Following the notice issued by National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) to the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh seeking an ‘action taken’ report in the matter of large scale Christian conversions happening amongst the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has ordered to survey the SC and Christian population.
The order dated 12th August 2021 issued by the Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department, asks Assistant Social Welfare Officers allocated to different mandals of Ananthapuramu district to conduct field surveys furnish the following information:
1. SC & Christian Population at Municipality and Mandal Wise
2. Number of Churches in each Municipality/Mandal
3. Visit SC colonies and observe if they are practicing Hinduism or Christianity
The order asks to submit the details within 5 days of the notification.
Following our report to National SC Commission on Large Scale Christian Conversions targeting SCs in Andhra Pradesh & thereby a notice issued by @NCSC_GOI to AP Chief Secretary for action, Govt of AP has reportedly started survey regarding SC & Christian Population in state(1/2) https://t.co/mmxKVWKTA6 pic.twitter.com/gtmkPl4kbs
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) August 14, 2021
The NCSC took cognizance following a complaint made by the SC ST Rights Forum, a non-profit legal activism organization working in the area of Dalit rights, a copy of which was accessed by The Commune.
In its complaint, the organization had said that large scale religious conversions are leading to social strife, law and order issues and families getting torn apart. It said that the situation is such that the term ‘SC’ and ‘Christians’ have become synonymous. Citing the replies to an RTI query about the selection of beneficiaries for the Andhra government’s scheme ‘Chandranna Christmas Kanuka’, the complaint said that the government officials in Andhra had replied that they treat the entire SC population as Christians while the scheme is meant only for Christians.
The complaint also pointed to the anomaly in the demographic data of number of Christians in the state based on the report titled “What happened to the Christians of Andhra Pradesh?” brought out by the Centre for Policy Studies.
The data from the report shows a sharp decline in those who declared their religion as Christianity between 1971 and 2011.
The complaint observed that those practicing Christianity are obtaining Hindu caste certificates to take advantage of the reservation benefits. It also said that Christian evangelists indulge in aggressive proselytization and sow the seeds of secessionism by making the converts swear allegiance to extra-constitutional and extra-territorial religious heads.
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