Come October 2011 and we are
ready for our 14th Ordinary Synod gathering – a much awaited event
in the life of a structured Church like ours.
The Synod gathering is a time when we look backward in assessment of our
mission engagement in the past years and then look forward for better and more
productive engagement in the years to come.
I hope that we take time during the Synod to reflect and understand that
our call is to serve a nation which has nearly 200 million people considered as
‘Untouchable’ - people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems
them impure, less than human. It is not
only that they are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same
temples, wear shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from the same
cups in tea stalls, but also they are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in
constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped
with impunity by upper-caste seeking to keep them in their place - merely
walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense. Because they are considered impure from
birth, Untouchables perform jobs that are traditionally considered
"unclean" or exceedingly menial, and for very little pay. One million
Dalits work as manual scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and
clearing away dead animals. Millions more are agricultural workers trapped in
an inescapable cycle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression.
Although illegal, 42 million
people in India, most of them Dalits, are bonded workers, many working to pay
off debts that were incurred generations ago. These people, nearly 16 million
of whom are children, work under slave-like conditions hauling rocks, or
working in fields or factories for less than U.S. $1 day. Dalit women are particularly hard hit. They
are frequently raped or beaten as a means of reprisal against male relatives
who are thought to have committed some act worthy of upper-caste vengeance.
They are also subject to arrest if they have male relatives hiding from the
authorities.
Every hour two Dalits are
assaulted; every day three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and
two Dalit homes are torched. No one
believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of crimes committed
against Dalits. Because the police, village councils, and government officials
often support the caste system, which is based on some religious teachings,
many crimes go unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by police,
inability to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge that the
police will do nothing.
Despite the fact that
untouchability was officially banned when India adopted its constitution in
1950, discrimination against Dalits remained so pervasive that the government has
passed legislation known as The Prevention of Atrocities Act. The act
specifically made it illegal to parade people naked through the streets, force
them to eat feces, take away their land, foul their water, interfere with their
right to vote, and burn down their homes. But the violence has not escalated as
one would have expected rather the system persists today for economic as much
as religious reasons. Given this context
and reason can we, as a church, who profess a God of Justice and Peace commit
ourselves to weeding out discriminations based on castes and transform our
society into a caste free society? May
this be in our thoughts and mind when we discuss our Synod theme ‘Arise and Build:
Fear not for I am with you’.
Kasta Dip
