege to question it.
3. "Dara Singh" was on trial for murdering Dr. Graham Staines, Protestant missionary, and his two minor sons, but actually, this was a case where the Christian proselytization effort, and all Christian missionaries, were the actual persons on trial, without being summoned or heard, without being given the opportunity to be heard, and were condemned. The Honorable Judges of the Indian Supreme Court tried all persons "accused" of being Christian missionaries, of the "crime" of indulging in "deceitful conversions," and has "convicted" each and every "Christian missionary," and each and every act of conversion to "Christianity," but VERY SPECIFICALLY, NOT HINDU MISSIONARIES, NOR ACTS OF CONVERSION TO HINDUISM, as being (obviously by default, without the need for investigations in individual cases) as "spurious," and to cap it all, the Most Sublime and August "Supreme Court of India," being the very Incarnation of Living Wisdom, being the sole repository of wisdom, and possessing DOGMATIC INFALLIBILITY, has declared the Christian "pretension" to be the sole true religion to be false and harmful to humanity! Needless to say, "Christian" social organizations were transported in raptures of ecstasy at the Almighty and All-Wise Gods of the Supreme Court of India condescending to bestow their graces of wisdom and justice upon Christianity in India and worldwide!
4. The Almighty and All-wise Gods of the Indian Supreme Court could frame the "Visakha Guidelines" on the basis of nothing more substantial than pure hearsay and prejudice, affirming its right to "legislate" for India, and has, in umpteen other cases, upheld its "right to take suo moto cognisance" of acts of (alleged or real) injustice, but the same All-Wise Gods are blissfully complacent in the face of the continuation of a crime that Hinduism boasts that it began millenias ago, is severely discountenanced by the Indian Constitution, etc. I speak of the Hindu Caste System, which is not restricted solely to Hinduism, but, given the size and CULTURAL AMBIENCE of majority Hinduism and social traditions, has been carried into even the Jain, Christian, Muslim, Vokkalinga, etc., religions, even in Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Hinduism committed a crime, dehumanizing people, largely the aborigines of the subcontinent, robbing them for more than the last 3000 years. Today, the Indian State pretends that victims of this crime are entitled to compensation only if they are or remain Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain, but not if they convert to Christianity or Mahomettanism, or other "foreign faiths." The Almighty and All-Wise Gods of the Honorable Supreme Court aren't convinced of the monstrosity of this all, but truculently demand that "proofs" be adduced, provided. By that logic, a victim of robbery, if he were a Christian or a Muslim, or if he converted to Christianity or Mahomettanism, etc., would "lose" the right to justice, to restitutions, reparations, rehabilitation, etc....
As the Tyrenians fawned over Herod, proclaiming "He is not a man, but a God," so too ought we to be overwhelmed and fall down in awe and worship these "Almight and All-Wise Gods of the Indian Supreme Court."
REFERENCES:
SOME NOTABLE EXCERPTS
Some notable, relevant excerpts, quoted verbatim:
Lawyer Minakshi Lekhi, however, hailed the SC's judgment saying that after keeping all the aspects in mind, the apex court delivered the appropriate verdict. "While burning someone to death is abhorable, at the same time converting an innocent tribal is also an abhorable act. I appreciate all the findings of the supreme court," she said.
The Indian Supreme Court on Friday... said that Dara Singh's "intention was to teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely, converting poor tribals to Christianity."
"It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by way of 'use of force,' provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other. It strikes at the very root of the orderly society, which the founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of," the court said.
The Supreme Court on Friday held that conversion from one religion to another had no justification in "secular" India as it amounted to interference in religious belief.
"We hope Mahatma Gandhi's vision of religion playing a positive role in bringing religions and communities together into an integrated prosperous nation will be realised. There is no justification for interfering in someone's belief through force, conversion or false premise that one religion is better than the other," the court noted.
A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan noted, "In a country like ours — where discrimination on grounds of caste or religion is a taboo — taking lives of persons belonging to another caste or religion is bound to have a dangerous and reactive effect on society at large." To this extent, it found the two accused guilty of snuffing out three innocent lives. At the same time, the Bench felt that "conversion" violated the secular spirit of the Constitution. It said, "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by way of 'use of force,' provocation, conversion, incitement, or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other." Secularism, according to the court, contained a guarantee that "the State shall treat all religions and religious groups equally and with equal respect without, in any manner, interfering with their individual right to religion, faith and worship." Quoting former President KR Narayanan, who said, "Indian unity is based on a tradition of tolerance, which is at once a pragmatic concept for living together and a philosophical concept of finding truth and goodness in every religion" — the judgement hinged hope on the vision of Mahatma Gandhi for co-existence of religions as a "positive factor" to realise "equal respect for all religions."
However, the Supreme Court's lengthy verdict is equally, if not more, important for another reason: It provides a context to the crime that was committed in a remote tribal village of Odisha that January night more than a decade ago. As Friday's judgement puts it, "The intention was to teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely, converting poor tribals to Christianity." The judgement is a scathing comment on preachers and pastors engaged in 'harvesting souls' through religious conversion, targeting innocent tribals whose poverty and illiteracy makes them vulnerable to the blandishments of crafty missionaries. This is most pronounced in States like Odisha, which was among the first to adopt an anti-conversion law to counter aggressive proselytising activities of missionaries, which have a significant tribal population, leading to social strife and disharmony. Staines was one such missionary whose activities were not restricted to tending to leprosy patients, noble as that vocation may have been, but extended to converting tribal youth to Christianity. This caused resentment among those tribals who felt the missionary was encouraging their fellow tribesmen to abandon their indigenous faith and beliefs. "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by way of 'use of force,' provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other," Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan have observed, adding, "In a country like ours where discrimination on the ground of caste or religion is a taboo, taking lives of persons belonging to another caste or religion is bound to have a dangerous and reactive effect on the society at large.... It strikes at the very root of the orderly society which the founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of."
Tragically, the right to freedom of religion, as guaranteed by the Constitution, is interpreted by Christian missionaries and our deracinated Left-liberal commentariat as well as pseudo-secular politicians as the right to convert, more often than not, through deceit, fraud and allurement. That this is done by positing one faith as being superior to another is overlooked and those standing up to religious conversion are crudely admonished. It is a reflection of this sad reality that no tears were shed over the brutal slaying of Swami Lakshmanananda who had dedicated his life to tribal welfare and stood up to missionaries looking for souls to harvest at a discounted rate. It is also a telling comment that few have bothered to look at the reasons that led to a virtual tribal uprising in Kandhamal district of Odisha against missionaries and their henchmen in 2008. This is not the first time the courts have wisely warned against the consequences of conversion. But this wisdom has been treated with scorn by missionaries and their patrons. The consequences of this folly are there for all to see.
The following is for your information:
The Protestant, now an apostate to Hinduism, Anand Bernard, member of the Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission, had urged the state to adopt a law similar to the Muslims' Waqf Commission in order to bring Churches and church properties under government control and oversight.
Bernard is an appointee of the rabid and viciously anti-Christian, the Hindu Supremacists "Bharatiya Janata Party" (BJP) or the "Indian People's Party" which presently rules the state.
The BJP is the primary political arm of the Sangh Parivar, comprising literally thousands of organizations that together orchestrate a hysteria of anti-Christianism in South Asia and even worldwide.
Christians have typically reacted with justifiable fury at the suggestion, and demands have been aired for the "excommunication" of Anand Bernard.
On the contrary, the "Poor Christians' Liberation Movement" (PCLM), and the Infinitely less notable "Dalit Christians' Liberation Movement" (DCLM), both solely invented, sustained and financed by the BJP, have come to the defence of Anand Bernard, the BJP and Bernard's suggested "law."
The PCLM is premised on the lie that it is "upper caste Christians" (an oxymoron if ever), who are responsible for the robbery, dehumanization and deprivation of Dalit Christians, and are therefore liable to compensate them. This is a lie, because the truth is that it is Upper Caste Hindus who have preyed upon, dehumanized and robbed the Dalits — all Dalits, irrespective of their present religious affiliations — and who are therefore strictly the only party liable to make good on their criminalities.
I had already exposed and denounced the vile, vicious lies behind the fabrication of the criminal organizations, the PCLM & DCLM, when the "Sangh Parivar" first floated these sockpuppet fronts to demand State robbery of the properties of the Catholic and Protestant churches in "India" in order to further handicap the "Christian" sects, steal their properties for the benefit of the Hindus and their temples, kill Christian missions by denying them funds, etc.
Anand Bernard is not unique. When the Shukla Brothers' led Congress regime of Madhya Pradesh had, during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister of India, appointed the "Justice Niyogi Commission" in order to legitimize its anti-Christian Black Legend, a number of apostate Christians had acted as fronts and apologists for these vermin.
Another outstanding traitor and criminal is a P.N. Benjamin in Bangalore, head of the Bangalore Inter-Religious Dialog (BIRD).
Truly do birds of a feather flock together — to the standards of the Satanist, devil-worshipping BJP!
Regards,
Lucio Mascarenhas
REFERENCES:
6. http://www.ucanews.com/2009/02/17/church-troubled-over-hindu-threat-to-schools 7. http://subalternmedia.com/?p=496
Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM), Office:- IIIA/145, Rachana, Vaishali. NCR. Post Code 201010. Telefax 0120, 4569131 Cell.: 9810108046. Email:-francispclm@yahoo.com. http://www.Dalitchristian.org.
PRESS RELEASE
December 10, 2008 - International Human Rights Day.
Christians Demand Human Rights from Church in India.
New Delhi, December 10, 2008: On International Human Rights Day, the "Poor Christians Liberation Movement" (PCLM) has urged Church authorities to pave way for the human rights of Dalit and Tribal Christians. PCLM pointed out that while nearly 70 per cent of present Christians population in India are of Dalit and Tribal background, their participation and appointments in high position in Church is less than 15 percent. This is gross injustice.
PCLM president R.L. Francis pointed out that on December 7, the 'Catholic Bishops Conference of India' (CBCI) and 'National Christian Council of India' (NCCI) released two posters depicting injustice and violence against Christians in India and calling upon the faithful in India to observe "Dalit Liberation Sunday."
While it is true that violence occurred in Karnataka and Orissa, the Supreme Court of India issued stern directions for the safety of the minorities in those states. These posters are misleading and are only gimmicks to collect foreign donations during the forth-coming Christmas and New Year seasons in Western countries.
PCLM conducted a quick survey in Delhi to find out whether in local churches the issue of Dalit Christians were discussed or not and to its surprise it discovered that not even in the Cathedral of Delhi which is located next to 'Catholic Bishops Conference of India' (CBCI) offices was there any mention of the posters and its content. Likewise the NCCI also paid only lip service to Dalit liberation.
R.L. Francis, PCLM's president, further stated that Church officebearers are involved in conversion of poor tribals and Dalits to enhance their political influence in the backward states and not really to bring the liberating message of Jesus Christ to them.
Calling for justice for the poor Dalit and tribal Christians, the PCLM has urged the Church not to malign the name of our country in the West. The PCLM has also urge the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Government of India to investigate the false propaganda by the officebearers of the Church in India and by the Hyderabad based All India Christian Council (AICC), whose aim seems only to collect dollars.
Let the Churches work for social justice for the poor Christians on International Human Rights Day, said R.L. Francis, the PCLM president.
PRESS RELEASE
Demand for Waqf like Board for Church properties.
New Delhi: 29 January, 2009: Considering the large scale fraudulent deals and sales of mission properties in several places in India, the Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission has suggested that the State Government set up a Waqf like Board to protect Church properties.
The Poor Christian Liberation Movement, President R.L. Francis, wholeheartedly supports the proposal mooted by the Madhya Pradesh State Minority Commission and appeals to the church hierarchy to examine the proposal with an open mind and sincerely.
The Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) had earlier, on August 27, 2004, submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh demanding an agency for the protection of Christian properties on the pattern of the Waqf Boards. This demand was again repeated on June 6, 2008 in New Delhi.
Opposing the Waqf-like board suggestion, the Madhya Pradesh Catholic Bishops Conference (MPCBC) has termed the proposal as anti-constitutional and has opposed it on technical grounds. The MPCBC has also called for the excommunication of the lone Christian member of the Madhya Pradesh State Minority Commission Mr. Anand Bernard. This step by the local bishops is not only against Christian ethics but is also anti-constitutional too. The Poor Christian Liberation Movement demands the withdrawal of the excommunication proposal by the MP Bishops and seeks an apology from them.
After closely examining the proposal the PCLM has come to conclusion that there is nothing objectionable in the proposal. If there was anything wrong in the Wakf Board, then Muslims would have opposed it. Therefore, it is not appropriate to oppose the proposal mooted by the M.P. State Minority Commission for setting up a Waqf-like Board for Christians.
President of the Movement, Mr. R.L. Francis said, "The matter is very serious and affects the Christian community at an all-India level, hence the Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) demands that Christian leaders and intellectuals such as Dr. John Dayal, Fr. T.K. John S.J., Mr. Wilson Thampu, Mr. Joseph Gathia, Mr. Sajan George, Dr. J de Sousa, Mr. Michael Pinto, Mrs. Mary John, Ms. Ruth Manorama, Mr. J. Macwan, Mr. P.B. Lomeo, Bishop R.B. Sandhu, Supreme Court Advocate Julian Francis, Rev. Richard Howell, and others, convene a national level seminar for the community to discuss the proposal rather than outrightly rejecting it.
The Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) appeals to the Bishops of Madhya Pradesh to withdraw the excommunication threat and to tender an unconditional apology to Anand Bernard. The Movement further urges the Vatican representative in India, the pro-nuncio, not to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. India is a sovereign country.
Several cases of selling church property illegally have come to light in Jabalpur, Damoh, Indore, Ratlam, Raipur, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Agra, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, etc., therefore it is in the interest of the Christian community to have a Waqf Board like national agency for the proper upkeep and protection of mission properties.
R.L.Francis National President, PCLM.
The Indian Supreme Court had no business asking such a question as it did: "Does Christianity also practice the caste system?"
This was and is a loaded question, a leading question. It was not, and is not, an innocent question.
I reiterate: It was not an innocent question.
There was and is no justification for any body to ask such a question. The only people who have been making such malicious insinuations are the Hindu fascists, and it does not behoove the Indian Supreme Court to make its own, their falsehoods and their malice.
It is obvious to all, that the Caste System was not created and is not sustained by Christianity, but by Hinduism. Therefore, no honest and self-respecting person will insinuate that Christianity created and sustains the Caste System.
The Justices of the Indian Supreme Court do not live in some other world than ours. They do not inhabit a different planet than we do. They do not even live in an alien society, a society ignorant of Indian history and contemporary facts. So, what is their excuse for this malicious remark?
It is a fact that the Caste System is critical to the nature and organization of Hinduism, and has been so for millennia; it is a fact that long before the advent of Christianity (and of Mahomettanism) in the Indies, there have been sporadic revolts against the Caste System, resulting sometimes in the creation of new religions such as Buddhism. Long before the advent of Christianity and Mahomettanism, and even after, many Hindus were obliged to challenge the dictates of the Caste System, and were obliged to suffer for it. It is also a fact that contemporary Hinduism is the result of the liberalization enforced on it by the Portuguese and the English. Nor did the Hindus willingly change, but had to be dragged, against their will, so that they could change.
It is also a fact that, most of the Christians and Muslims in South Asia are descendants of converts from natives, and that many customs of their ancestors, especially of Hinduism, were carried on, and continue to be observed even till this day.
The most insidious of these persistent, pervidious customs, and habits, is the Caste System, which is alien to both Christianity and to Islam, and which yet survives and continues to enslave many Christians and Muslims throughout South Asia, including in "Pakistan," the "Land of the Pure Mohammedans," as the case of Muktaran Mai and others demonstrate.
In the face of this unwarranted insult to Christianity, Christians in India have the responsibility not to waffle and to ingratiate themselves, but to forthrightly take to task this nonsense and challenge it, rebuking and repressing it with severity. Nobody, nobody whatsoever, is greater than God, and no insult to Christ should be countenanced or tolerated in any manner. "He who is ashamed of Me before men, I shall be ashamed to acknowledge him as My own before My father," warned Christ Jesus.This is not the time to waffle and play the domesticated dog, ingratiating oneself to the enemies of Jesus Christ, but to stand up for God, and to withstand the open hypocrisy and malice of this remark.
Moreover, we must bear in mind that we are not fighting for the pretended rights of "Christian" Dalits, but for justice pure and simple. Whether a victim is a Christian is by no means relevant to whether he is or is not a victim.
As I have reiterated time and again, Dalits are the victims of Hinduism, and they remain victims regardless of what religion they practice or do not practice. It is not within the competence of the Supreme Court to ask what religion a victim professes, but to inquire and to demand to be satisfied that an alleged victim is indeed a victim. No one disputes that the Dalits, whether Hindu or Christian, are victims. Therefore, the Supreme Court has no business making the above unnecessary remark.
My objection to George Menezes' article is not an objection to an admission that Christians descended from upper caste converts continue to discriminate against converts from the Dalits. It is an objection to the raising of unnecessary pleas, and to an unnecessarily placatory, ingratiating and waffling attitude.
When our faith is challenged and insulted, it is not the time for spinelessness and for selfishness and for placating the enemy, but it is the time for Christians to act with courage and with faith and in fidelity to Christ and with willingness to sacrifice and to bear the hatred and violence of evildoers and not surrender to evildoers.
We must face the challenge and the insult head on, and fearlessly rebuke those who insult Christianity without good reason; we must uphold the good name of Christianity.
On 8/27/2007, Lucio Mascarenhas wrote:
Dear Sir,
I have not denied that there is substance in Mr. George Menezes' presentation. I only stress the fact that, taken as an integral whole, it misses the essential in gabbing on to that what is not the essential and thus compromises the rights and dignity of Christianity in South Asia and the cause of the Christian Dalits.
Moreover, "Freedom of faith" or "Freedom to choose one's religion," whether that for the Dalits or for any other Indian Citizen, is totally irrelevant to the essence of the argument. As for that argument, I prefer the article in the June 2006 Examiner by a Bob something or the other.
Kind regards,
Lucio Mascarenhas
On 8/27/2007, John Dayal wrote:
Surely there is substance in both arguments.
And a third one - that of freedom of faith of Dalits and, in fact, of every citizen of India.
God bless you.
John Dayal
On 27/08/2007, Lucio Mascarenhas wrote:
I had read Mr. George Menezes' article in the Hindustan Times. Unfortunately, it errs in a serious and significant way, and thereby does an active disservice to the cause it seeks to advance, that is, the rights of "Christian" Dalits.
In my own take on this subject, I had pointed out, that the first and foremost issue at hand is that all Dalits are together victims and therefore in justice, what religion they adhere to, has no bearing in law whatsoever with their victimhood, and therefore with their right to restitution, reparation, rehabilitation, etc.
If a woman is raped, and then converts, does she lose her right to justice?
If a man is run over by a car by the driver's fault, and then he or his heirs convert, do they lose their right to justice?
The very notion is idiotic and infantile, and this is what must be impressed ceaselessly on the Justices.
To further discriminate on the basis that the victim has converted is an aggravation of the crimes committed against them.
Secondly, in response to the direct question by the Justices of the Supreme Court "whether Christians too discriminate," the correct answer is nothing more or less than an uncategorical NO.
Christians of South Asia do not discriminate as Christians, they discriminate as a carry-over from their Hindu ancestry and or from their Hindu mileu. As for a straightforward answer, the answer was and remains NO.
Thirdly, it is necessary to stress that it is Hinduism that is the only sole and true perpetrator against all Dalits, and that Reservation, which punishes the general population, is not justice, but a parody of justice, for it is the perpetrators, not the general public, who must be made to bear the costs of undoing the wrong, of making restitutions, reparations, of bearing the costs of rehabilitations of their victims.
This is all that I need to say for the present.
In ending, I once again stress, and strongly, that Mr. George Menezes has done a great disservice and has actually harmed the name and reputation of Christianity without just cause and without possessing the authority to speak on behalf of Christianity as a whole in South Asia, and that I therefore deprecate his article.
Kind regards,
Lúcío Mascarenhas, Bombay, India.
On 8/26/07, Dr. John Dayal wrote:
HT, August 24, 2007 Bombay edition Op-Ed page.
By George Menezes.
I AM responding to an embarrassing question asked by the Chief Justice of India while disposing of our case for equal rights for Dalit Christians. He asked whether Christians also practice the caste system. He gave the Center eight weeks to respond to the Court. The case has reached this point, after over 57 years of peaceful agitation. The process has seen several judicial interventions and an unbelievable number of Commissions studying the problem. I have been a part of the process since 1986 as National President of the All India Catholic Union, and, in the last few years, from the sidelines watching and advising a massive grassroots movement involving several lay organizations, both Catholic and non-Catholic, supported very strongly by the Bishops' Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
I speak in this piece only about the Catholic Church, and I have to say to the honorable Chief Justice, hanging down my head in shame like Tom Dooley, that there has been a rampant caste system, both in the community and in the hierarchical Church.
Today an activist judiciary almost walks the talk. I am therefore tempted to take Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan for a walk. Let us walk into the villages, where Dalits live together, no matter what religion they belong to. Let us enter the hut of the Chamar family. Ramesh Chamar and his parents are Hindus. His brother John befriended some Salesian priests, studied in the Don Bosco School and became a Catholic. The whole family continues to be discriminated against in humiliating ways, by the upper castes Hindus, as well as by "upper caste" Catholics in the village.
But there is discrimination, not just from the community, but also from the Government. Ramesh gets all the benefits reserved for Hindu Dalits. John gets none. Ironically, the "upper caste" Catholics in the area would never consider marrying their daughter to him.
Let me take a longer walk. I am presiding over a meeting of the Working Committee of the All India Catholic Union in a Diocese in Southern India. Suddenly a group of Catholic Dalits from the Diocese barge into the meeting and shout slogans against us.
They ask me to stop the meeting and walk with them through the Diocese. They take me to the church and show me the "side" that is their only access to the Church and the benches at the back earmarked only for them. They take me to the cemetery, where a wall separates the burial place of the Dalits from that of the upper castes. Due to space constraints, I am listing only a very few of the acts of discrimination they are subjected to. I get really mad and feel terribly ashamed. Together with members of the Working Committee, we break the wall and invite being arrested by the police for trespass. I notice with sadness that the "upper caste" members of my Working Committee are reluctant to join me in breaking the wall.
No doubt, things have changed since then and both the Catholic community and the Church are aware of the mortal sins they are committing. But the progress is slow, and therefore even today, in answer to the question of the Chief Justice, I have reluctantly to admit that the Catholic community and the hierarchical Church are discriminating against Dalit Catholics. That this is happening is natural in a country like India. The Church is not an island. It lives and breathes in the social milieu in which it exists. The Hindu upper caste discrimination against Dalits has a natural fall out on the Church. The economic exploitation, cultural suppression and political domination of the Dalits in the whole country for hundreds of years have their own repercussions on the Catholic Church dominated by an "upper caste" clergy.
Christianity has certainly made a difference and diluted the effect of the presence of caste discrimination. But it still exists and needs to be taken cognizance of by the Supreme Court. If special benefits provided in the Constitution have been given to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhist Dalits, based not on religion but on social discrimination, there is no reason why the Christian Dalits who still suffer indescribable social ostracization, despite their Christianity, should not be included in the Presidential Order of 1950, and get the same benefits.
Fifty seven years is a long time to wait, your Honour.
[George Menezes is President Emeritus, All India Catholic Union].
Justice For All Dalits.
An Open Letter to the Indian Supreme Court.
To
The Honorable Chief Justice & Puisne Justices,
Supreme Court of India,
New Delhi.
I request your leave to address Your Honors on the subject of your judgment in response to the petition filed by the Center for Public Interest Litigations requesting that the discriminatory section of the Constition (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, be struck down, thereby throwing open the benefits of rehabilitative actions to all Dalits irrespective of the religion they practise or even if they are atheists, agnostics, etc.
The question is first of all, a question strictly speaking of justice and law, and purely on that ground, the above legislation is illegal and perverse, and is liable to be struck down ab initio. This is because all Dalits, irrespective of which religion they may practise today, or even if they are atheists, etc., are the victims of a long, historic and even on-going crime, and so, regardless of what religion they practise, which is totally an irrelevant issue, they have a strict and inalienable right to justice, including to restitutions, reparations, rehabilitations, etc.
Let us consider this by analogy:
Analogy 1: A Hindu man is assaulted and his house and land occupied by others. He registers complaints with the police and in the courts for justice. Now, however, he converts, say from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam. Therefore, does he lose his right to justice, to rehabilitation and to restitution?
Analogy 2: A Hindu woman is assaulted and raped, and lodges complaints against the perpetrators. But, for whatever reasons, surely extraneous to the matter, she also decides to convert to some other religion, say Raelism, or Scientology, or whatever. Therefore, does she lose her right to justice, to rehabilitation and to restitution?
Moreover, Your Lordships are fully aware of the ground realities prevalent in India, and of the academic studies over the last few centuries, which show that the Caste System, although an invention of Hinduism, has so thoroughly infested the social fabric of South Asia, that it remains among converts and has influence and impact even on those who have converted to Islam and Christianity more than five centuries ago, and that the same remains true also of the other two "egalitarian" religions indigenous to India — Jainism & Sikhism.
Your Lordships are aware that this is not due to anything innate in these religions — Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, etc. — but is the influence of the dominant Hinduism of South Asia.
Indeed, Your Lordships will also be aware of how inter-caste "honor killings" and similar crimes are still prevalent even among the predominantly Muslim population of Pakistan, as the case of Muktar Mai demonstrates.
As for Christianity in South Asia, it remains true that, despite the best efforts of the Christian clergy and other preceptors of Christianity, the Caste System, as a carry-over from Hinduism, continues to have a deep, shameful and evil influence on converts even of many centuries standing.
Indeed, the situation is that the Christians of Kerala or the Malabar Coast, who had been converted by the Apostle St. Thomas two millenia ago, were contained, domesticated and conformed to the Hindu Caste System as another 'upper caste,' and that this situation continues, with divisions among "Knanaya Christians," etc.
Given these facts, I request Your Lordships to kindly act expeditiously to strike down this heinous monstrosity — the falsely so-called "Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950" as illegal and criminal, ab initio, and extend the right to justice to all victims of the Caste System regardless of what religion they may presently practise.
Thanking you, I am,
Yours truly,
Lucio Mascarenhas, Bombay, India.
20 Jul 2007, Times News Network.
NEW DELHI: The campaign of Dalit Christians for Scheduled Caste status took an interesting turn on Wednesday with a sceptical Supreme Court responding to their demand by asking whether Christians also practised caste system.
"Would the Christians admit that they practise caste system and that Dalits (among them) face social discrimination requiring reservation to uplift their cause? This is not all that easy," a Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said, granting eight weeks to the Centre to report back to court.
Resisting demand for instant recognition, the Supreme Court's poser can put the Christian leaders in a quandary. They have been demanding "Scheduled Caste" status for Dalit Christians saying that the change of faith does not improve social status, but may find it difficult to admit that Dalits in the fold faced the same sort of discrimination as their counterparts in the Hindu community.
Christians claim to be a casteless society. Dalit Christian activists, who have agitated for Dalit status for long, recently got a shot in arm when the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission endorsed their case.
Appearing for them, senior counsel Shanti Bhushan cited the Mishra Commission's report as he argued that the SC category be expanded to include Dalits who have now embraced Christianity and Islam.
He argued for the scrapping of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, restricting reservation benefits to Dalits only among Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs.
"It is clear from the commission's report that a mere change in religion did not bring about a change in their social status," Shanti Bushan argued. He was supported by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the All India United Christian Movement for Equal Rights.
Jethmalani said the Congress government had brought in a Bill in 1996 with the objective of giving Dalits equal rights irrespective of the religion they profess. "It is only politics that has deprived the Dalit Christians of their legitimate due," he added.
The court, however, felt that the matter was best left to the Centre. When pressed further, it said to adjudicate the issue it would require the views of Christians and wondered whether they would admit practising the caste system.
Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam said the government is seeking the opinion of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on the report of the Mishra Commission and sought time for this purpose. The existing Scheduled Castes who have watched warily the move to widen the ambit of the reservation benefits to include Dalits among Christians and Muslims may derive satisfaction from the court's poser.
They fear that the inclusion of Dalit Christians who have a big edge in the form of English education may hurt them. When the Bench comprising the CJI and Justices R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari agreed to give eight weeks to the Centre to take necessary opinion and report back to the court, Bhushan said: "The issue required no more views and the court could give its finding on it."
The CJI said the legal validity of the provision depriving Dalit Christians of scheduled caste status could not be determined without data and it is the government which is in the best position to take a call on the basis of the report of the Mishra Commission.
Letter to the Editor, the Examiner, June 24, 2006.
Sir,
The Supreme Court of India, once it convenes in July 2006 after its summer vacations, is expected to take up hearings on the writ petition seeking full rights for all Dalit Scheduled Castes irrespective of religion.
The government has asked the National Commission on Religious & Linguistic Minorities, otherwise called the Justice Ranganath Mishra [Inquiry] Commission, to look into the demand and give its opinion. This opinion will be presented before the Supreme Court.
The Ranganath Mishra Commission has asked the Tata Consultancy Services [TCS.com] to organize seminars on the subject. It has also asked the public to give its suggestions in the next few weeks. Earlier it held public meetings in many cities in various parts of the country.
Major Christian groups have already given one round of testimony. Apparently that has not satisfied someone in the Commission. This is perhaps because the RSS and its more that 100 daughter organizations have launched a massive counter-campaign against Christians in general and Christians of Dalit origin in particular and are flooding the offices of the Ranganath Mishra Commission with their poisonous hate mail.
This is to request you, therefore, to kindly send your letters and documents to the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission in support of the demand of Christians of Dalit origin, to get this marginalized group its fundamental rights so brutally snatched from it by the Presential Order of 1950. The Commissions' email id is ncrlm2005@rediffmail.com.
The postal address is: Member Secretary, NCRLM, Gate 30, II Floor, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi - 110 003.
The Chairman's postal address is 31, Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi-110001.
The address of the Member Secretary, a retired I.A.S. officer of the rank of secretary to the Government of India, is Mrs. Asha Das, D-297, Sarvodaya Enclave, G/F, New Delhi. Her email id is das_asha@yahoo.com.
John Dayal.
To: The National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities ncrlm2005@rediffmail.com
Date: Jun 19, 2006 9:41 PM
Sub: Inclusion of Dalit Christians in Benefits of Rehabilitative Measures.
To
His Lordship Justice Shri Ranganath Mishra,
Chairman, Nat'l Comm. for Religious & Linguistic Minorities,
Gate No. 30, IInd Floor, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Lodi Road, New Delhi. PIN: 110 003. ncrlm2005@rediffmail.com.
Your Honor,
Sub: Submissions invited from the Public on ''requests to designate Scheduled Caste Hindu converts to Islam and Christianity as Scheduled Castes.''
I would like to make a submission on this question to your lordship. My submission is best illustrated by my reply on this same question to a post on a NGOs Yahoo group, "Karmayog."
Re: Public opinion on SC converts sought by panel.
Dear "B. Johann Samuhanand,"
I would like to reply to your post on the call made by the Nat'l. Comm. for Religious & Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM) headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra seeking "public opinion" on the ''requests to designate Scheduled Caste Hindu converts to Islam and Christianity as SCs.''
At the outset, I would like to share with you the fact that I have learnt regarding how a Hindu becomes a Hindu and a Christian a Christian.
It is not at all true that one becomes a Christian by "Confirmation." One becomes a Christian by the Sacrament of Baptism, also called the "Sacrament of Regeneration", which makes one a person "Re-Born" or "Born-Again" in Christ Jesus, His Redemptive Passion & Cross. The Sacrament of Confirmation is a later sacrament which is the Baptism in the Holy Ghost.
You have repeated the old pretension that "Hindus are born Hindus but Christians become Christians only after Baptism or Confirmation."
As a matter of fact, no one can really become a Hindu until he has undergone the Upanayana Samskara as a result of which one becomes a Dvija or a person who has undergone a second birth.
Get the picture?
A child of Hindu parents who has not undergone the Upanayana Samskara is buried, not cremated. A person who has undergone the Upanayana Samskara is cremated according to proper Hindu rites, and not merely buried.
But let us put this quibble aside and deal with the more critical issue: Do converts from the Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Tribes) have a right to retain the benefits of affirmative action?
Let us consider this by analogy and then by investigating historical facts.
A man is assaulted and his house and land occupied by others. He registers complaints with the police and in the courts for justice. Now, however, he converts, say from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam. Therefore, according to you and the principles you have outlined, he has lost any right to justice, to rehabilitation and to restitution. Did I understand you correctly?
Again, a woman is assaulted and raped, and lodges complaints against the perpetrators. But, unfortunately, she also decides to convert to, say Raelism, Reiki, Oshoism or Scientology. Therefore, according to your "principles" she has thereby lost any right to justice, rehabilitation, restitution. Did I understand you correctly?
Now let us consider the historical facts of the Dalits. For more than three millenia, these people have been preyed upon, degraded and dehumanized by a systemic policy of the Hindu religion.
So pervasive and ingrained is this, that this continues, unfortunately, even among converts to Christians and Muslims, such as the rape of Mehtar Mai in Pakistan and other cases prove, and as the campaign by the "high caste" Christian parishioners of Cuncolim in Goa against the moves by the Diocese of Goa and the Parish of Cuncolim to include "low caste" parish representatives in the Parish Council, demonstrates, among too many other examples.
Under the circumstances, then, I understand that it is your contention that merely because a victim of crime has converted to another religion, he or she loses any right thereby to justice, rehabilitation, restitution, etc.
This is extraordinary, to say the very least.
And, not only extra-ordinary, it is extremely perverse, and, on the part of the Indian state, the executive, legislature, judiciary, etc., and on the part of private citizens and organizations that make themselves abettors and accessories of this criminal policy, themselves perpetrators of aggravated crime against victims of crime, and therefore partners in the primary, principal crime! That is the inescapable consequence in law of supporting and endorsing criminality!
[In law, justifying the crime and the criminal, whether by direct action or by acts of omission, or by praise and support, constitutes one an accessory after the fact and a fellow-criminal along with the main perpetrator(s).]
I hope that I have made the picture crystal clear.
However, I am not a supporter of "reservations" because I do not believe that it is a successful and beneficial system, by-and-large, for the victims and for their rehabilitation, restitution, etc.
I believe that it is the duty of the state to determine the exact criminal perpetrators and institutional maintainers and beneficiaries of the crime and impose upon them social and financial sanctions to provide for the restoration, rehabilitation, restitution, etc. of the victims.
Hindu Fascist and Neo-Nazi organizations have campaigned against the demand of Dalit converts to Christianity for their rights to share in rehabilitative, restitutive, retributive, etc. measures on the "grounds" that Christian bodies in India own extensive properties and are wealthy enough to pay for this by themselves.
It may be true that the several Christian sects in India totally own extensive properties that, if stolen by the state and sold, will provide a large sum of money.
However, there is no basis in justice for this step as Christian religious properties have NOT been accumulated as a result of the social, cultural, economic etc expropriation, exploitation, degradation and dehumanization of the Dalits.
Rather, if Dalits, all Dalits indiscriminately, have any rehabilitative, restitutive, retributive, etc. rights against any religious properties, it is against HINDU religious properties, not Christian.
I am willing to have this question be examined by a National Commission to determine in detail each individual case to determine who exactly has benefitted by exploiting the Dalits - the Christians or the Hindus!
Who is game - and man enough - to take up this challenge?
Kind regards,
Lucio Mascarenhas, Bombay
In karmayog@yahoogroups.com, "bjsamuhanand" wrote:
The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM) headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra has sought public opinion on ''requests to designate Scheduled Caste Hindu converts to Islam and Christianity as SCs.''
Publication: Indian Express; Date:Jun 8, 2006; Section:The OP-ED; Page Number: 9.
AN ANACHRONISM OF THE WORST KIND.
The demand for SC status for converts to Christianity is an anachronism. The Hindu is born into his caste. He cannot change his caste. A Christian is not born. Even if he is born in a Christian family he has to accept the teachings of Christ and then only he is called a Christian. This process is called in the churches "CONFIRMATION." He can always leave Christ's teachings if he so desires.
Indian Christians who are misled by some groups funded from abroad must read the speech of K.T. PAUL to the round table conference of 1930 as representative of Indian Christians. He vehementaly opposed seperate communal representation to Christians in Legislatures, what to talk of Scheduled Caste status! The groups who are asking for this status are the same groups who are funded from abroad and who Represented to the US Congress (Parliament) about this demand and not to the Indian Parliament!
The same groups also campaigned for rights of Hindu Dalits to the US Congress and tried to raise the issue in the UN about atrocities on Dalits, giving a bad name to India.
Christianity has no caste but the bishops and priests who reach these posts further alienate themselves by separate communion, and by separate burial grounds for Dalits!
Instead of addressing these issues these groups are asking for something which will make them into the "Creamy layer" among Dalits and Scheduled Castes.
Captain B. Johann Samuhanand.
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