Author: P N Benjamin
Publication: The Deccen Herald
Date: January 9, 2004
URL: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan092004/edst.asp
Dalit Christians do not receive
fair and equal treatment, as old prejudices die hard even in the Church
Twenty-two bishops and nearly 300
delegates from dioceses spread all over the four Southern states will descend
on Bangalore to attend the four-day Synod meeting of the Church of South
India (CSI), beginning on January 10. The CSI runs 2000 schools, 130 colleges
and 104 hospitals. More than 75 per cent of its 4 million members are Dalit
Christians.
Social justice has been one of the
main concerns of the Catholic and Protestant churches in India since the
1960s. Though social justice is a profound idea, yet, like many other profound
ideas, it gets profaned when men who mouth it are sans character. That
is why "almost 20 million Dalit Christians have been tamed and reduced
to eternal slaves of the organised church bodies," as a statement issued
by a Dalit Christian organisation revealed recently.
To corrupt George Orwell's famous
aphorism: all Indian Christians are equal, but some are more equal than
others. By embracing Christianity, the Dalits have not found themselves
emancipated from economic and social inequalities.
Twice alienated
Conversions have neither offered
the Dalits a way of escape from the bondage of caste nor have they fostered
the social transformation of Dalit Christians. They still live under the
same conditions of discrimination, exploitation and oppression. The Dalit
Christians are 'twice alienated', both by the government and the Church.
On the one hand they are denied, as Christians, the rights and benefits
availed of by their fellow Dalits, and on the other, as Dalits, they are
dominated and persecuted by the upper castes and the elite Dalits within
the Church. The majority of Dalit Christians suffer from economic disparities
and social discrimination.
The Church has sinned more than
others in perpetuating social injustices against Dalit Christians. In Indian
Christian communities, caste discrimination takes many forms. There are
some churches built for separate groups. These places of worship even today
retain their caste identity. Another example of casteist practice is allotting
separate places in churches.
Usually, the Christians of Scheduled
Caste origin occupy the rear of the church. Caste distinction is found
even among the dead. The dead of the Dalit communities are buried in separate
cemeteries.
It is said that charity begins at
home. But, the home (Church) where it begins, the Dalits Christians do
not belong. According to a study, the church is the second biggest landlord
in the country, next only to the government. In addition, the Church institutions
and Church or Christians-led NGOs receive foreign financial support amounting
to over Rs. 2500 crore per year.
There is no transparency with regard
to these funds as well the massive income accruing from the elite schools,
colleges, hospitals and shopping complexes built in all major cities in
the country. The poor Dalit Christian does not even get the crumbs, leave
alone participation in Church matters. There seems to be a vested interest
in keeping the Dalit Christians where they are in order to maintain the
status quo in the Church.
Clear partiality
The Church's call for re-distribution
of national resources in favour of Dalit Christians will be heeded only
when its own resources are re-allocated and used with a clear partiality
for Dalits in its own fold. The Church's fearless stand for justice will
not let it remain silent about the discrimination within the Church - a
matter of shame to its members and an embarrassment to its friends.
To a religion that has always prided
itself on the advocacy of complete equality of all human beings, irrespective
of caste, colour or race, the charge of discrimination within its own family
is galling. Strangely enough, the Church has won its adherents in this
country on the strength of its teaching about the dignity of all human
beings and its rejection of distinctions based on birth, colour and race.
Now it finds itself charged with failures on this very score. To the untouchables,
the oppressed and those victimised in a socially stratified society, Christianity
once brought a message of hope. The reason it has lost its appeal is not
that it has ceased to preach equality, but it has lost its nerve to practise
it.
The Church of South India Synod
Executive Committee recently declared: "Caste discrimination is a blot
against humanity. Caste is a direct assault on 200 million dalits of India
denying them their dignity and humanity and as Church we condemn this draconian
discrimination." After reading it, one is tempted to tell the CSI leaders:
"Physician, heal thyself!"
The Church must realise that the
Dalit Christians' plight calls for a deeper analysis of the problem so
that Christian leaders do not throw stones at the caste system prevailing
in Hinduism but look to something more meaningful and constructive within
itself.
