Bengaluru: The state government has decided to drop Christian sub-castes from the socio-educational survey starting today, following widespread opposition to the inclusion of Christian sub-castes in the survey. Following objections from ministers, protests from SC/ST and OBC groups and the advice of Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission has dropped 57 Christian sub-castes from the socio-educational survey starting Monday. The state government has thus opened the door to the Christian sub-caste controversy.
Christian sub-castes listed as “Others”
With this decision, sub-castes will not be listed in the survey questionnaire. Enumerators using the mobile software between September 22 and October 7 will record Christian sub-castes in the “Others” column.
Officials said that respondents can disclose their original caste before conversion, but those entries will also be filed under "others".
Action taken on Governor's advice
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked the commission to exclude the names of Christian subcastes after the Governor warned that including Christian subcastes in the list could create a rift in the society.
BJP-Congress tussle over Christian subcaste issue
The opposition BJP had alleged that the survey was a conspiracy by the Congress government to weaken the anti-conversion law and extend reservation to converted Christians. Karnataka BJP Minority Front president Anil Thomas said, "Mentioning Christian subcastes normalises conversion and encourages people to convert without fear of losing their caste identity." Social Justice Awareness Forum president S. Harish had alleged that the "Congress government is conspiring to assimilate Christians with Hindu OBC communities and label Hindu communities as Christians."
Responding to these allegations, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Shivraj Thangadgi clarified that the government has not fixed any labels. Those who participated in the previous Kantaraju Commission survey had voluntarily identified themselves as such. He said that this confusion has been cleared.
Reacting to this, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said, "The purpose of this survey is to identify the social and educational backwardness of the people. If someone is a Christian, that person will be listed as a Christian and not on the basis of caste."
The Congress is confident that the Karnataka survey will follow the Telangana model and there will be no backtracking on the broader policy.