Author: Thomas Kuttical
Publication: Keralakaumudi
Date:
URL: http://www.kaumudiusa.com/kusa/html/news_arch6.stm
A Christian organization in New
Delhi representing Dalits or the socially underprivileged on Saturday questioned
the church leadership for demanding special treatment for them and accused
it of exploiting their economic and social backwardness. Saying that Dalit
Christians accounted for about 70 percent of India's Christian population,
the Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) accused high-caste Christians
of exploiting them, states this article.
The church leadership wanted to
exploit the poverty and unemployment among the Dalit Christians to demand
reservation of government jobs for them by getting them classified as scheduled
castes, PCLM president R.L. Francis said in a statement. People belonging
to the scheduled castes benefit from reservations in educational institutions
and government jobs. "It is worth mentioning here that when they (Dalit
Christians) were in Hindu society, they were the victims of the caste system.
The foremost reason for their coming
to the fold of Christianity was that there would be no discrimination and
they would be treated as equals." "But despite a wide network of missionary
schools and colleges, most children of Dalit Christians have not been able
to rise above the literacy level because these convent schools are busy
catering to the educational needs of upper and high caste people. The neglect
of Dalit Christian children by these institutions is the root cause of
the problem," said Francis.
