PRESS ROOM
Christian Dalits - Victims of discrimination
The Hindu,
April 1997
Brindavan C. Moses
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.