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The Plight of
Dalits in India Today
I spent the month
of September traveling through India and watching closely the plight
of the Dalits. The best way I can describe it is that they are an
unloved and broken people. Society has no compassion for them. They
are seen as a lower species of human being, only fit to do jobs no
one of the higher castes would think of doing. An estimated one
million of them are manual workers who clear feces from public and
private latrines and dispose of dead animals. Most other jobs are
closed to them, just as associating in any way with those outside
their class, a law which excludes them from most public facilities,
and forces them to live under unhygienic and often inhumane
conditions.
Only people who
have experienced the horror and the dehumanizing effects of the
caste system will understand what it means to be a Dalit in Indian
society. A Dalit is considered to be untouchable, invisible,
unapproachable and even, in a way, unthinkable.
The Dalits have
been suffering humiliation, martyrdom and unspeakable horror for the
last two thousand years. Does the world know about this man-made
tragedy? Even though untouchability was officially abolished by law
in the 1950’s in India, the Dalits still experience the agony of
untouchability very deeply in all walks of life: social, economical
and political.
For Dalit children,
the future does not look much better. Fifteen million children are
bonded laborers, working in slave-like conditions, and the majority
of them are Dalits. Thousands of girls are forced into prostitution
even before reaching the age of puberty. Devadasis, literally
meaning "female servants of god," usually belong to the Dalit
community. These girls are pretty and have caught the fancy of a
higher caste man. Once dedicated as a devadasi, the girl can become
the playmate of such a man without this leading to uncleanness for
him. Afterwards, she is cast aside and auctioned off to an urban
brothel. As a devadasi she is forever unable to marry.
Dalit women suffer
another form of abuse. They are often raped as a form of
retaliation. Sexual abuse and other forms of violence against women
are used by landowners to inflict political "lessons", and crush
dissent within the Dalit community.
How can we, as
Christians, help the Dalits? One way to help them break the chain of
cast and poverty is to provide Dalit children with a proper
education. One to One International sponsors such children so that
they can go to school and have a better chance at a decent future.
Moreover, we see to it that each of them learns more about what
Christ has done for them, and that He is ready to accept them no
matter what caste they belong to.
Dr. Joseph Chavay
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Together we can reach others with the love of Christ
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