The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ordered the Guntur Collector to cancel the Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate of the chairperson of the Guntur Zilla Parishad, who was elected to the position reserved for Scheduled Castes in September 2021.
In September 2021, Heni Christina of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP was unanimously elected as the chairperson of Guntur’s Zilla Parishad. She won by a margin of 17500 votes from a constituency reserved for the scheduled caste candidates.
According to The Hindu, she stated,“We are forever grateful to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had fulfilled his promise of elevating a Dalit woman to the coveted post. We assure that we will live up our leader’s expectation and ensure that welfare schemes are taken to the doorstep of the people”.
Christina is the wife of Christian pastor Bishop K Suresh Kumar who runs the Christian missionary organization Harvest India.
Mandru Sarla Kumari, a Guntur native and SC Hindu, filed complaints with the district administration about bishop Suresh Kathera and his wife Heni Christina’s conversion activities.
She alleged that Christian Bishop Kattera Suresh Kumar is holding a Scheduled Caste certificate to avail reservation benefits despite being a Christian Bishop, maintaining a big church, running several Bible colleges and awarding Christian theology degree through a large evangelical organization namely Harvest India.
She had presented plenty of evidence to show that the pastor and his family are Christians but use SC Hindu certificates to illegally obtain government benefits.
Regardless of the evidence, the collector declared Kathera and his family to be SC Hindus, despite the fact that they run 10 bible colleges and a church called King’s Temple.
Election Petition filed in the AP High Court challenging the candidature of Heny Christina who is a Christian contested from SC reserved ZP Constituency, Guntur with SC caste certificate.
Her husband, Bishop K Suresh Kumar was recently declared as Hindu by Dist Collector. pic.twitter.com/bRLpD7ak86
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) September 27, 2021
The Legal Rights Protection Forum, an organization working for the rights of Dalits and tribal communities, filed a petition at the Andhra Pradesh High Court in September 2021, challenging Heni Christina’s candidacy from the reserved ZP constituency Guntur.
As per the Constitutional (Scheduled Castes) Order of the President 1950, a person ceases to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community if he/she professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism.
Recently, in the case filed by LRPF, the Andhra Pradesh High Court recognized Mr. Kathera Suresh Kumar, President of Harvest India, and his wife Heni Christina, Guntur ZP Chairperson as Christians, not Hindu SCs, and ordered the District Collector to cancel their SC Caste Certificates.
#Victory: Finally, the Andhra Pradesh High Court recognized Mr. Kathera Suresh Kumar, President of Harvest India & his Wife Heny Christina, Guntur ZP Chairperson as Christians, not Hindu SCs. Ordered the District Collector to cancel their SC Caste Certificates. https://t.co/qP282f7rw4
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) November 15, 2022
LRPF had previously unearthed FCRA violations at Bishop Kathera’s missionary organization, Harvest India, and lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Bishop Kathera had told his foreign audience, “Pastors are being killed. Churches are being burned. Our Prime Minister is a bad guy. He doesn’t want Christians in India.” Kathera and his wife are both YSRCP members.
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