A delegation of Anglo-Indian leaders from across the country will meet the law minister in Delhi next week — the first time since the revocation of the reservation for the community in Parliament and state legislature.

On January 28, the delegation of 12 will put forward their right that the Anglo-Indian community deserves an extension of the seats to communicate matters related to their community.

“The community is spread out across the country. It makes it vital for us to have a voice in Parliament and the state legislatures to put forward our concerns and matters related to our community- education, culture, way of life and religion,” said Barry O’Brien, the president-in-chief of the All India Anglo-Indian Association.

On Saturday, January 25, the tenure extension officially comes to an end. The Anglo-Indian community will decide the course of action after hearing what the government has to say.

The delegation will stress the fact that they are not 296 in number, as stated by the government, but close to 400,000.

On Friday, Glen Joseph Galstaun took oath as the nominated Anglo-Indian member of the Jharkhand Assembly. The Anglo-Indian community across the country are upbeat about this decision.

“I congratulated the chief minister of Jharkhand on nominating an Anglo-Indian hours before the lapse. Everyone in the community across the country is overjoyed and salutes you and your government,” said O’Brien.

On Friday, O’Brien sent a video to all members of the community to observe “25 January 2020 as Pray for India Day: Let only the Constitution guide the Government of India”.

“I appeal to all of you on the 25th of January, the day before the Republic Day, and the darkest day for our community because the seats will be discontinued. Let us treat it as pray for India day... pray for peace in India. Pray for communal harmony in India. Pray for elected governments to see the light of day… pray for the government of India to follow the Constitution of India.... India is a country for all communities, genders, everybody is the same and should be treated the same,” said O’Brien.

In the video, he goes on to say, “The Constitution of India gave us the guarantee of representation in the Lok Sabha of two seats and one seat in the state legislatures and as you all know the government has decided to discontinue that and we will not have the tenure extension anymore. So, on the 25th of January 2020 that comes to an end. Only the sitting MLAs will continue to be MLAs till the end of their term.”

Many feel their “prayers have been answered” since the meeting request with the law minister has been granted.

On January 6, there was a meeting of Anglo-Indians from across the country, to discuss the way forward following the revocation of seats.

The community, following the meeting, decided to set up a team of representatives of educational institutions and professionals with legal acumen to “safeguard the autonomy and minority rights” of their institutions.