Christians demand minority quotas in parliament
06/26/09 India (UCAN) - Christians in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are demanding proportional representation for religious minorities in the national parliament and state legislatures.
India's democratic system has neglected minority religious communities, the annual plenary meeting of the Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh (great confederation of Christians in Madhya Pradesh) agreed.
The June 22 meeting determined to press the authorities to reserve a quota of seats in legislatures for Christians, Muslims and other religious minority groups in proportion to their population.
Minorities "have been alienated from major decision-making bodies due to their negligible numbers," Father Anand Muttungal, the confederation coordinator and spokesman for the Catholic Church in the state, told UCA News.
The political rights of religious minorities have been neglected since independence in 1947 and if the situation continues, minorities "would be pushed further backward from echelons of power," he said.
There are approximately 23 million Christians in India, just 2.3 percent of the population. There are 827 million Hindus and 138 million Muslims. Other minorities, including Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, number 30 million.
The problem is most acute at state level. There are just two Christian members of Madhya Pradesh's 230-seat legislature, the confederation's general secretary Richard D'Silva said.
Assemblies in most northern states, where Christians form less than 1 percent of the population, have no Christian representatives.
Nationally, the situation appears better, with 16 Christian members in the 543-seat national parliament. Strict proportional representation would imply just 12 Christian members but Father Muttungal said the parliamentarians are drawn from areas where Christians are socially and politically assertive. Elsewhere they go unrepresented, he said.
Without adequate representation, laws have been passed that are contrary to minorities' interests, said Father Muttungal.
Some states, including Madhya Pradesh, have passed laws that are unfavorable to Christianity, such as those regulating freedom of religion and religious conversions, he said.
"We are not speaking only for Christians. We want representation for all minority religious communities in states and national decision-making bodies. Christian-dominated states may be now electing more Christians. That should end and minorities there too should get representation," he said.
Confederation president Joshi Kurishingal said that suppressing the voice of people because they were in a minority was not right.
"Religious minorities have a constitutional right to be heard and to be party to the decision-making process," he said.
Joshi said the confederation is planning ways to bring their demands to the attention of national leaders and heads of political parties. They also plan to write to Catholic and Protestant bishops on the matter.
Source: http://www.ucanews.com
