Two senior Congress leaders belonging to the Dalit community – AICC general secretary Kumari Selja and former Chairman of National Commission for SCs PL Punia – have come out against the recent Supreme Court judgement on sub-classification of the Scheduled Castes for reservation as they demanded that the government bring a Constitution Amendment Bill to nullify the apex court order.
This comes when the Congress leadership is yet to take a formal position on the SC judgement even as the Congress-led governments in Karnataka and Telangana welcomed the judgement due to local reasons, including the Madiga community pitching for such classification.
Speaking to ET separately, both Selja and Punia argued the SC judgement overlooked the reality of untouchability being the basis for the Constitutionally-guaranteed reservation for Dalits and they apprehended that the judgement will strike at the unity of the Dalit community. They said it is time reservations are extended to judicial appointments also right from the apex court, so that the most deprived sections can have their voice in the judiciary.
“I am committed to every layer of the Dalit community getting the benefits of reservation. However, the recent SC judgement for sub-classifying the SCs into various categories for reservation is absolutely wrong. The judgement strikes at the very strength of the SC community that is our unity, and it will instead fragment our community and weaken our common cause and strength. The SC judgement has treated reservation for Dalits through the narrow lens of economic empowerment, thus completely ignoring the very basis for reservation for SCs – untouchability – which is still prevailing as a social sin,” Selja said. “This judgement also goes against the very spirit of BR Ambedkar‘s call to ‘educate, unite and struggle’ to Dalits. Parliament should unanimously pass a Constitution Amendment Bill to nullify this judgement. Such judgements also make all of us once again aware of the need for reservation in judicial appointments, from the Supreme Court to the entire judiciary, so that the most deprived will have their voice in the judiciary.”
Punia said the SC judgement “is not in the interest of the Dalit community”, rather “it will fragment the community.” “The government must bring a Constitution Amendment Bill in Parliament to undo this judgement just as the Nehru government brought the first Constitutional Amendment Bill in 1951 to strike down the SC judgement against reservation in the education sector. The reservation for Dalit community is due to social deprivation, due to the practice of untouchability against them and this reservation can’t be treated as a tool for only economic empowerment. Therefore, it is wrong to argue that once a generation of Dalits got the benefit of reservation, the next generations should not get it. Dalits are denied social equality and status even when some of them made economic gains. Don’t forget that when the then-President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Brahma Temple in Pushkar, he was allowed to sit only at the steps of the temple, not let inside the temple. We routinely come across cases of Dalit grooms being prevented from riding on a horse. Since the SC is speaking about justice, it’s high time it favours reservation in judiciary.”
