WCC NEWS: Indian churches "zero tolerance" for casteism

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World Council of Churches - News

INDIAN CHURCHES COMMIT TO "ZERO TOLERANCE" FOR THE "SIN" OF CASTEISM

For immediate release: 28 October 2010

Naming casteism as "sin, apostasy and rebellion against God", churches
in India have committed themselves to serve as "zero tolerance zones" 
for
caste-based discrimination. They also called for Lent 2011 to be "a 
time
of purging caste" from Christian communities.

Representatives of 31 churches grouped in the National Council of 
Churches
in India (NCCI) made those commitments at an ecumenical conference 
held in
New Delhi on 22-24 October. The event was convened by the NCCI and the
World Council of Churches (WCC).

"The moment of truth has come", said the NCCI president Bishop Dr 
Taranath
Sagar, speaking at the opening of the conference. He called on 
churches to
get involved, in all sincerity and faithfulness, with the liberation 
of
Dalits as part of the mission of God.

Despite the fact that the caste system was abolished under India’s
constitution in 1950, "untouchability" is still practiced, 
particularly in
rural areas. Caste-based discrimination affects at least 160 million
people in India. One of the jobs assigned to the caste of Dalits in 
India
is the manual removal of human feces from dry latrines. About 80 
percent
of manual scavengers are women.

In an affirmation of faith (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=1ade1b06746a767ce93a ) issued 
at the 22-24 October
gathering, Indian churches representatives defined caste 
discrimination as
"a crime against human beings" and "a grievance against the Holy 
Spirit".

According to the confession-like statement, "Dalit children are 
shunned,
stunted and have their childhood shattered. Dalit women are beaten, 
raped,
and murdered. Dalit men are dispossessed, locked up, and lynched".

"We are ashamed that we as Christians have remained silent while our
brothers and sisters have been violated and killed", the church
representatives continued. However, they wrote, "Dalits resilience and
resistance" is an invitation to the church "to join in solidarity to
denounce and resist the 'spiritual forces of evil'."

"This conference is remarkable as it has for the first time enabled 
the
Indian churches to name caste as an evil system and caste 
discrimination
as a sin and a crime", said the Rev. Dr Deenabandhu Manchala, WCC
programme executive for Justice and Inclusive Communities. "Equally
important", he added, "it has moved from building on Dalit suffering 
to
Dalit resistance and determination to dismantle an oppressive social
order."

Participants at the gathering expressed their expectation that the
Christian liturgical season of Lent 2011 may become an "occasion for
developing resources, both theological and liturgical, for use in 
Sunday
Schools, youth groups, women's and men's fellowships and pastors' and
bishops' retreats with the specific mandate to root out casteism in 
our
mindset and caste discrimination in our way of life."

Speaking at the conference, Bishop Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, 
moderator of
the WCC's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, called for the
"Dalitization of the Indian churches". "Churches have to be 
inclusive, and
any discrimination in any form will not make it the body of Christ",
Coorilos said.

"No one can serve Christ and caste!" An affirmation of faith from the
National Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits, New Delhi, 22-24
October 2010 (Link: 
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=01c0d9b67a11f9a83826 )

WCC Central Committee Statement on caste-based discrimination
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f76cb2bf9c43ad69bf68 )

Read about a new publication on Dalit theology launched at the New 
Delhi
conference (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=6be8b99de0628bfe4101
)

National Council of Churches in India (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8c0e6d44665410603891 )

WCC work in solidarity with Dalits (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=69aa41c7e73bb4b77793 )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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