‘Dalit Christians: Right to Reservations’
By Camil parkhe
Publisher: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi
4. The Church’s stance on untouchability, casteism
Even though untouchability and casteism had been practiced for several centuries among the Christian communities in south India, the Church hierarchy avoided either dissuading the people from following these practices or taking action against those perpetuating these social evils. The British rulers in India had taken a lesson from the war of independence of 1857 and to continue their rule decided not to interfere in the religious matters of India. Even before the arrival of the British in India, Robert De Nobili and other European missionaries had adopted a similar view in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Madurai and Tiruchirapally.
The European missionaries did not believe in the practice of untouchability. However they realised that the converts faced the risk of ex-communication from their own community if they gave up practices of casteism and untouchability after embracing Christianity. So the missionaries decided to go slow in the matter. As a result, inhuman practices like untouchability could take roots in the south Indian Christian communities and continued to flourish for many years even after Independence.
Missionaries connive at casteism, untouchability
In Madurai and other areas of southern India, during Robert De Nobili’s time, many Brahmins embraced Christianity. However, the high caste Hindus coming into Christianity meant closing the doors of Christianity to the low caste and untouchable communities. The missionaries faced a difficult dilemma- whether to choose high castes or low castes for their missionary work. If they selected one caste, it was certain that the other would turn its back on them. The missionaries did not want to lose either of the two. Therefore depending on the possibilities at different places at different times, they baptised people from both the communities and bought them to Christ.
The missionaries permitted the converts to continue observing social customs like untouchability, casteism, strictly vegetarian diet in case of the Brahmins and non-vegetarianism of the lower castes, etc. The missionaries presumed that having learnt the tenets of Christianity, over a period of time the converts would give up untouchability and casteism. This proved wrong.
The native high caste missionaries may have found nothing amiss in all this. As a result, the walls of casteism continued to separate the Indian Christians from each other for nearly four centuries after they gave up Hinduism. Till the twentieth century, the erstwhile high caste Christians continued to be vegetarians and no inter-caste marriages took place within the Christian community.
Cyril Bruce Firth says- “On the whole, the Roman Catholic Church did not directly address the problem of casteism. It was assumed that casteism is an inevitable social aspect of life in India, therefore it was permitted to have social strata as per caste in the Christian community. Still, due to education, casteism was curtailed. It condemned the extreme casteism in the form of untouchability and hoped that unity will slowly grow in the society.”1
‘Dalit is dignified’
The dalit converts to Christianity were initially referred to by the Catholic Church. as ‘Christians of Scheduled Caste Origin (CSCO). This term was frequently used since the First National Convention of Christian leaders held in Bangalore in 1978. After the 1970s and in the 1980s, the term ‘dalit Christians’ was accepted in the Christian circles of south India. Like the famous phrase- ‘black is beautiful’, the phrase, ’dalit is dignified’ found acceptance with the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement which began to take strong roots in south India after the mid 1980s.
The term ‘dalit Christian’ had led to greater awareness among the dalit Protestant Christians as early as 1970s. The national conference of All India Catholic Union (AICU) held in 1989 passed a resolution formalising the use of ‘dalit Christians’ in reference to the Scheduled Caste Christians. This very conference also dedicated the 1990s as the ‘decade of the dalit Christians’.2
The issue of discrimination towards the dalits in churches and across the Christian community was discussed for the first time at the meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) held at Bangalore in 1969.3 Thereafter, the CBCI has made substantial efforts to remove casteism within the Christian community and to secure reservations and other concessions for the dalit Christians.
The general body meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India held in Goa in 1986 appointed a commission under the chairmanship of Bishop Cheriankunnel to take up the cause of Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes. 3
References:
1.Firth, Cyril Bruce ‘Hindi Khristi Mandalicha Itihas’, translator- Ratnakar Hari Kelkar, (Page 301).
2.L. Stanislaus, ‘The Liberative Mission of the Church among Dalit Christians’, (Page 44).
3.As above, page 117
4.as above, page 117
By Camil parkhe
Publisher: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi
4. The Church’s stance on untouchability, casteism
Even though untouchability and casteism had been practiced for several centuries among the Christian communities in south India, the Church hierarchy avoided either dissuading the people from following these practices or taking action against those perpetuating these social evils. The British rulers in India had taken a lesson from the war of independence of 1857 and to continue their rule decided not to interfere in the religious matters of India. Even before the arrival of the British in India, Robert De Nobili and other European missionaries had adopted a similar view in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Madurai and Tiruchirapally.
The European missionaries did not believe in the practice of untouchability. However they realised that the converts faced the risk of ex-communication from their own community if they gave up practices of casteism and untouchability after embracing Christianity. So the missionaries decided to go slow in the matter. As a result, inhuman practices like untouchability could take roots in the south Indian Christian communities and continued to flourish for many years even after Independence.
Missionaries connive at casteism, untouchability
In Madurai and other areas of southern India, during Robert De Nobili’s time, many Brahmins embraced Christianity. However, the high caste Hindus coming into Christianity meant closing the doors of Christianity to the low caste and untouchable communities. The missionaries faced a difficult dilemma- whether to choose high castes or low castes for their missionary work. If they selected one caste, it was certain that the other would turn its back on them. The missionaries did not want to lose either of the two. Therefore depending on the possibilities at different places at different times, they baptised people from both the communities and bought them to Christ.
The missionaries permitted the converts to continue observing social customs like untouchability, casteism, strictly vegetarian diet in case of the Brahmins and non-vegetarianism of the lower castes, etc. The missionaries presumed that having learnt the tenets of Christianity, over a period of time the converts would give up untouchability and casteism. This proved wrong.
The native high caste missionaries may have found nothing amiss in all this. As a result, the walls of casteism continued to separate the Indian Christians from each other for nearly four centuries after they gave up Hinduism. Till the twentieth century, the erstwhile high caste Christians continued to be vegetarians and no inter-caste marriages took place within the Christian community.
Cyril Bruce Firth says- “On the whole, the Roman Catholic Church did not directly address the problem of casteism. It was assumed that casteism is an inevitable social aspect of life in India, therefore it was permitted to have social strata as per caste in the Christian community. Still, due to education, casteism was curtailed. It condemned the extreme casteism in the form of untouchability and hoped that unity will slowly grow in the society.”1
‘Dalit is dignified’
The dalit converts to Christianity were initially referred to by the Catholic Church. as ‘Christians of Scheduled Caste Origin (CSCO). This term was frequently used since the First National Convention of Christian leaders held in Bangalore in 1978. After the 1970s and in the 1980s, the term ‘dalit Christians’ was accepted in the Christian circles of south India. Like the famous phrase- ‘black is beautiful’, the phrase, ’dalit is dignified’ found acceptance with the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement which began to take strong roots in south India after the mid 1980s.
The term ‘dalit Christian’ had led to greater awareness among the dalit Protestant Christians as early as 1970s. The national conference of All India Catholic Union (AICU) held in 1989 passed a resolution formalising the use of ‘dalit Christians’ in reference to the Scheduled Caste Christians. This very conference also dedicated the 1990s as the ‘decade of the dalit Christians’.2
The issue of discrimination towards the dalits in churches and across the Christian community was discussed for the first time at the meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) held at Bangalore in 1969.3 Thereafter, the CBCI has made substantial efforts to remove casteism within the Christian community and to secure reservations and other concessions for the dalit Christians.
The general body meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India held in Goa in 1986 appointed a commission under the chairmanship of Bishop Cheriankunnel to take up the cause of Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes. 3
References:
1.Firth, Cyril Bruce ‘Hindi Khristi Mandalicha Itihas’, translator- Ratnakar Hari Kelkar, (Page 301).
2.L. Stanislaus, ‘The Liberative Mission of the Church among Dalit Christians’, (Page 44).
3.As above, page 117
4.as above, page 117
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