The archbishop of Bengaluru, Peter Machado, has called on the Karnataka government to restore the caste identifications in data for Christians in the Socio-Economic Survey of Castes. The statewide Survey started on September 22 and will conclude on October 7.
The archbishop’s call comes in the wake of a decision of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission to blank out the names of 33 original caste identities for Christians in the data collection system for the caste survey.
The decision to blank out the original castes as collected by the H Kantharaj Commission survey in 2015 was taken after Opposition allegations that caste names like Kuruba Christian, Vokkaliga Christian, etc, are not recognised.
While welcoming the caste survey, the archbishop said that he was hopeful that “the omission of certain castes linked to Christianity in the published lists will be restored after the final analyses of the survey.”
“Deletions, if any, risk denying historical communities their rightful recognition and may cause injustice in accessing welfare schemes,” the archbishop stated.
“The Church urges the government to take note of these exclusions and ensure fair representation of all Christian communities,” he said.
The archbishop stated that the survey will “help identify the real beneficiaries of the government’s economic and social welfare policies.”
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“It will provide a clear classification of different caste groups, enabling the framing of policies and programs that are just, inclusive, and need-based,” he added.
Background of controversy
BJP leaders such as Union Minister Pralhad Joshi alleged that the inclusion of Christian root castes was a ploy to manipulate the reservation system.
“It is clearly stated in our Constitution that those who have converted are not eligible for reservation. However, they are allegedly being listed as Kuruba Christians, Brahmin Christians, and Lingayat Christians to manipulate the reservation system,” he said on Sunday.
Leader of Opposition R Ashok accused the Congress government of working to divide Hinduism in the name of a caste survey. “People from all castes have opposed conversion. Names like Kuruba, Brahmin, Vishwakarma, etc, have been prefixed with ‘Christian’. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is a Christian, and this is being done to please her,” he told a news conference last week.
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However, the Backward Classes Commission has maintained that the castes were part of the Kantharaj Commission report. Of the 10 lakh Christian population in the state, around four lakh were from groups that identified themselves with Hindu caste names and the ‘Christian’ suffix. All of these castes were classified under ‘Christians’ in the survey.
Commenting on the controversy, Madhusudhan Naik, Chairman, Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, said that the list of caste names published by the Commission weeks before the Survey had no value or relevance.
“There are allegations that we created these castes. We did not create any. The names (of castes) in the list were part of the survey carried out earlier… For internal use, we published 1,413 caste names, asking suggestions about whether more names were required to be added,” he said. Based on the response, the Commission had a total of 1,561 names in the drop-down list used in the survey app.
However, since ministers in the government raised concerns about it, the Commission has decided to mask these 33 caste names that had stirred a row, he said.