Dalit Christians in pre-independence era
From Fr Gurien Jacquier of Ghogargaon
(Catholic Mission in Aurangabad diocese - 1892 onwards)
By Camil Parkhe
published by SFS Publications, Bangalore
During the last quarter of the 19th century and early 20th
century, many Dalit families from several villages in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad,
Nashik, Jalna and Amravati districts in Maharashtra embraced Christianity. Most
of the families were from the Mahar and Mang castes which were then the
untouchable communities. The upper caste people continued to regard them as
untouchables even after the religious conversion and now called them as
'Mahar Christians' or 'Mang Christians'. This practice continues even to
this date in the rural areas of Maharashtra.
From the viewpoint of the upper caste community, the
conversion of the untouchables to Christianity did not change their social
status. Conversion did not allow them to move upward in the established social
hierarchy. No one would touch them physically for fear of being defiled. Even as members of the Hindu community, the
untouchables were forbidden entry in Hindu temple. But at least now they could
enter the church, their own temple. Nevertheless, there was no change in their
daily plight as they continued their hereditary occupations like removal of
cattle carcasses and begging for food in the village.
In the
pre-Independence days, one Iganti Salwe of Pune had written an article in
Marathi monthly Niropya in which he
had highlighted the sufferings of the untouchable Christian community and
remarked that conversion had not brought any significant changes in the life of
the Mahars.
‘Untouchability is not a religious
but a social matter. However some people believe it has religious sanction and treat the Mahars and
other untouchables as slaves and force them to perform several dirty works.
These untouchables are not allowed to know about their basic human rights. Hard
labour works and even village night watchman duty were the only means to eke
out a living. Hindu religion practices
such unjustified traditions. In fact, it
is a stain on humanity and such cruel practice was not justified by any other
religious scriptures of the world.”
Salwe further states; "By the
grace of the Almighty, Christian political rulers have come to this country,
followed by the Christian missionaries. Moved by the plight of the
untouchables, they offered them a new religion, made them aware of their rights
and tried to free them of their ancestral shackles of social slavery. To
achieve this, they established many schools and other educational institutions
for this community".
Under such circumstances, the lives of many Dalit Christians
were dependent on the missionaries for a long time. Before the Independence,
both Mahar and Mang Christians were victims of social injustice. The British
rulers of that time, though Christians, did not contribute to the betterment of
this underprivileged community. After the Independence, the Constitution of
India made a provision for reservations or affirmative action to ensure
upliftment of the Dalits. However the Dalit Christians continued to suffer discrimination even in free India. While the
reservations were made available to the Dalit Hindus, Dalit Buddhists and Dalit
Sikhs, the Dalit Christians have been denied these facilities. 1
Reference:
1) Camil Parkhe, ‘Dalit Christians: Right to reservations’,
Published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK), Post Box
1585, 1654 Madarasa Road, Kashmere Gate,
Delhi – 110 006 (2005)
PUNE:
Taking a cue from the special Diwali issues which make a turnover of crores of
rupees in the Marathi publication industry every year, some Christian magazines and mediapersons in
Pune and other parts of the State have now started publishing Christmas special
issues, which are getting a good response. 
What
have been your priorities after taking over as Pune Bishop?