Caste system among Indian Christians

The caste system among Indian Christians often reflects stratification by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors.[1] Caste distinctions among Indian Christians are breaking down at about the same rate as those among Indians belonging to other religions. There exists evidence to show that Christian individuals have mobility within their respective castes.[2] But, in some cases, social inertia caused from their old traditions and biases against other castes to remain, causing caste system to persist among Indian Christians to some extent.[3][4][5][6][7] Christian priests, nuns, Dalits and similar groups are also found in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.[8]

Kerala

Nasrani, Syrian Christians, Knanaya, Anglo-Indian in Kerala belong to different denominations and have different types of heritages like Arabian, Brahmin, Nair, Ezhava, English, Portuguese and Jewish and intermarriage between different denominations is rare. Christians in Kerala consist of the members of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Malabar Independent Syrian Church, and Chaldean Syrian Church.Protestant churches in Kerala are Pentecostal communities mainly India Pentecostal Church of God, Assemblies of God in India,Church of God (Full Gospel) in India and The Pentecostal Mission. Catholics in Kerala consist of Latin Catholics, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church & Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.[9]

Goa

In the Indian state of Goa, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin Catholic missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts often retained their caste practices. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa, the only caste that could be ordained, now became Christian Bamonns and the Kshatriya and Vaishya Vanis became Christian noblemen called Chardos.[10]

Punjab and Uttar Pradesh

In colonial India, there were waves of conversions to Christianity among the Chuhra and Chamar in the Punjab Province and United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; they thus became known as Dalit Christians.[11][12] The Chuhra sub-castes include the Sahotra, Gill, Khokhar, Mattoo, Bhatti, among other sub-castes.[13]

Tamil Nadu

Majority of Christians in the state hail from the Paravar, Mukkuvar, Udayar (caste), Nadar, and Adi Dravidar. The mass conversion of Paravars date back to the Portuguese era and the conflict over the Pearl Fishery Coast between the Paravars and arabs in the 15th century A.D.The Paravars converted 'en masse' to Christianity and became the subjects of the Portuguese king. The Nadar conversion to Christianity dates back to the British Colonial Era in the 18th-century. The first to initiate the conversion was Mylaudy village by Sir Ringle Taube. Later in the 19th century, the Vellalars, the Udaiyars and Schedule castes embraced Christianity. The cohesion of jatis among caste Christians (e.g. Paravas) and the strength of caste leadership are noted by scholars to be much stronger than comparable predominantly Hindu castes in Tamil Nadu.[14] The Christians of Tamil Nadu denote themselves as RC (Roman Catholic) Vellalar, CSI Nadar etc., i.e., they use a combination of the Church and their Hindu caste name. Robert L. Hardgrave, a Professor of Humanities, notes in his work The Nadars of TamilNad.. that a Christian Nadar would enter into a marital alliance with a Hindu Nadar but never with a Christian of another caste and that they would dine with their Hindu brethren but never with a person of their own faith who was beneath them in the social scale. As per a native pastor, "Caste sticks to the people as closely as their skins. The blood of caste was thicker than the spirit of religion."[15]

Under the law

Indian law does not provide benefits for Scheduled Caste Christians, however Christians have been advocating for the same rights given to Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh Scheduled castes.[16] Despite the activists' point that Christians are a casteless society discrimination does not go away easily and Dalits seek equal rights irrespective of the religion they profess.[17]

Some Christians also oppose the proposed labeling of "Christian Scheduled castes" because they feel their identity may be assimilated. Pastor Salim Sharif of the Church of North India notes "We are becoming another class and caste."[18]

Caste discrimination among Christians

Criticism

Many Catholics have spoken out against discrimination against them by members of the Catholic Church. A Dalit activist with a nom-de-plume of Bama Faustina has written books that are critical of the discrimination by the nuns and priests in Churches in South India (CSI).[19] During 2003 ad limina visits of the bishops of India, Pope John Paul II criticized the caste discrimination in the Catholic Church in India when addressing bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Madras-Mylapore, Madurai and Pondicherry-Cuddalore, the three archbishops of Tamil Nadu. He went on to say: "It is the Church's obligation to work unceasingly to change hearts, helping all people to see every human being as a child of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and therefore a member of our own family".[20][21][22]

Dalit Christians

Mass conversions of lower caste Hindus to Christianity and Islam took place in order to escape the discrimination. The main Dalit groups that participated in these conversions were the Chuhras of Punjab, Chamars of North India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh), Vankars of Gujarat and Pulayas of Kerala.[23] They 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”.[24] Christianity was thought to be egalitarian and could provide mobility away from the caste. Even after conversion, in some cases, Dalits were discriminated against due to the “residual leftover” practice of caste discrimination from their previous traditions.[25] This is attributed to the predominant Hindu society they lived in. Sometimes the only change seen was their personal religious identity. In many cases they were still referred to by their Hindu caste names. Example Pulayans in Kerala, Pariah in Tamil Nadu and Madigas in Andra Pradesh by members of all religious backgrounds.[26]

The first people converted by Jesuits of the Madura Mission to Christianity were members of Nadars, Maravars and Pallar .[27] 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.[28] Occupational discrimination for Dalit Christians goes so far as to restrict not only employment but in some cases for clean sanitation and water.[29] Inter caste marriage among Christians is also not commonly practiced. For example, Syrian Christians in Kerala do not marry Dalit Christians. Even intermarriage between Bamons and Sudras in Goa is quite uncommon. Sometimes marriage to a higher class Hindu is preferred to marriage to a Dalit Christian. Discrimination against Dalit Christians also remained in interactions and mannerisms between castes for example, during the earlier days the ‘lower caste Christians’ had to close their mouth when talking to a Syrian Christian.[23] Even after conversion segregation, restriction, hierarchy and graded ritual purity remained to some extent. 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 .[23]

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 from outside.[30] Dalit Christians are also said to be grossly underrepresented amongst the clergy in some places.[31] Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and the National Council of Churches in India have backed changes in the church and law to benefit Dalit Christians.

See also

References
  1. Christian Castes Archived 2006-11-29 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. Fuller, C. J. (March 1976). "Kerala Christians and the Caste System". Man. New series. 11 (1): 53–70. doi:10.2307/2800388. JSTOR 2800388.
  3. "Christian caste". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  4. Struggle for justice to Untouchable Christians Brojendra Nath Banerjee, Uiliyāma Kerī Sṭāḍi eyāṇḍ Risārca Seṇṭāra. Page 42: "At stake is the fate of 16 million Christians of SC origin, who form 70–80 percent of the Christians in the country"
  5. Carol Henderson Garcia, Carol E. Henderson 2002:40 "Today about 70 percent of Christians are Dalits"
  6. Radhakrishnan 2005:23
  7. Azariah 1985:5
  8. Panchanan Mohanty; Ramesh C. Malik; Eswarappa Kasi (2009). Ethnographic discourse of the other: conceptual and methodological issues. Cambridge Scholars. pp. 39–116.
  9. "KCBC". www.kcbcsite.com.
  10. Andrew Spicer (5 December 2016). Parish Churches in the Early Modern World. Taylor & Francis. pp. 308–. ISBN 978-1-351-91276-1.
  11. Frykenberg, Robert Eric (26 June 2008). Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present. Oxford University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-19-826377-7.
  12. Singha, Sara; Ariel, Glucklich (23 April 2015). "Dalit Christians and Caste Consciousness in Pakistan". Retrieved 22 September 2020. This study explores caste discrimination in Pakistan against untouchable (Dalit) converts to Christianity. During the nineteenth century in India, many Dalits converted to Christianity to escape caste persecution. In the 1870s in Punjab, a mass movement to Protestant Christianity flourished among the Dalit Chuhra caste. The Chuhras were the largest menial caste in Punjab and engaged in degrading occupations including sweeping and sanitation work. By the 1930s, almost the entire Chuhra caste converted to Protestant Christianity.
  13. Singh, Kumar Suresh (1995). The Scheduled Castes, Volume 10. Oxford University Press. p. 108. ISBN 9780195637427. Ibbetson (1916) records several Chuhra tribes (divisions), namely Sahotra, Gill, Bhatti, Khokhar, Mattu, Kharu, Kaliyana, Ladhar, Sindhu, Chhapriband, Untwal, Kandabari, Hansi, Khosar, Borat and Dharival.
  14. Kauffman, S. B. "A Christian Caste in Hindu Society: Religious Leadership and Social Conflict among the Paravas of Southern Tamilnadu." Modern Asian Studies. 15, No. 2, (1981)
  15. Robert L. Hardgrave (1969). The Nadars of Tamilnad. University of California Press. p. 91. tamil rc vellalar csi nadar.
  16. "By 2050, India to have world's largest populations of Hindus and Muslims".
  17. "Do Christians also practise caste system, asks SC". Times of India. July 20, 2007.
  18. Sharif interview 17 November 1996
  19. A palmyra leaf that sears us Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu – September 16, 2001
  20. "Address to the Bishops of India on their ad Limina visit". Retrieved 17 November 2003.
  21. Papal Address to Bishops of Madras-Mylapore, Madurai and Pondicherry-Cuddalore Archived 2008-09-22 at the Wayback Machine ZENIT – November 17, 2003
  22. Problems and Struggles Dalitchristians.com
  23. Dalit Christians In India Sobin George 2012
  24. South Indian Missionary Congress. 1908. ‘The Report of Conference Held at Madras’
  25. [‘Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications’, Complete Revised Edition, Chicago: Chicago University Press] Dumont, Louis. 1980.
  26. [‘Caste-based Discrimination and Atrocities on Dalit Christians and the Need for Reservations’, Working Paper Series, II(04): New Delhi: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.] Louis, Prakash. 2007.
  27. [The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sep., 1996)] David Mosse.
  28. [ ‘Rural Christian Community in North West India’, New Delhi] Dogar, Vidya Sagar. 2000.
  29. Jose, Kananaikil. 1990. [‘Scheduled Castes Converts and Social Disabilities: A Survey of Tamil Nadu’]
  30. Louis, Prakash. 2007.[ ‘Caste-based Discrimination and Atrocities on Dalit Christians and the Need for Reservations’, Working Paper Series, II(04): New Delhi: Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.]
  31. [Indian Dalits find no refuge from caste in Christianity] BBC, sept 14 2010

Sources
  • Azariah M. The Un-Christian Side of the Indian Church. Alit Sahitya Academy, 1985.
  • Kenneth, Ballhatchet (1998). Caste, Class and Catholicism in India, 1789–1914. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1095-7. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  • Fuller, C.J.Indian Christians: Pollution and Origins. Man, New Series, Vol. 12, No. 3/4. (Dec., 1977)
  • Henderson, Carol. Culture and Customs of India. Greenwood Press, 2002.
  • Koshy, Ninan. Caste in the Kerala Churches. Bangalore: Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, 1968.
  • Manickam, Sundararaj. Studies in Missionary History: Reflections on a Culture-contact. Christian Literature Society, 1988.
  • Radhakrishnan, P. Perfidies of Power: India in the New Millennium. TR Publications, 2005.
  • Michael, S.M.Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India. Lynne Riener Publishers, 1999. ISBN 1-55587-697-8
  • Webster, John. The Christian Dalits: A History. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK), 1994.
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