Author: Sandeep
Publication: Desicritics.org
Date: May 1, 2007
URL: http://desicritics.org/2007/05/01/002344.php
EPW carries an interesting article-cum-report
on the plight of Dalit Christians (Downloadable PDF). It appears to be well-researched
and replete with historical, contemporary, and statistical data. Prakash Louis,
the author, argues that Dalit Christians have been betrayed on all counts
and from everybody including the Church.
I argue that his premise is flawed for a most
fundamental reason: you cannot be a Dalit and a Christian at the same time.
In the larger scheme of things, I also argue how this phenomenon threatens
the India of a unified India.
The term Dalit--Harijan if you will--is exclusively
Hindu. If you call yourself a Dalit, you are Hindu. One rallying point of
Evangelists against Hinduism in their conversion melas is the promise of equal
social treatment. But as this report proves, the promise is never honoured.
Many studies have revealed that conversion
to Christianity does not change the social condition of the dalits.
Caste discrimination within the Indian Christian
community is more than 100 years old according to this report, and persists.
Historical data abound with caste segregation
and discrimination within the church right from its inception. The cathedral
at Tiruchirappalli, built between 1839 and 1841 was provided with the customary
caste bar. In some places, the dalits had their own churches, in other places
they attended the services standing outside the church. In common churches
they were seated in the side or at the back and could take communion only
after the caste Christians...
Several threads emerge. A possible conclusion
is that caste-based discrimination is genetically inherent more in Indians
than any other race. The other conclusion is that Indian Christianity is not
"pure" Christianity because of its caste component, an aberration.
A third conclusion is Christianity has failed to provide Dalits the social
upliftment it promised. Worse, it has compounded the problem by adding Dalit
Christians to the already-colossal pile of castes, groups, and tribes. In
real numbers, this translates to ... [of the] 20 million Christians in India,
that is, two per cent of the population, nearly 70 per cent are dalits.
This is apart from the "Hindu" SCs,
STs, and lately, "Dalit" Muslims.
The roots of this confusion lie in the mindset
that motivates conversion.
In the current context the primary concern
of Evangelists is merely to add numbers to the total Souls saved. Perhaps
the most famous example is Mother Theresa who baptized people on the deathbed
to satisfy her inner drive of saving souls. Conversion now takes place mostly
on the basis of fraud and economic inducement. The promise of bettering the
livelihood of potential convertees is honoured only during the actual conversion
ceremony, and on a few occasions after that. Thereafter, the converts are
left to their own devices. This is a highly plausible explanation and perhaps,
the very reason for the EPW report. But the effects are disastrous. They're
economically no better than before, plus they now have to follow an alien
faith that cuts off future generations from their roots.
The EPW report clearly illustrates the futility--if
not immorality--of conversions, of the failure of Hindus to reform themselves
quickly, and the direction of the Dalit movement. A prominent theme--if not
the entire focus--of the EPW report is a plea/demand for Reservations for
Dalit Christians. It is another illustration of the consequence of setting
bad political precedents. The report clearly articulates the precedent by
calling for a Dalit Christian vote bank to achieve its objective.
...politicians will remain uncommitted on
this issue since the dalit Christians do not constitute a comprehensive vote
bank. Conferring or denying reservation for dalit Christians will be predominantly
determined by the electoral prospects.
Finally, taking all these facts into account
the government should demand that the National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities submit its report at the earliest and the report should
be carefully examined. The prime minister should make proactive statements
as he did with regard to the Sachar Committee Report and bring the dalit Christians
under the umbrella of reservation within a stipulated period.
Are Dalit Christians like thousands of other
oppressed groups, justified in asking for Reservations? If it's granted, where
and when does it stop? I shudder at proposing any solution: too many ugly
precedents have obliterated any possibility of solution. Where does one begin
cleaning the mess? We've completely lost consciousness of the idea of cultural
unity of India, which in fact is the real idea of India. At no point in its
history was India so aware of so many differences, and carved out neat niches
of separateness.
The Cyncial Demon inside me has convinced
me of the futility of following up the Reservations issue. Our politicians
will divide the nation to its logical end where it's each man for himself.
