Dalit is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum castes in India, previously characterized as "untouchable". Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India.
Christian Dalits are found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Mass conversions of lower caste Hindus to Christianity took place in order to escape the discrimination. The converted Dalits believed that "Christianity is a true religion; a desire for protection from oppressors and, if possible, material aid; the desire for education for their children; and the knowledge that those who have become Christians had improved".
However even after conversion, in some cases Dalits were discriminated against due to the "residual leftover" practice of caste discrimination from their previous traditions. This is attributed to the predominantly Hindu society they lived in. Discrimination against Dalit Christians also remained in interactions and mannerisms between castes. Even after conversion, to some extent segregation, restriction, hierarchy, and graded ritual purity remained.
Data shows that there is more discrimination and less class mobility among the people living in the rural areas, where incidents of caste discrimination is higher among people from all religious backgrounds. In many cases, the churches referred to the Dalits as 'New Christians'. It is alleged to be a derogatory term which classifies the Dalit Christians to be looked down upon by other Christians. During the earlier days of Christianity, in some churches in south India the Dalits had either separate seating, or had to attend the mass outside. Dalit Christians are also said to be grossly underrepresented amongst the clergy in some places.
Caste-based occupations held by Dalits also show a clear segregation which perpetuated even after becoming Christian. Occupational patterns (including manual scavenging) are prevalent among Dalit Christians in north-west India are said to be quite similar to that of Dalit Hindus. Occupational discrimination for Dalit Christians goes so far as to restrict not only employment but in some cases for clean sanitation and water.
Dalit theology is a branch of Christian theology that emerged among the Dalit caste in the Indian subcontinent in the 1980s. This theology a self-identity the Dalits as a people undergoing Exodus. It sees hope in the "Nazareth Manifesto" of Luke 4, where Jesus speaks of preaching "good news to the poor... freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind" and of releasing "the oppressed."
A major proponent of Dalit theology was Arvind P. Nirmal (1936–95), a Dalit Christian in the Church of North India. Nirmal criticised Brahminic dominance of Christian theology in India, and believed that the application of liberation theology to India should reflect the struggle of Dalits, who make up about 70% of the Christians in India and 90% of the Christians in Pakistan. Nirmal drew on the concept of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 to identify Jesus himself as a Dalit – "a waiter, a dhobi, and bhangi."
Nirmal said that it is the 'Dalitness' which is ‘Christian’ about Dalit Theology. The ‘Christian’ for this theology is exclusively the ‘Dalit’. It is the common Dalit experience of Christian Dalits along with the other Dalits that will shape a Dalit Christian Theology. It is therefore a people’s theology and eventually a public theology. Nirmal locates the servitude among Dalits and among the Godhead as the common denominator in drawing a Dalit God. For him, Jesus is a Dalit who relates with the outcastes, and Holy Spirit is the liberating spirit in the struggles of Dalits for justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit
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