Christian dalits - victims of discrimination - The Hindu

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Almost all the major political parties, with the lone exception of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, included in their election manifestos (1996),
the Christian dalits' demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Castes list
and the United Front Government included the demand in its Common
Minimum Programme. The Prime Minister, Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda, gave a
categorical assurance to the 14-member delegation of the All India
Christian People's Forum which called on him on June 14, 1996, that the
bill to extend the SC status to Christian dalits would be introduced in
the Budget session, but the bill was not introduced either in the 1996
Budget session or in the subsequent winter session. Nor was there any
mention of it this year belying the expectations of millions of
Christian dalits who have been demanding inclusion in the SC category
for the past four decades. But why are they making such a demand? What
is their justification?

The Indian Church is a dalit church because 50 to 60 per cent of India's
2 5 million Christians are dalits. They continue to suffer, even after
conversion, the same disabilities and handicaps had in the same
oppressive severity suffered for centuries by their Hindu brothers and
sisters. A feat, examples will substantiate this: A Christian dart was
beaten up severely by caste Hindus in Guruspusda village in Prakasam
district of Andhra Pradesh in 1983 for drawing water from a public well
located in the so-called uppercaste area of the village. Six dalits,
including an old woman, were chopped to death by the caste Hindus during
the Puliangudi caste violence in Tamil Nadu in 1982. They were all
Christians. The same is true of the widely publicised Karamchedu
village (Andhra Pradesh) killings in 19 8 5 where all the nine victims
were Christian dalits.

In the recent caste atrocities committed against the dalits by the caste
Hindus in Tirunelveli Kattabomman district in Tamil Nadu (in and around
Kodiyangulam village), many of the victims were Christians. In short, a
Christian dalit is Scheduled Caste irrespective of the faith he/she
professes. This simple fact is, however, either completely ignored or
suppressed deliberately. While the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist dalits are
eligible for job reservations, electoral representation, reservation in
professional and educational institutions and other statutory benefits,
including protection under the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 as
amended in 1976 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989,
Christian dalits are denied these privileges on the ground that
Christianity does not believe in caste discrimination. But the irony is
that caste discrimination is very much practised in Christianity. For
example, there are separate seats for the dalits in churches; in fact
there are separate churches for Christian dalits, separate communion
cups, and even separate burial grounds. As Mr. Kaka Karlekar. Chairman
of the Backward Classes Commission, commented, "even today the
Christians belonging to the SCs are forced to have separate cemeteries
in some parts of India. Even the dead must observe caste and
untouchability."

As for educational opportunities, the less said the better. While they
are forced to compete with the educationally and economically more
advanced backward classes, such as the Christian nadars in Tamil Nadu,
and fail to get admission in the government-aided educational
institutions, they fare no better in their own "Christian" institutions.
The "posh" Christian minority institutions, with rare exceptions of one
or two, refuse to entertain these poor dalit students. There are
separate schools in the same campus, one for the rich elitist upper
caste Christians and non-Christians and the other, for the poor and
Christian dalits.

The Government of India has been discriminating against Christian dalits
on the basis of religion, ignoring the undisputed evidences of their
social. educational and economic backwardness which naturally qualify
them for state protection and statutory rights. It is a sad commentary
on the Indian policy that the state which claims to be secular
disqualifies Christian dalits from getting their rights and privileges
on the basis of religious disqualification. "No person who professes a
religion different from the Hindu religion shall be deemed to be a
member of a Scheduled Caste," says the Constitution (Scheduled Castes
Order, 1950).

Thanks to Master Tara Singh, Sikh dalits could get their rights,
privileges and concessions in 1956 and thanks to Dr. Ambedkar and the
electoral compulsion in Maharashtra in the late Eighties, the
neo-Buddhists, who along with Dr. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in a mass
conversion in 1956, got these rights in 1990. On the other hand,
Christian dalits, who have been demanding their inclusion in the list
quite vocally since Independence. are given a raw deal. Does the
Government of India think Christians are politically insignificant when
it comes to the number game or because Christians are, by and large,
passive and law-abiding citizens they will not agitate vigorously and
cause embarrassment?

The "original" sin in this injustice to Christian dalits was committed
by the Christian leaders nominated to the Constituent Assembly which
debated this issue. They all belonged to the elitist upper caste and
never experienced or understood the sufferings of the dalits. They were
also not prepared to expose the caste discrimination that was prevalent
In the churches. Hence they did not press for the inclusion of the
Christian dalits in the SC list. The dalits themselves were then not
conscious of this great injustice done to them.

Another issue is related to the two Acts pawed in Parliament to prevent
atrocities against the SCs. As such the Protection of Civil Rights Act
(1955/76) is without teeth; although a large number of cases has been
registered under this Act, few have been pursued and the guilty
convicted. In the case of the 1989 SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
the list of the types of atrocities committed against the SCs/STs is
long and the punishment against such crimes is quite severe. But as
with many of our laws, this is also a paper tiger because the police
refuse to register cases under this Act. The crux of the matter is,
Christian dalits do not come under the purview of this Act because it is
assumed erroneously that Christianity neither believes in caste nor does
it practise untouchability. The irony is, a Christian dalit may be
abused and insulted, may be called by the caste name but the culprit
cannot be taken to court because a Christian dalit is not an SC under
these two Acts and in the eyes of the law!

The denial of rights, safeguards and privileges on the basis of their
religion is a constitutional fraud committed against dalit Christians.
It is a betrayal of the Constitution which says there can be no
discrimination on the basis of creed. It is against the spirit of
secularism enshrined in the Constitution. It violates the fundamental
right of freedom to practise any religion. By denying Christian SCs the
guarantees and safeguards assured to the non-Christian SCs, the
Government of India indirectly treats the subjects unequally bringing
pressure on the them to abandon their religion if they want to avail
themselves of the benefits. This is exactly what is happening if the
reconversion of the thousands of Christians to Hinduism is any
indication. Some belong to both when they continue to be Christians but
outwardly are Hindus. The poor dalit Christians wonder why they should
be singled out for this added discrimination by the Government.

Christian dalits are not today what they were 50 years ago. They are
conscious of their fundamental rights and are sensitive to
discrimination, both within and outside the church and by the
Government. A times has come when, it seems, they will not take any more
of this oppression and discrimination. They are prepared to assert
themselves as citizens of this country. The churches should stand by
them. The Government of India should recognised the genuine demands of
the Christian dalits and undo the wrong being done to them.

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