Lucknow, Aug. 11 -- The Rashtriya Ulama Council on Monday demanded that the Centre remove the religious restriction imposed under Article 341 of the Constitution, which has kept Pasmanda Muslims and Christians out of the list of Scheduled Castes since 1950.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, Maulana Amir Rashadi, the RUC national president, described August 10, 1950 - the day a presidential ordinance introduced the restriction - as a "black day of injustice" whose consequences crores of people continue to bear. He said the RUC has been fighting the discrimination from the very beginning through awareness campaigns, protests and hunger strikes, and observes the date every year as "Injustice Day."

The Rashtriya Ulama Coun...