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>For immediate release - 15/04/2009 15:36:01

DALITS' INNER STRENGTH DEFEATS CASTE-BASED DISCRIMINATION

>By Maurice Malanes (*)

Caste-based discrimination in India may be 3,500 years old, but
something new is unfolding. An emerging liberation movement has
consciously chosen not to focus on Dalits' victimhood, but on the
latent strength of the Dalit people, drawn from their own history
and culture. 

By switching the emphasis from victimhood to inner strength, the
Dalit Panchayat Movement, in the southern Indian state of
Karnataka, may very well be contributing to change the course of
India's history, as well as that of its neighbours. 

There is no doubt, says Dalit activist, educator and author Dr
Jyothi Raj, that Dalit people have been victims of history as
well as historical victims. "But they have reached many heights
beyond victimhood," she says. "Insisting on victimhood in order
to gain the sympathy of non-Dalit supporters has the potential of
further piercing through the psyche of the Dalit people."

Among churches in India, there is also an emerging Dalit
theology, rooted in the understanding that God is struggling
alongside the Dalits for their liberation.

In order to emphasize the inner strength of Dalits and further
engage the church in this effort a Global Ecumenical Conference
on Justice for Dalits was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in late
March. 

Organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) together with
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and hosted by the Christian
Conference of Asia, the conference gathered 95 leaders and
representatives of churches and organizations worldwide. 

The conference's aim was to stimulate solidarity and support
within the global ecumenical family for the 260 million people
affected by caste-based discrimination worldwide. 

Of those, an estimated 200 million live in India, where they
have been treated as "untouchable" due to Brahmanic ritual
traditions that considered them "polluted" or "polluting". Today,
these people call themselves Dalit ("oppressed", "crushed").

Raj, who is the director of the Rural Education for Development
Society ( http://www.dalitreds.org/dalit_panchayat.aspx )(REDS),
a non-governmental organization, spoke at the conference about
the Dalit Panchayat Movement.

>Tapping hidden potentials

According to Raj, the approach that first focuses on people's
victimhood and later tries to overcome it, does not work.
"Dealing with an oppressed psyche, this can reinforce an
inferiority complex," she says. 

Instead, the Dalit Panchayat Movement "concentrates all its
energy on the tremendous potentials that lay hidden within the
Dalit community and were never allowed to come up," says Raj. 

At first, the strength of the Dalit community poses a challenge
to the oppressive caste society. "It is a challenging point in as
much as the caste society is engaged in the denial of rights of
the Dalit people," explains Raj. "It becomes a meeting point
later on, when negotiations take place after the assertion of
Dalit strength."

Raj cites the traditional practice of letting Dalits carry and
bury the dead animals of upper caste people. Dalits empowered by
movement are now able to say to upper caste people: "We have
nothing to do with your dead animal. If it is not possible for
you to carry and bury your dead animal, it is not possible for us
either."

In another example, Dalits have learned to negotiate a good
bargain. Traditionally obliged to dig graves, assertive and
empowered Dalits now say: "We cannot come and dig your grave
unless you pay us 2,000 rupees; otherwise we won't dig your
grave." 

Through such assertion and negotiation from a position of
strength, says Raj, Dalits are nowadays challenging the deeply
entrenched practice of non-paid and forced labour imposed on them
for more than 3,000 years. 

>Recovering history and culture

The path of self-affirmation, as Raj describes it, entails the
recovery of the history and culture of the Dalit community,
blotted out by official Indian history writing. 

Raj takes pride in the fact that such a recovery began with the
publication, in 2003, of Dalitology (
http://www.dalitreds.org/dalitology.aspx ),a book initiated by
her and her organization. 

Based on the assertion of Dalit culture as articulated in
Dalitology, the Dalit Panchayat Movement was started in
Kartanaka's Tumkur district. Panchayatliterally means assembly
(yat)of five (panch).These village councils of elders constitute
a basic unit of governance in some regions of India. 

Dalit panchayatsare made up of ten leaders, including elders,
youth and women. Out of the ten, five must be women. Over 1,000
Dalit panchayatsexist in as many villages of the Tumkur district,
reports Raj. Some 550 more are being started in another dozen of
Karnataka's districts. 

"We are optimistic that through the movement we can capture more
seats in parliament," says Raj. The movement is also lobbying the
government to give each Dalit family five acres (two hectares) of
land to be registered in the name of Dalit women. "We all belong
to this land, but 90 percent of us Dalits don't have land," says
Raj. 

>Dalit theology

Now taught in some seminaries in India, Dalit theology is "part
of an emerging initiative to help the Dalits reclaim their lost
dignity and rights," says Bishop Dr Isaac Mar Philoxenos of the
Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar in India. 

Dalit theology in a way complements the Dalit Panchayat
Movement. "Dalit theology seeks to help the Dalit people express
their own experiences through their own symbols and language so
they can eventually regain their lost self-esteem and pride as a
people," says the bishop, who helped draft the Bangkok
Declaration and Call ( http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6729 )during
the global ecumenical conference.

Dalit panchayatshave so far evolved forms of worship and
festivals based on the recovery of their history and culture, and
established the first-ever Dalit ashram in India – the Booshakthi
Kendra, where Dalits converge to learn about Dalit spirituality,
politics and philosophy. 

Empowered by this movement, Dalits are learning to live their
lives disregarding and defeating the norms and traditions
prescribed by the caste society. 

>[942 words]

(*) Maurice Malanesis a freelance journalist from the
Philippines. Currently a correspondent for Ecumenical News
International (ENI), he also writes for the Manila-based
Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the Bangkok-based Union of
Catholic Asian News (UCAN).

Find out more about the conference on the LWF website:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OIahr/OIAHR-Dalit_Justice.html

Learn more about WCC work in solidarity with Dalits:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3249

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

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