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By David F. Dawes
IT IS humanity’s longest lasting form of
discrimination. It has held sway over its victims for three millennia; and
though it has been officially outlawed for almost six decades, it continues
to plague the lives of millions.
India’s notorious caste system has done its most
severe damage to the ‘untouchables’ – now better known as
the Dalits – at the very bottom of its long social ladder. Anti-caste
advocates maintain Dalits are still victimized in ways which would be
considered unthinkable in a truly civilized society.
One of the leading activists on behalf of these
unfortunates is Dr. Joseph D’souza, founder of the Dalit Freedom
Network (DFN). The organization partners with groups such as Operation
Mobilization to engender awareness, and to help Dalits in practical ways.
Dr. D’souza recently visited Canada, and spoke
to BCCN about
the DFN campaign.
Asked how the caste system became so deeply
entrenched, he replied: “Because it got fundamental religious
sanction.”
The origin of the caste doctrine, he said, was the
sacred Hindu text, The Rig Veda, written approximately 1,000 years before Christ.
Caste was determined, said D’souza, on the basis
of chapter 10, verse 15, which describes the creation of humans by Brahma.
“To challenge that,” he said, “is to challenge the whole
religious structure.” However, he noted: “Racism never got
divine approval from God.”
Historically, the first major revolt against this
aspect of Hindu tradition was instigated by the founder of another great
religion.
Siddhartha Gautama, later known as The Buddha, was
originally a Hindu; he belonged to one of the lower castes.
“His writings defied the caste system,”
said D’souza, adding: “Caste was sufficiently dealt with under
the first 100 years of Buddhism.”
There was no significant Western activism against the
caste system until recently. But the scourge was noted by William
Wilberforce, the great English champion of African slaves, who stated:
“The institution of caste is a system at war with truth and
nature.”
Current defiance of caste takes much inspiration from
a mid-20th century rebellion. The climax of that revolt came half a century
ago, when noted activist B.R. Ambedkar officially chose Buddhism as his new
religion, taking hundreds of thousands of Dalits with him.
In a speech entitled Annihilation
of Caste, Ambedkar delineated the suffering of
Dalits:
“The untouchable was not allowed to use the
public streets if a Hindu was coming along, lest he should pollute the
Hindu by his shadow . . . The untouchable was required to carry . . . a
broom – to sweep away from behind the dust he treaded on, lest a
Hindu walking on [the dust] should be polluted.”
“Many of the Dalits want out of the heinous
caste system,” stated D’souza in his 2004 book, Dalit Freedom: Now and Forever.
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“Politicians have not delivered,” he
wrote. “Dalit atrocities are mounting by the day. In many places, the
State is a mute spectator.
“What is written in the Constitution does not
work itself out in the villages and towns . . . where Dalit women are
raped, abused, tortured, paraded naked and humiliated.”
There have been extraordinary reports from various
Christian sources, regarding conversions of large numbers of Dalits.
These reports, D’souza said, “are
accurate, regarding the revolt of 250 million against the caste system. But
it is not accurate to say that all were immediately turning to Christ. But
the exodus from low caste into Christianity was genuine, and it continues.
An estimated 45 million have converted in the past 10 years. There is a
genuine awakening of the Holy Spirit and New Testament Christianity, of
massive proportions.”
This revival, he emphasized, has sparked a backlash by
Hindu extremists. During last December’s ‘Black
Christmas’ in the State of Orissa, an estiimated 700 homes were
destroyed, and almost 90 churches burned. Nevertheless, he noted,
“some 100,000 people have turned to Christ,” in that region of
India.
Asked whether the battle against caste is gaining
momentum, D’souza asserted: “Yes, there is hope. The global
community is more aware that caste is alive and well, [and] the church of
Christ has responded worldwide.”
So, too, has the head of India’s government.
Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, is “the first serving prime minister to
compare untouchability to Apartheid,” said D’souza.
The interview ended on a personal note, when it was
pointed out that D’souza literally practices what he preaches. For
him, Dalits are anything but untouchable – as he proved to himself
three decades ago, when he married one named Mariam. Most significantly, he
did so as a member of the very highest caste, the Brahmin.
So, just how challenging was it for a Brahmin to marry
a Dalit 30 years ago, decades before the current awakening?
“It was a revelation of how caste has governed
Indian life. I had no idea what had been taken away from these
people.” Along with this social re-education, he said, he also
underwent a spiritual transformation.
“It forced me to re-evaluate the gospel’s
application to this situation. As a result, I rediscovered the tenets of
the gospel.”
September 2008
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