BJP may reap rich dividends in Kerala after govt announces panel on SC status for Dalit converts

If implemented, the decision would help BJP cement its political base among the Christian community in the state where it has been struggling to make electoral gains.

As a quid pro quo, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, which represents Catholic bishops in the state, has asked the party’s national leadership to consider the demand without further delay.

Noble Mathew, the national vice president of BJP Minority Morcha, said: “Considering the sentiments of the Christian community, the Minority Morcha had been demanding this for long. This issue had been raised several times by bishops in their meetings with the BJP leadership. Congress could never address this demand.”

The government’s decision to set up a three-member national commission on SC status for Dalit converts has come at a time when the friction between the BJP and Christian churches in Kerala over religious conversion has subsided significantly, with churches in the state focusing on promoting bigger households with more children and preventing inter-faith marriages with Muslims.

For its part, the BJP has pushed the conversion issue on the backburner in a bid to bring Hindus and Christians together.

The party now encourages “Hindus and Christians to stand united to face the Muslim threat.’’

With the Christian population in Kerala declining, the Sangh Parivar too feels it is irrelevant to keep the conversion issue alive.

Writer and Dalit rights activist Sunny M Kapicadu said the decision to set up a panel would help BJP politically.

“If SC status is given to Dalit Christians in Kerala, BJP will reap rich dividends. Both the CPI(M) and Congress made promises to (Dalit)Christians, but they failed to keep it,” Kapicadu said.

“I don’t find any reason for a social conflict in the event of extending SC status to Dalit Christians in Kerala. Leading Dalit organisations in the state are likely to object the move only if they are told to share their existing reservation quota with the converted. But if the percentage of SC reservation is increased, this issue would be solved,” he added.

A large number of Dalit Christians live in south and central Kerala, where the BJP is trying to make inroads into the Christian vote bank. The Dalit Christians belonging to Syro-Malabar Catholic Church mainly reside in Kottayam district, while the non-Catholic segment including the Pentecostal groups live in Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts.

Fr. Jose Vadakkekuttu, secretary of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s SC/ST commission, said: “Kerala has around 30 lakh Dalit Christians who got converted generations ago. They are not getting any benefits entitled to the SC segment. Many families had re-converted to Hinduism decades ago due to denial of reservation benefits.”