CASTE DISCRIMINATION IN INIDA
India, a country with a lot of traditions, culture and beauty, has a unwanted, ugly and inhuman, an structure called “CASTE SYSTEM”. One cannot but feel ashamed of the caste system in India. The caste system discriminates the human persons and stratifies them into different groups. According to Manu Dharma, the Hindu religious code of conduct, divides human persons into 4 Varnas (Varna means color, the caste). In Hindu society, caste is still the most powerful factor in determining a person’s dignity. The caste system is the result of the Hindu belief in “Reincarnation and Karma”. The 4 castes eventually developed into a social mosaic of 3000-4000 sub-castes, with the” untouchables” at the bottom of the list and actually outside the list. Such a rigid caste system in not found any where in the world outside India. A person is born into a caste. Once born in that caste, his status is predetermined and immutable. Birth decides one’s status and this cannot be altered by any talent the person may develop, wealth the person may accumulate. Similarly, the caste in which a person is born predetermines what vocation the person will pursue. One has no choice. Birth decides the occupation of the person in question. Here the 4 major castes:
1. BRAHNMINS Priestly
2. KSHATRIYAS Warrior
3. VAISYAS Trading
4. SUDRAS the Servants
MYTH AND ORIGIN OF THE CASTE SYSTEM
- The BRAHMIN, the priestly class came from the head of God. They are eligible for learning and teaching and person sacrifices. The others cannot teach and perform sacrifice.
- The KSHATRIAS, the warrior class came from the shoulder of God. They are eligible for learning. Their work is to protect the people by waging war against the enemies.
- The VAISYAS, The trading class came from the thigh of God. Their work is to trade and feed the above two class.
- The SUDHRAS, the servants came from the feet of God and their work is to do all menials works to the above three class. They are not entitled to learn any things.
Other sub-caste are more than 3000 in number, with the “untouchable” or “Dalits” at the bottom and outside. They are the slaves of the above groups and they are absolutely forbidden to learn and teach.
DALITS, THE UNTOUCHABLES
There is also other category of people who don’t come under any of these above caste groups, since they are not considered as human beings. They are called the “the Outcaste’ or the “Untouchables”, OR UNSEEABLES. There are hundreds of codes of conduct written for them. Now these people call themselves as “DALITS”. The word ‘Dalit’ means broken, torn, scattered and cursed’. M.Gandhi called them as ‘Harijans’, which means God’s children. But the word Harijans’ does not describe their condition adequately. Therefore, the outcast preferred to call themselves as ‘Dalits’. The word ‘Dalit’ is an expression of hope to recover their self-Dalits are the people in India, the oppressed and the marginalized consists of there who are landless agricultural laborers, menial workers and people doing odd jobs. The Untouchables expression was used for those people who were kept outside the fourfold Verna (caste) system, and were called Avarnas (casteless). They were called by different names such as: Chandalas, panchamas or untouchables. The British used the term “Scheduled Caste”
Government to designate all castes and classes previously covered under the term “Depressed Classes”.
REALITY OF DALITS OR THE UNTOUCHABLES
The Dalits are deprived of 1) Education 2) Right to possess assets 3) Right to posses weapons to protect themselves. Therefore they are owned as the property of the caste people. The code of conduct that deprives them of these rights was given three thousands years backs. One may wonder why this is still in practice. The tragedy is that although untouchableblity was abolished by law 1950 in India, yet the dalits experience the agony of untouchability very deeply in all walks of life: Social Economical and polical. One cannot understand the pain of being a dalit unless he experiences it.
DALITS AS INDIGRNOUS PEOPLE
As we have already seen, Dalits means ‘broken’, scattered and oppressed’. So the Dalits are the broken ad scattered people, the oppressed masses. This implies that they were of one community before they were broken; they were together before they were scattered; they were free people before they were oppressed. It also implies that there must have been an agent and an instrument by whom and by which this free people were subjugated and oppressed. So the starting point of Dalit history is the moment when this ‘breaking, ‘scattering’ and ‘oppression’ of the Dalits began, when exactly the Dalit began to be treated as degraded human beings and when exactly the Dalits lost their identity.
Dalits whose homeland is India were made refugees in their own land by the aggressive invasion of the Aryan. Dalits who had maintained their own unique culture and heritage were ribbed by the intruders. Even up to this day, the dalits are the modern day slaves and holocaust victims through the most cruel system of the caste. The Afro-Americans suffered slavery for some centuries. The Jews suffered holocaust and martyrdom for some time. The dalits have been suffering, humiliation, martyrdom and unspeakable horror for the thousand years of our human history. Does the world know about this man-made tragedy? At the dawn of this millennium, who has to bring the good news of freedom and hope to the millions of voiceless people? The world communities must assume responsibility in bringing total justice to the dalits who have been systematically deprived of their righ5s ad dignity by the upper caste people of India. These upper caste and in particular the Brahmins carry the blood of the millions of dalits in their hand.
Few practical problems the dalits face to day
Under India constitution “untouchability” was abolished in 1950, but it is practices today and referred to as India’s ‘hidden apartheid’.
- Dalits usually live from caste Hindu communities, either in distinct part of towns or villages or within dalit village of their own.
- They are forbidden access to public wells and expected to use special tumblers for drinking (tea) in public places, to limit their contact with caste Hindus.
- In many parts of India the dalits are not allowed to enter places of worship and inter-caste marriage is forbidden.
- For instance, the, most menial and often degrading tasks such as disposing of animals and clearing human wastes are always carried out by dalits known as ‘manual scavengers’.
- De-humanizing behavior results from the perception of dalits as impure and polluted- ‘untouchable
Hope and new life in the scripture for the dalits.
Dalits are God’s chosen people. John 15:16, Jesus says,You did notchose me, But I chose you and appointed you.. Paul says in Eph. 1:14,,For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In the beginning, God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them (Gen. 1:27). IN scripture we see the privileges to become children of God, “Yet to all who received Him to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 8 ) Paul wrote to the Thessalonians 1:15 that our Gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy spirit and with deep conviction. We believe that the power of the gospel can transform the life of the Dalits in India both in spiritual and physical. We need men and women to preach the gospel in the area. Paul says to Timothy preach the word of God in season and out of season.
JESUS AND THE UNTOUCHABLES
In John 4, we read about the Samaritan’s women at the Jacob’s well. As we read our Lord’s interview with this woman, The Women says you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman, that mean I am an untouchables by the Jews. (For Jews do not associative with the Samaritans) At the end of the discussion the women put her faith in Jesus Christ and was converted. Immediately she wanted to spare her faith with others, so had met the Christ. God used her simple testimony, and many of the people came out to the well and meet Jesus Christ. We see here, the racial barriers and battles gone that had existed before.
CHALLENGE AND NEEDS
Even though we received the gospel in India through Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Still we are only 3.5% Christians. Francis Xavier the Jesuit missionary had a tremendous mission work among the fisheries community and we have many converts in the coastal area. William Carey the father of the modern missionary movement, a British missionary did a wonderful missionary work in the India state of West Bengal. He had established a university in Serampore near the city of Culcutta, translated the Bible into few Indian languages. Stanley Jones, Donald McGavaran the father of the Church Growth Movement, Mother Theresa, and Billy Graham were all ministered in the land of India. We are grateful to God for such a great missionary warriors, who have sacrificed their gifts, talents, time, and source for the sake of His Kingdom ministry in this great land. India having the second largest population with 100 billion people, still this is the largest mission field in the world. There are 600,000 villages have not even single church. Most of the Dalit [people living in the villages. Third world evangelical leaders at the forefront of the human rights struggle of India’s 250 million Dalits – people outside of the caste system – under their decision to reject the Hindu caste oppression and begin again with a new socio-spiritual system that gives them access to God and equality and empowerment as human being made in the image of God. Christ is the foreign missionary to enter in to India by the government. But God is equipping the church in India, to involve in the cross-cultural mission work across the country and states.
Out Lord Christ, who came to liberate and serve the oppressed, out-caster and the marginalized people of the world? The main message of Christ, viz. the liberation of the oppressed and life to the poor, has to be relevantly and manifestly by brought out of India in the twenty-first century. It means it has to be a very special occasion, first and foremost, to the dalits and tribals who are the most oppressed and poorest of discriminations and inequality of Dalit Christian within the church has to be explicitly and adequately taken up in this century. It is a joy of the 20 million Dalits Christians who entered in the fold and enjoy the spiritual blessings among the 250 million Dalits in the whole of India.
Dear friends and the rope-holders in the gospel of Jesus, please pray for the Details in India and help them in any of the following projects as individual, church and organization for the cause of the untouchable to become the touchable children in Jesus kingdom.