GO TO SOURCE


NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 9, 2002: Rebelling against their birth, Dalits (“untouchables”) across India are converting from Hinduism to better their lives. To belong a valued members of society and not to be persecuted,or even killed, for being born “untouchable,” this is possible in this lifetime they believe. But possible, a growing number amongst Dalits are saying, only by discarding Hinduism. This rejection of their inherited faith occurs sometimes in quiet private ceremonies, and at other times as loud political protests. Like the mass Dalit conversions that happened in Gurgaon, Haryana, 14 days after the Jhajjar lynchings on October 15. Or like the spurt of conversions Dalits foresee occurring in protest against the new bill in Tamil Nadu that proposes to prohibit “conversion from one (religion) to another by use of force or allurement or fraudulent means.” Not all conversions, though, are knee-jerk reactions to the latest caste atrocity nor the result of cynical manipulation by politicians. The Dalits of Meenakshipuram, Tamil Nadu, discussed conversion for seven years before quitting Hinduism to free themselves from the practices of untouchability and police harassment. In 1981, 150 Dalit families in this sleepy hamlet in Tirunelveli district embraced Islam. Caste, however, finds its way into most religions in India. Categories like Dalit Christians, Reddy Christians, Nadar Christians continue to matter. Syrian Christians are known to call themselves “originally Brahmin.” Moreover, there is discrimination even within the church. For example, in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirapalli and Palayamkottai districts, there are separate pews and burial grounds for Dalit Christians. The nine-judge Supreme Court ruling in the 1993 Mandal case recognized caste in Christianity. “There are inequalities in other religions but not even near as stark as in Hinduism,” says Delhi-based advocate Rashid Saleem Adil, who was Ram Singh Vidyarthi two decades ago. Many have also observed that neo-converts seem to be grasping for meaning in their new belief systems. However, not all neo-converts are too bothered by the burden of a new identity. In Rahmat Nagar, most neo-Muslims do not wear a fez cap, not one woman is wearing the burqa, and for the men it does not mean multiple marriages.

Post Views: 236