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The Plight of Dalit Christians in !ndia.

efore proceeding into the presentation ! would like to bring to your kind notice the article that appeared in Times
of !ndia dated TNN 20 ]uly 2007,"Would the Christians admit that they practice caste system and that
Dalits (among them) face social discrimination requiring reservation to uplift their cause? This is not
all that easy, a ench headed by Chief ]ustice K C Balakrishnan said granting eight weeks to the Centre to
report back to Supreme Court.

To expound to the query of Chief ]ustice of !ndia, we have to travel a long way into 3S00 years of !ndian history to
study the evolution of caste system in !ndia. The caste system is quite unique to the !ndian society. Sanctioned by
the religiophilosophical system, the Dalits are socially placed outside the fourfold caste system and they are
referred to as the fifth caste (panchamas), even when they live as outcasts. Dalits are differentiated from the lowest
strata of other societies with regard to their stigma of untouchability.

The Caste System:

Caste is what determines a person's status and dignity in the Hindu society. There is nothing that a person can do
about the choice of the caste. He/she is born into a caste and his/her social status is therefore predestined and
unchangeable. One has to perform the duties that one inherits by being born into a particular caste and that is the
only way to salvation. Nahatma Candhi, one of the staunchest supporters and advocates of caste system says that
Caste means the predetermination of a man's profession. Caste implies that a man must practice only the
profession of his ancestors for his livelihood.
Candhi asserts that a person who does not live up to the profession of the caste in which he/she is born does
violence to oneself and becomes a degraded being. He expresses the common conviction of the Hindus when he
says that caste has saved Hinduism from disintegration and that the Hindu society has been able to stand precisely
because it is founded on the caste system. The four steps in the caste ladder are:

4 BRHAN!NS (the priestly class): they originate from the head of Cod. They do the learning and teaching of
the scriptures besides performing sacrifice.
4 KSHATR!AS (the warrior class): they come from Cod's shoulder and their work is to protect people by
fighting against enemies.
4 S!AS (the trading class): Originates from the thigh of Cod and their work is to feed the above two
classes.
4 SUDRAS (the servant class): Originates from the feet of Cod. They are to be servants of the above three
classes.

The rest of the people are outside this sacred caste system. Since there is nothing below the feet of Cod they do
not certainly originate from him, they are the PANCHANAS (The fifth class), the impure, the unclean, and
untouchables. These outcasts are the scum of the societytreated with contempt.

!ndian history reveals that the dalits were the original settlers of !ndia. ut the Aryans invaded !ndia in around 1S00
.C. defeated the Kings and captured the people and made them slaves. Then they slowly created the caste system
woven into their religion of Hinduism. Thus we see that this inhuman and barbaric practice of caste discrimination
and untouchability has been given religious sanctions and blessings, and has been perpetuated on the !ndian soil
for nearly 3S00 years. Since caste system is thought to be of divine origin any breaking of this system individually or
collectively is considered to be a violation against Cod and his divine law. very painstakingly every dimension of this
divine ordinance was included in the Hindu scriptures. The Rig veda, the Upanishads and the aghavad Cita along
with Nanu Dharma are the principal channels through which the caste system is perpetuated.

Who are Dalits?

The term 'dalit' has its root in Sanskrit (Dal) which means broken, cracked, trodden down, scattered, crushed or
destroyed. !t is interesting to note that the Hebrew verb 'dal' also means the frail one or the weak one which
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denotes the poor and lowly of the society. (Cutierrez, 1373:231) The term was first used by Nahatma ]yotiraj
Phule (18271830), a backward class social reformer, to describe the untouchables and outcastes of !ndia as the
oppressed and broken victims of the Hindu society. The term is a constant reminder of their ageold oppression and
deprivation.

As a matter of fact, many Dalits today prefer to call themselves as dalits because this term is not a name or a title
for them but it is an expression of hope for them to recover their past self identity. Today this term is used
frequently and has become popular among dalit people of various protest movements of our country.

Dalit Christians:

ecause of the insurmountable problems they faced in remaining within Hinduism the dalits were eager to go over
to other egalitarian religions in search of equality and liberation. uddhism was one of their first alternatives as it
rejected caste system and the authority of the vedas. The arrival of Christian missionaries in !ndia, especially, after
the 16
th
century provided an occasion for many dalits to embrace Christianity. The Portuguese Padroado, the
English Christian merchants, the French and the !rish missionaries and others converted thousands of dalits to the
faith. !t must be noted that economic benefits also played a major role in these conversions. For the dalits who
lived in extreme poverty the economic benefits were the much needed and unexpected blessings. Nany of them
were labeled as 'wheat Christians' or 'milk powder Christians' but in truth hundreds of dalits escaped starvation
solely due to the humanitarian efforts of the missionaries. ut it is also true that many of the missionaries were
instrumental in maintaining the caste system in the !ndian church. ]ust a casual look at the history of the !ndian
church reveals how the missionaries tolerated and accepted caste horrors of the caste system. ut there it was,
taking deep roots in the life and practice of the church. The missionaries found themselves having to make
compromises in order to escape the wrath of the upper caste converts. The equality and the human dignity
promised by Christianity has remained only a dream in the case of the millions of dalit Christians.

Dalit Christians of Kerala:

The Church in Kerala traces its history back to St. (Doubting) Thomas, who made his way to Kerala over 2,000
years ago. The traditional story is that he converted the rahmins (the highest, priestly, caste in the Hindu tradition)
of Kerala to Christianity. The (supposed) descendents of these very first converts call themselves Syrian
Christians." For a very long time, Kerala was home to a small number of Christians, and then the Europeans arrived.
The Portuguese, Dutch and ritish colonizers brought with them their own versions of Christianity in the 17
th

century and in the 18
th
century missionaries from these countries flocked to !ndia. The Portuguese converted many
people (mostly Dalits) to Catholicism, which was one of the only new churches to be established in Kerala. The
Dutch and ritish missionaries influenced some of the Syrian Christian community to change their theology and
practice, bringing them into the Reformed tradition. Reformed Churches today are the Narthoma Church, the
Church of South !ndia (CS!) and the Anglican Church (they are all in full communion with each other). Other Syrian
churches were not changed, these are the Orthodox Churches in Kerala.

Here's the kicker: the Syrian Christians are NOT rahmins. Although there is historical evidence of Christianity in
Kerala in the first few centuries C.E. (A.D.), there is no historical evidence of rahmin influence in Kerala before the
3
th
century C.E. Either the Hindu caste system had not been fully integrated into Kerala culture at the time of the
first Christian conversions, or the earliest converts were from a lower caste, most likely the Dalit caste. However, no
Syrian Christian is willing to accept this, they hold on to their belief that they are from the highest Hindu caste.
Their unwillingness to move from a Hindu caste system to a more Western view of social status creates many
problems.

Dalits make up about 2S of the population of !ndia, and in Kerala many of the Dalits are Christians. Why?
ecause Christ brings a message of acceptance and love no matter what caste or class you are. Cod's unconditional
love, as preached by ]esus, appeals especially to the poor and the downtrodden of our world. !n !ndia, this means
that many Christian converts have been from the scheduled tribes and castes (Dalits) because they are the most
oppressed under the caste system. Unfortunately, many churches in !ndia have (in my opinion) deviated from the
path that Christ intended.

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The Narthoma Church has always been very unwelcoming to Dalits, and so they make up a very small percentage
of their membership. There are, however, many Dalit members in the CS! church. The CS! church has different
churches for Dalits, different pastors, and different policies. They are usually unwilling to send a pastor who is not
from a Dalit background or who requests to be at a Dalit church to a Dalit community. They do not pay these
pastors very much. They do not allocate much money to Dalit church projects (like rebuilding a collapsed
parsonage). The most outrageous action ! have heard is the story of ishop Noore College, Kallamulla CS! Church
and Kallamulla LP school. The church, college and LP school all sit in the same junction. Kallamulla Church used to
be a Dalit church, and the land around used to be owned by the Dalit church. When the CS! church decided to build
a college (ishop Noore), they took away the Dalit church and the land. They built ishop Noore College and
Kallamulla Church became a Syrian Christian church. The CS! church also built the Kallamulla LP school (where Dalit
children go to school) as a sort of concession, before building a much nicer school for nonDalit children just a half
mile away.

The Present Situation Of The Dalit Christians

!n addition to the stepmotherly treatment of the state towards them the dalit Christians suffer inequality, injustice
and inhuman treatment within the church. They realize the painful truth that their change of religion has in no way
changed their pathetic, subhuman social condition. !n effect the dalit Christians live as refugees in their own
homeland. What are the different areas of discrimination in Christian communities? ! want to enumerate a few of
them here. The factual details that follow are founded on my personal experience in the Pastoral Ninistry and the
information provided by National coordination Committee for Dalit Christians

1. There is no equality in places of worship. There are still separate places for dalits in the church. Dalit Hindus
are prevented from entering common temples. Dalit Christians are prevented from sitting with the other
Christians.

2. There is no equality in liturgical participation. !n most village parishes dalits can not be lectors. Dalit children
can not be altar servers. No dalit is given any leadership role in the liturgy. Dalits can receive communion
only after the others have done so (This is true in some villages). Dalit children cannot get into the parish
choir even if they are gifted singers.

3. There is no equal participation in church festivals or important events in the parish. Dalits have no part in
decision making of any kind.

4. Few dalits hold any position of importance in parish councils, village committees, etc.

S. Dalit children do not have equal opportunities for education in Christian institutions. First of all because they
can not afford secondly because they are said to fall short of the high standards set by Christian
institutions. !t is a sad fact that our Christian educational institutions cater to the affluent and socially higher
classes mostly rahmins and high caste Hindus, who later turn against the Christian community.

6. Dalits suffer discrimination in employment opportunities. The state does not provide employment
opportunities for dalits and the church adds insult to injury by shutting the doors of her institutions to these
poor people. !f we look at the proportion between the number of dalit Christians and those among them
that are employed in Christian institutions then the disparity becomes painfully clear.

7. Discrimination is blatantly evident in the clergy representation in our churches. For a Community that makes
up almost 80 of the entire Christian population which is about 2S million the clergy representation is
hardly 2 (Here ! base myself on the percentage of priests in the dioceses of my State which is a fair
indication of how things are in other dioceses and other churches.) Only recently more and more dalit
candidates are being ordained. ut it must be stated that most of the dalit priests are mere numbers. They
are not given any positions of power or importance in the dioceses.

8. Till very recently there were no ishops from the dalit community. !t was only three years ago that my
home state which has fifteen dioceses was blessed with two dalit bishops.

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3. The small number of dalit priests is due to the systematic rejection of dalit candidates in the seminaries and
religious congregations. These places were filled with caste Christians and the few dalits who managed to
enter could not survive.

10.There was inequality even after death! There were separate burial grounds for the dalits that really
sealed their status as outcasts.

The above analysis should make it sufficiently clear that even though the dalit Christians form the vast majority of
the Christian population (20 million out of the total 2S million) they have been dominated, subjugated and ruled by
the minority upper caste Christians. The situation is not very different today in spite of a ray of hope here and there.
On top of all these misfortunes the poor dalit Christians have become the hapless victims of caste violence and
atrocities barbarically engineered by Hindu fanatics who have the support and blessings of the caste conscious
politicians. We constantly hear about the hundreds of dalit Christians brutally massacred, whole villages burned
down, dalit women being molested and raped. Even nuns and missionaries have not been spared. These have
become such common occurrences that people hardly ever take notice of them. ut dalits have shown in recent
times that they can not take it lying down anymore. They are beginning to muster courage and fight the enemy.
Does it auger well for their eventual liberation? ! personally think so.

The community of the Dalit Christians:

Understanding the dalit Christians as a people and as a community in the context of their life in the society will
throw some light as to how to present ]esus meaningfully to them. The dalit Christian community is one that bears
deep social and psychological wounds that may take years to heal. They are a closeknit, grouporiented people.
Nost of the dalit communities have much in common with the strongly group embedded Nediterranean Kinship
institutions that Nalina describes in his article. (Nalina, 1383) Their family and the village is more important to them
than their own individual interest. There are individuals who will be ready to risk their lives for the sake of the group.
Those who make sacrifices for the group are considered as great heroes. Dalit communities are patriarchal and we
can see the male domination in every aspect of their family and social life. ut they would consider it a sacred duty
to protect the honor of their women.
The problem with the dalit community lies in its identity. oth individuals and groups identify themselves as slaves,
servants and outcasts. Centuries of oppression and servitude have somehow forced this identity on them and it has
deeply affected their psyche. As ]ohn Webster has noted the dalits especially those in rural areas, have an inherent
inferiority and a strong feeling of anger towards those responsible for making them what they are. (Webster, 133S :
36)
One can see that the sense of honor has been stolen from this community by constant suppression and they have
inherited a sense of shame so much so many of them would be ashamed to own up in public that they are dalits.
They may accept their dalit identity within their in group, but once they are out of their group or village they would
try to hide their identity. Recently there has been considerable dalit consciousness and dalits are beginning to see
their identity not as something to be ashamed of but rather to be accepted and transformed.
The dalit community has been oppressed by the upper caste people for so many centuries that they have
internalized the consciousness of the oppressors. For them aping the oppressor seems natural. All they want to
achieve is to become like their oppressors because that is the only image that is deeply imprinted in their hearts. So,
at one and the same time they want to be free from their oppressors and also to perpetuate their memory. This is a
very dehumanizing effect that the upper caste people have successfully inflicted on the dalits. (Freire, 1370: 30)
!t is also a community that is sorely disappointed and disillusioned with Christianity. Christianity has not been able
to give them what it had promised equality, dignity and acceptance. Nany rural dalit Christians seem to have
given up hope and are resigned to their fate. They have been taught for centuries that their miserable socio
economic condition is Cod's will for them. The church has been teaching them the virtue of patiently suffering the
injustices with the promise of a better life in the next world. The Hindu scriptures justified the existence of the caste
system openly and directly whereas Christian interpretation of Cod's Word might have done it in a more subtle and
indirect way. How does one present ]esus in an acceptable and relevant way to a community of the dalit Christians?

Poverty also meant for ]esus that he was totally dependent on the Father. Dalit community is also a dependent
community. They have to depend on the others for their survival and growth. Whereas ]esus' dependency was one
that he chose voluntarily the dependence of dalits is forced on them. The dependence of ]esus on Cod is founded
on love whereas the dalits can not love those people who keep them under their thumbs. !t is high time that the
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dalits break the myth of dependency and become a free and independent people placing their trust and
confidence in Cod.

valuation of the isting Status of Pentecostal Dalits in Kerala

Though Dalits have embraced several religious patterns, they have not been greatly benefited by any. They were
part of the Hindu religion and became slaves to the masters of that religion. Hindus exploited them to the maximum
and out of frustration, they followed Christianity which promised them freedom and equality in the congregation.
Later on, the Dalits realized that their dream of unity and oneness is only a dream of their own making. However,
the Dalits were not ready to give up so easily. Since they did inherit certain blessings and favours from and were
comparatively better off, if they lived as Christians did. As it was a complex and difficult process it is necessary that
several very certain important areas should be discussed.

The Achievements of Dalit Pentecostals

Chirackkarodu observes that due to discrimination and differences in the traditional Churches Dalits were motivated
the Dalits to take refuge in the congregational Churches such as Pentecostals, aptists and rethren. Dalits also
experienced the ill treatment as second class citizens in the Syrian dominated main line Churches. They had to sit
and worship separately in their congregations, remain silent in the administrative affairs, and bury their dead in the
lowest part of the cemeteries. Recently, at Kuravalangadu Roman Catholic Church, in Kottayam district, a Dalit dead
body was exhumed and buried in another grave because it was buried in a tomb where an upper caste Christian
was buried. Above all, traditional Christians followed a set pattern of ritualistic worship, whereas the Dalits emphasis
was on a real spiritual form of worship.438 They are isolated from the huge property concerns of the Church, and
are not included in the privilege of decision making. So they began to seek places where they had greater
opportunity.

]esus' dalitness is symbolized at its best on the cross. !t is on the cross that we see him as the broken one, the
one crushed, rejected, cast out of the city a true dalit. He hangs on the cross exposing the highest measure of
dehumanization.
The cross is also the price he had to pay for his identification with the dalits his solidarity with the poor and the
outcasts and his confrontation with the powerful that oppress them Here ! think, the dalits could be motivated for
social change. They should be made to realize that their misery and injustice is not Cod given it is man made
and it can and must be changed. We can show ]esus as the one who fought to bring down the unjust socia
structure. ]ust as ]esus had to take up the cross and die in the process of establishing socia justice the dalits must
be prepared for sacrifices and even loss of lives in order to restore their honor and dignity. ut their struggle for
liberation must go on.

Nany Dalit Theologians would identify the cry of ]esus on the cross, 'Ny Cod, Ny Cod why have you forsaken me
(Nt.27: 4647) as one of the most authentic dalit experiences. The experience of Codforsakenness is a common
and inevitable feeling of the dalits. Sometimes Cod seems to be so far away he doesn't seem to care. One can
meaningfully convey to the dalits that ]esus has experienced this authentically dalit emptiness. ]ust as the people
mocked and ridiculed ]esus the dalits may become a laughing stock or an abomination in the eyes of the public. ut
]esus tells them that even at the thick of the Cod forsakenness he was certain that Cod would vindicate him and
help him achieve his mission. The same compassionate Cod (though the dalits can not see the compassion many
times they feel they suffer alone) will certainly vindicate the dalit community.

The Resurrection is the vindication of the mission of ]esus. This can be a tremendous sign of hope for the dalits
that they could in fact realize their dream of equality and justice. The risen ]esus is still with them encouraging
them and strengthening them to continue their fight against injustice and oppression. y rising from the dead ]esus
proved that death is not the last word. Evil and injustice can not and will not have the final victory. This gives hope
to the dalits that their struggle against injustice and oppression is not a lost battle. They will see the light of day.
They will be able to rise with ]esus to a more human existence.




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Conclusion:

The problem of the Dalit Christians is indeed a real and serious problem of the !ndian Church. !t is an issue that
demands the immediate attention of the church leadership. They can no longer sit back and tell the world that there
is no caste distinction or discrimination in the church. Everyone knows that the opposite is true and the !ndian
church needs to take bold initiatives in order to liberate the dalit Christians from their ageold slavery and
oppression. The injustices and inequalities within the church must first be rooted out if the church needs to
challenge the caste ridden !ndian society to change and become more human. Pastors and ministers should
involve themselves in the transformation of the society and commit themselves to the task of liberating the innocent
victims of an inhuman and unjust social system. !n this liberation process there is a need for a specific Theology
and Christology that takes in to account the life situation of the dalit Christians.

The present paper is an attempt to look for a meaningful Dalit Theology and more specifically a Dalit Christology. A
clear understanding of how to present ]esus in a situation of injustice and exploitation will not only be a help in our
own pastoral involvement but can certainly provide a new meaning to the lives of dalits who struggle to make sense
out of their misery and exploitation. ! have tried to present as actual a picture of the life situation of the dalit
Christians as ! can. !t may appear ! am afraid, a bit too negative and pessimistic. People come up with statements
that things have changed drastically. Ny own experience has been different and ! am convinced that the changes
are only on the periphery.

As long as Dalit Christians remain in disparity and despair about their misfortunes and future, the mission of the
Church is incomplete. This is my prayer that the Pentecostal Churches may fulfill Cod's obvious intended purpose
for all His people and in turn that the greatness of the kingdom of Cod may be experienced in the Church, so that
Pentecostalism and the entire Christian community may truly express in every way just may in Christ.

And, moreover, that the witness of this glorious transformed community of the household of faith will extend its
influence upon the entire nation. This must be the Christian contribution to nation building. This is what the nation
needs but first this must take place among the followers of ]esus Christ.