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If religion changes, benefits of reservation must go:
An Interesting News in Times of India Newspaper, Members please share your views on it
CHENNAI: The question is whether a person who is a backward caste Hindu will lose benefits if he or she converts. If the litigant in question had been from the forward community, she will not become backward if she converts.
There are judgments that say she won't get benefits.
This judgment says that since the litigant was a backward caste Hindu she would get the benefits due to backward caste Muslims. I feel that this view will not be upheld if an appeal is filed. As a general proposition, conversion means you don't want to remain in a community. So how can you get the benefits then? A Supreme Court judgment had ruled that Scheduled Tribes are exempted from income tax. But the court also ruled that an IAS officer from ST who had settled in Calcutta is not exempt from income tax, since he had moved out of his traditional lands.
There is freedom of religion in our country. But on conversion a person cannot retain the Hindu caste identity for the purpose of availing quota benefits. Technically speaking, Islam does not recognize caste. Worship practices are the same for all Muslims. As per religion, there is no prohibition for a Shia to marry a Sunni. When a Hindu converts, is he a Shia or a Sunni? This judgment perpetuates the caste system. We cannot become a casteless society if such rulings are given. We will remain backward, for jobs, promotion and so on.
(G Rajagopalan is a senior advocate)
If religion changes, benefits of reservation must go: - The Times of India
An Interesting News in Times of India Newspaper, Members please share your views on it
CHENNAI: The question is whether a person who is a backward caste Hindu will lose benefits if he or she converts. If the litigant in question had been from the forward community, she will not become backward if she converts.
There are judgments that say she won't get benefits.
This judgment says that since the litigant was a backward caste Hindu she would get the benefits due to backward caste Muslims. I feel that this view will not be upheld if an appeal is filed. As a general proposition, conversion means you don't want to remain in a community. So how can you get the benefits then? A Supreme Court judgment had ruled that Scheduled Tribes are exempted from income tax. But the court also ruled that an IAS officer from ST who had settled in Calcutta is not exempt from income tax, since he had moved out of his traditional lands.
There is freedom of religion in our country. But on conversion a person cannot retain the Hindu caste identity for the purpose of availing quota benefits. Technically speaking, Islam does not recognize caste. Worship practices are the same for all Muslims. As per religion, there is no prohibition for a Shia to marry a Sunni. When a Hindu converts, is he a Shia or a Sunni? This judgment perpetuates the caste system. We cannot become a casteless society if such rulings are given. We will remain backward, for jobs, promotion and so on.
(G Rajagopalan is a senior advocate)
If religion changes, benefits of reservation must go: - The Times of India
