Chennai: Making a fresh appeal to the
Centre for including convert Christians in the list of
Scheduled Castes, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi
today sought the Prime Minister's personal intervention in the
matter as it was pending for the last 15 years.
Karunanindhi said he had first taken up the issue with
the Centre in 1996, followed that up in 2006 and again written
to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year.
The chief minister said he has written a fresh letter
to Singh seeking his personal intervention in the issue.
In the letter, a copy of which was released to the
media, Karunanidhi said though Paragraph 3 of the Constitution
(Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 originally laid down that "no
person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall
be deemed to be a member of a SC", amendments were later made
to include persons professing Sikhism and Buddhism in SC list.
"The government of Tamil Nadu feels that members of
castes listed in SC have suffered social and economic
discrimination irrespective of the religions professed by
them," he said in the letter, identical to the one sent to
Singh in April 2010.
Karunanidhi said it would be "appropriate if paragraph
3 of the Constitution (SC) order, 1950 is deleted in toto."
"The government of Tamil Nadu has repeatedly addressed
the Government of India for issuing early orders on the above
issue. However, till now, no formal order has been received
from Government of India," he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 25, 2011, 15:35