Author: Anuja Prashar
Publication: India Link
Date: August-September 2007
URL: http://www.indialink-online.com/index.php?id=553&PHPSESSID=eab4cad40e3f81b19e75ccc806b96183
Christian aid and funding organizations and
even UK Members of Parliament, such as Andrew Reed (Conservative) and infamous
Ex Secretary of State, Mr. J. Aitken (Conservative), all state that they are
committed to upholding religious freedom in India and for 'Dalits' in particular.
The Christian Far Right orgnaisation with ample support from UK MPs, Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), leads the crusade against Hinduism and have suggested
that Caste and Slavery are interlinked, during the Bicenntinary celebrations
of the Abolish of slavery. CSW's Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, says "Perhaps
there is more slavery in India than anywhere else in the world today. The
victims of these horrific abuses are, overwhelmingly, the outcast Dalits,
whose pleas we can ignore no longer."
The first linking of Dalit poverty to the
notion of slavery was put forward in a Book by V. T. Rajshekar; Clarity Press,
1987 "The Black untouchables of India". Under Rajshekhar's leadership
the Dalit Voice organisation formulated an Indian variant of Afrocentric pseudohistory,
similar to that of the Nation of Islam in the USA. In 1986 Rajshekar's passport
was confiscated because of "anti-Hinduism writings outside of India."
The same year, he was arrested in Bangalore under India's Terrorism and Anti-Disruptive
Activities Act.
Recent activities of CSW with its India Branch
demonstrate a lack of respect for Indian Law and India's democratic process.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide in April sponsoring a delegation of converted
Christians from India to lobby European and UK governments, to coincide with
the commemoration of 200 years of the abolition of Slavery. The emotive language
used and the linkage of poverty in India with Slavery is an effective strategy
for initiating 'moral panics' similar to those generated about youth cultures,
immigration and wearing of the Hijab.
To suggest that the Schedule Caste of India
are slaves in the 21st Century is to completely ignore their status as citizens
of India, the provisions made for them within India under the Law in reservations
within schools, public institutions of work and all those of Dalit backgrounds
who enjoy the increasing opportunity for social mobility that has become visible
in India today. The notion that a people who are free to vote and have legal
status and protection under the Law are slaves, is inflammatory and divisive.
The linking of the family network structures of Jati to the trading of human
beings and all the associated ramifications of these implications can only
cause chaos and disharmony for future generations of all Indian society.
Amongst intellectuals studying Vedic/Hindu
social systems, the term Dalit is pejorative and considered to be a colonial
construction and not reflective of the Vedic meaning of 'Caste' or Varna as
depicted within ancient scriptures. Peter van der Veer of the London School
of Economics says, "The idea that caste is the basis of Indian social
order and that to be a Hindu is to be a member of a caste became an axiom
in the British period. What actually happened during that period was probably
a process of caste formation and more rigid systematization due to administrative
and ideological pressure from the colonial system, which reminds us of the
so-called 'secondary tribalization' of Africa." (Gods on Earth, p.11)
Mahatma Gandhi used the term Harijan for those
of disadvantaged social and family networks. Sashi S. Sharma, scholar of History
of Religion and Philosophy, asserts that the notion of 'untouchability'- often
associated with the ancient social group of Shudra, who were barred from studying
the Vedas due to unhygienic occupations, lifestyles or the practice of eating
meat - is also often mentioned within the evangelical or human rights discourse,
but cannot be supported by historical accounts by foreign visitors or evidence
from the dharmashastras (scriptures) as is often claimed. Gerhard Schweitzer
argues, "For lack of historical and scriptural source material, it is
completely unknown when this greater category of 'untouchables' on the lowest
rungs of the social ladder was established. No high-caste author of the past
millennium either seems to have found it necessary to discuss the question
in any form in his writings. Probably this greater category has only come
into being during the 8th or 9th Century, so it is truly a young phenomenon."
(Indien, p. 21) This subject requires a deeper discussion and clarification.
However, the political significance of the
terms and associated historical and perceived wisdom surrounding this 'Dalit'
issue are apparent from the evidence gathered within the report on Conversion
in India today.(Full report at www.t-identity.com). The term Dalit or Shudra
or Untouchable are terms not used by officials or Indian society in India,
who rather use the term Schedule Caste, which is made up of three categories
within this grouping, none of which correspond to any Vedic or Hindu systems
of social ordering described in any historical accounts or religious scriptures.
Therefore, the use of the word 'Dalit' or 'caste' and its assumed association
with Vedic or Hindu religious practices today needs to be re-evaluated to
gain the appropriate current operational definition of family networks, in
order to retain any hermeneutic validity within the discourse of Human Rights
and Religious freedom.
A clear distinction between Varna (occupational
status associated with merit or quality - a system of values) and Jati (family
network - functional) needs to be made explicit to appreciate the axiomatic
use of the term Dalit in Human rights discourse today. The Connecting Hindus
report 2006, commissioned by the Hindu Forum of Britain and funded by the
Home Office and produced by the Runnymead Trust of the UK suggests, "We
have noted above the diversity within Hindu traditions and communities. It
has been posed as a challenge to create a unifying voice because of the range
of approaches to the faith and certain traditions being closely linked to
a geographical location and tradition."
A further contributing factor to the diversity
of traditions is varna (caste). The ancient Hindu system of Varna is based
on division of labour to accommodate work done by priests and teachers (brahmanas),
soldiers and administrators (kshatriyas), businessmen and farmers (vaishyas),
and artisans and workers (shudras). This system, which was migratory and based
on work and occupation later, gave rise to a parallel hereditary system called
Jati (family networks).
There is an urgent need for further discussion
and unpacking of this complex historically biased and epistemological ambiguity
and use of the terms Caste and Dalit. The resulting contradictions become
apparent with the following example of the use of the term 'Dalit' in western
political discourse of Human Rights and the grassroots empirical reality of
social groupings of the urban and rural populations of India.
MP Andrew Selous (Conservative) stated in
a recent speech:
"The caste system means that 90 per cent
of those living below the official poverty line in India are the Dalits or,
as we know them, the untouchables. There are some 260 million Dalits in South
Asia, and I pay tribute to the Dalit Solidarity Network for its work in keeping
this issue in the public eye. Caste discrimination is a gross human rights
violation."
It is not clear who are the "Dalits"
that Mr. Selos is referring to. He is perhaps referring to the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes together. According to the Indian Census 2001, The Scheduled
Castes constitute about 16% of Indian population and Scheduled Tribes about
8%. They together constitute about 24% of the Indian population which tallies
with the figure of 260 million population that he is citing. However, the
90% figure is a grave error and doesn't even take into account other social
groupings within the population which also exist below the poverty line.
Mr. Selos, on behalf of his party also advocates
that "We should encourage the work of Plan International , "a Christian
organization" and similar organizations. My party believes that more
aid should be directed through NGOs, charities and the private sector, as
such organizations are often more efficient, effective and, sometimes, accountable
than the Governments to whom aid is given." This evidence of transcending
the authority of National Governments is in keeping with Lesley Skliar's suggestion
that the transnational globalizing organizations have bureaucrats who promote
their global agendas and therefore are shaping the processes and outcomes
of globalization. In this particular case, it would appear that the process
is being driven by erroneous information which supports the false and ambiguous
notion of humanitarian aid linked to the practice of Christianity conflated
with religious freedom, as opposed to the practice of a Hindu caste practice.
Is lower income for minority groups a unique
experience to India? The Table from the Census data 2001 UK suggests that
economic development of minorities is not an issue related exclusively to
religious practices. Further research would unpack this issue.
(Source : http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=269)
"People from minority ethnic groups were
more likely than White people to live in low-income households in 2000/01.
There was considerable variation among the different minority ethnic groups.
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were much more
likely than other groups to be living on low incomes. Almost 60 per cent of
the 1 million people in this group were living in low-income households before
housing costs were deducted. This increased to 68 per cent after housing costs.
A substantial proportion (49 per cent) of
Black Non-Caribbean households also lived on low incomes after housing costs
had been deducted. However, the risk of low-income for this group was much
less pronounced in comparison with other ethnic groups if income before housing
costs is used. The White population were least likely to be living in low-income
households, 16 per cent did so before housing costs were deducted and 21 per
cent after housing costs."
Social development of disadvantaged social
groups is not the same purpose stated by the Evangelical church, whose mission
is to "Bring Christ's word to those who have not heard it before."
Or "Claim Nations for Christ". In this manner, the two issues of
human rights to religious freedom and social development of disadvantaged
social categories and the conversion of Dalits appear to be two separate issues.
However, when the intention of so called 'Dalit' development is linked and
indeed conflated with conversion to Christianity in practice within the villages,
as illustrated by the Seventh Day Adventist's case study, the issue becomes
one. Within the evangelical movement of India this is apparently the case
and the understanding of this situation is most often also described in terms
that make the two issues one.
The term 'untouchable' caste, the word 'caste'
itself of Latin origin, has been used to describe within the Hindu society,
those that historically in ancient times held positions of occupation that
warranted their segregation from larger society for hygienic and social health
reasons. This is no longer the case for this 'caste' of people in India who
have jobs in all areas of the labor force toady. 'Dalits' in villages of India
however do still on the whole occupy positions of menial labor and are usually
farm workers.
The construction of the concept of Dalits
in Western political and social discourse is also evidence of a tendency of
those who use this term to exoticise and objectify their subjects. Even when
the Church is raising funds for its own work, the ideology of orientalism
and denigrated positioning of the Indian people is often validated within
the discourse of sharing the gospel message. "Your help can enable the
Church to survive and grow in the most difficult circumstances." The
Barnabas Fund website tells us "There are Churches in hostile environments
that are being built up through the training and support of pastors and evangelists,
and the provision of resources such as Bibles and Sunday School materials.
£1,500 (sterling) will allow a small congregation to rent a room for
worship services for one year.
The 'hostile environments' described in this
manner, may actually have been created through the practice of conversion
and not because they are essentially hostile environments. The tribal group,
known as Sarna in Ranchi, Jharkhand, have demanded that the reservation facilities
provided to tribal Christians be stopped immediately. The Kendriya Sarna Samiti
(KSS), one of the prominent organizations, has taken the lead in making the
demand. Supporting the view, Arjun Oraon, another tribal leader, said "The
Christian missionaries convert our people with allurement and then force them
to follow their culture, tradition, mode of prayer and other things."
Arjun added, "The tribal Christians should not be clubbed with us as
it will pose danger to our existence. They are provided all facilities by
the missionaries and we cannot compete with them. If this continues then the
spirit of reservation will not work in our favour."
In the Presidential address, on occasion of
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF DALIT CHRISTIANS. VITTHALBHAIPATEL HOUSE, RAFI MARG,
NEW DELHI 2003, MR. R.L. Francis said, "Church leadership has been running
more than 40,000 health, educational and other social organizations in the
country. After Government of India, Church has the largest proportion of land
in the country. The Church has some of the best educational institutions in
its control, which cater to the needs of affluent and elite sections at the
cost of Dalit Christians and poorer sections. Even in Delhi the Capital of
India, the number of Dalit Christian children in Church-run schools is negligible.
In other words, the entire wealth of the Church is being controlled only by
high class Christians. Christian money, their real estate and all other means
are being utilized for the benefit of others by neglecting Dalit Christians
or poorer sections.
"Church leadership opposes the policy
of reservations for Dalit Christians in missionary schools and organizations
while they have been demanding the same from the Government at the Centre.
Church leadership does not give Dalit Christians equal treatment. The amount
of funds received by the Church for the development of Dalit Christians is
never disclosed to the community nor do they give any indication as to how
this amount has been utilized.."
RESOLUTIONS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY AT THE 4TH
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF DALIT CHRISTIANS ORGANISED BY POOR CHRISTIAN LIBERATION
MOVEMENT ON 6/8/2003
IN THE SPEAKERS HALL, CONSTITUTION CLUB, V.P.
HOUSE, RAFI MARG, NEW DELHI:
I Resolution: Demands of Dalit Christians
as contained in the New Delhi Declaration released by the Movement on 19 June
2002 should be adopted and conceded by the Catholic
Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the National
Council for Churches in India (NCCI) and other Church bodies immediately.
II Resolution: This Assembly unanimously believes
that Evangelism cannot be a measurement of a society's socio-economic development.
Therefore, Evangelism programme should be suspended for 100 years and funds
thus saved be utilized for development and welfare of Dalits and deprived
sections and creating awareness amongst them.
III Resolution: In Church-run schools, colleges,
technical institutions and other vocational organizations, Reservation of
seats for Dalit Christians as well as other Dalits should be provided immediately.
A time-bound programme of action should be chalked out to implement a meaningful
education plan.
IV Resolution: Both Protestant and Catholic
Church leadership should issue a White Paper on Participation of Dalit Christians
in the present Church structure; and Socio-economic condition of Dalit Christians
in respective Dioceses of the country.
By their own admission, Christian Solidarity
Worldwide also acknowledge a dichotomous situation emerging within the Christian
Churches attitude towards Dalits: "It is deeply unfortunate that some
churches operate separate congregations for the upper and lower castes, but
the Christian community is becoming inceasingly aware of the need to support
Dalits in their struggle for justice and the need to fully integrate those
adhering to Christianity."
A report published in 2006 called, 'No Escape
- Caste Discrimination in the UK', erroneously suggests that many Indian communities
in Britain are blighted by caste discrimination. The report findings contradict
those of the Connecting Hindus Report 2006, produced by the Runnymead Trust,
that was commissioned by the Home office. The report, No escape, said many
of the 50,000 Dalits in the UK suffer discrimination from other castes in
terms of jobs, healthcare, politics, education and schools. Researchers were
told how couples who marry outside their own caste face "violence, intimidation
and exclusion". According to a report in the 'Guardian', David Haslam
of the Dalit Solidarity Network, who organized the research, says, "Dalits
across the UK felt that within the Indian community, their identity was based
on caste and that the caste system was very much in operation."
The report 'No Escape' was sponsored by Barrows
Corporation, made up of a survey of closed leading questions, responded to
by 130 people. Barrows is owned by the Cadbury's group who's Board of Directors
all belong to the family, which are all Quakers. Quakers are a Christian Evangelical
group founded in UK, with currently approx 43% of their membership from Africa
The combined efforts of Christian Solidarity
Worldwide, UK Christian MPs and Converted Christians from Dalit Solidarity
Network present the case for religious freedom when all the time poor people
are actually being targeted for conversion to Christianity by far right Christian
organizations. There is ample evidence in the Report, Conversion and Anti-Conversion
in India today (Full report at www.t-identity.com), for a highly organised
and powerful global Christian Evangelical multi-national networked organization
(Joshua Project), which has become embedded within the political apparatus
of the UK.
Under the guise of Religious Freedom and Human
Rights this movement is quickly becoming a driver for social unrest and social
instability in India. The recent development of reports and interventions
by British MPs and Christian Far Right organisations within the UK, also have
the potential for disrupting the social harmony and productive integrated
Indian society, residing within the UK today.
I strongly suggest that a Dalit is not a Dalit
, when they are portrayed for political effect as slaves, as religious victims
or as Christian victims. If the term Dalit means 'broken or not whole' in
keeping with anti social occupational status as defined thousands of years
ago, then the Dalit Solidarity Network, UK MPs and Christian Far Right organizations
methods for defining the schedule castes and citizens of India is misleading
language that disguises a purpose other than Dalit empowerment. The recent
election results in Uttar Pradesh, in India, with the success of BSP leader
Mayawati, suggests that Dalits or schedule castes are very much part of Indian
society and fast becoming part of the political reality of India - and as
such cannot be considered to be 'broken and not whole'.
