Introduction
Indian
Christianity has a very long history, the early Christians lived as a community
and conserved a harmonious life with other faiths. The arrival of Portuguese
and British made a tremendous change in the ecclesiastical history of India.
Construction of Churches, evangelization, Conversion of low castes and tribals
changed the face of Christianity in nineteenth century. More foreign
missionaries travelled and get involved in mission activities in India and flows
following enormous funds for construction of schools. The division of the vast
land of our country on the basis of religion made Christians, Muslims, Sikhs
and Buddhists as minorities. After independence Christianity faced more number of
problems and it is still going on even though our country is a secular country.
This paper will give the state of Christianity in Post Independent India,
Problems of Minority rights, Institutions, Reservations and Identity.
1.Conversion and
Christianity in nineteenth century
Christianity
was the oldest religion in India, St. Thomas Christians and the Roman Catholics
were present prior to protestant mission. The early churches comprised of
individuals often from widely diverse social backgrounds[1]
and are a tiny elite group of high caste converts reflected to evangelism.[2]
Christian missions, became aware of an unexpected and dramatic development,
Churches static for decades had begun to grow at a rapid rate through
conversions from untouchables and tribals which is a new experience not because
of converts but of their large number.[3]
Conversions brought in thousands of illiterate, poor and marginalized of the
society inside the church.[4]
Forrester affords, Christians were the first to respond to Dalit restlessness
and the increasing opportunities they found to move out of the old oppressive
order and so Christianity was adopted. Dalits and tribals saw Christianity the
possibility of Human betterment, of education, of concern and help in crisis of
famine and at courts in trials; they got converted.[5]
After independence the number of missionaries who came to India had perceptibly
increased.
2.Challenges faced by
Christianity
2.1.Conversion
Conversion touches mainly the Dalits and
tribals since it is they who converted en masse to Christianity from the middle
of the nineteenth century.[6]
The presence of foreign missionaries raised questions in Parliament and in
Supreme Court. In March 1954, the Supreme Court of India-expressed its opinion
that this right was a fundamental one firmly established in the Constitution
and thus applied to everyone - citizen and non-citizen alike - who enjoyed the
protection of Indian laws. With this explanation the missionaries were
expressly authorized to spread the faith, thus fulfilling the task entrusted to
them by the Church. In 1955 a bill came before Parliament which would have
seriously handicapped the work of missionaries because it provided for a strict
system of regulating conversions. The issue was conversions brought about by
force, fraud or material inducements. But the then Prime Minister of
India, Nehru, came to the rescue of Christian missions and persuaded the
Parliament to throw out the bill.
In
March 1955 a delegation under the leadership of Cardinal Gracias of Bombay
requested an interview with Prime Minister Nehru and Home Minister Pandit Pant.
Nehru, was sympathetic but pointed out that the problem was political and
national, not religious. Pandit Pant, on the other hand, gave a practical
advice which proved very helpful to the missions in the long run. Why the
Catholic Church, which had a long and historic existence in the country, had
not succeeded in training Indian priests and professors for seminaries.
The interview helped Roman Catholic Church to realize that in every sphere we
have to recruit locally and train selected candidates for responsible
positions.
In
September 1956, a question was raised in the Parliament about an alleged
increase in the anti-Indian activities on the part of foreign Christian
missionaries. The Minister of State for Home Affairs, B. N. Datar, said
that there is no factual basis, he said, for the assumption made in the
question, according to the information available with the Government of India.
At the same time he affirmed that no steps would be taken to check the work of
foreign missionaries. A Bill was introduced in the Parliament in 1960 for protecting
Scheduled Castes and Tribes from change of religion forced on them on grounds
other than religious convictions. It was also thrown out because of resistance
from the ruling party.
2.2.Foreign Funds
The
Indian Church lacked economic maturity, though India has the most highly organized National Christian Council had
to be largely paid for from
abroad. Even the institutional activities of Missions, viz.,
schools, colleges and hospitals were dependent upon foreign support. Even
the ordinary congregational life and pastoral duty still required some form of
foreign aid. In some occasions missionaries were accused of supporting anti
national activities.
2.3.Philanthropic works
The
Niyogi Report gave concrete instances of how mission schools were used to influence
the minds of young people. Harijan and Adivasi students came in for special
attention. They were given free boarding, lodging and books were provided, they
attended Christian prayers. Bible classes were made compulsory by treating as
absent for the whole day those students who failed to be present in those
classes. School celebrations were used for showing the victory of the cross
over all other symbols. Hospitals were used for putting pressure on poor class
patients to embrace Christianity. The richest harvest, however, was reaped in
mission orphanages which collected orphans during famines and other natural
calamities such as floods and earthquakes. The report suggest that the
largest number of converts are from such backward classes living in areas where
due to various causes only mission schools and hospitals exist. Most
conversions have been doubtless insincere admittedly brought about in
expectation of social service benefits and other material considerations.
3.Identity
Christianity
became the low caste religion having Dalits and tribals as members of Church. Identity is a mark, which
differentiates a person/community from others. The reason being that there are
identities which are constructed by the people themselves while others by those
outside the community, often with negative connotations. Tribal is an
identity given by those outside the community with contempt. The name means
uncivilized, backward, low, and untouchable and so forth. In that context, the
identity of a person determines both his/her status and role in the society,
raising a fundamental question about a person's dignity and equality with
others as a human. Tribals are
not, theoretically, a part of Hindu social organization, but they have always
been in touch with wider society in India. They have been exploited
economically and socially by the non-tribals; Hindu landlords, moneylenders and
industrialists who purchased their lands to establish industries in tribal
areas. Forest produces, which tribals
bring to the markets for sale, are bought at throwaway prices. A number of
tribes have revolted against their exploitation. The tribes are backward,
particularly in regard to education and economic standing. Right from the beginning of the Independence, the
tribal people of North East India resisted the imposed identity and treatment
of the Indians. In fact, each decade saw the emergence of new movement for
identity in the region.[7]
The
untouchables in India have been given names in different places, commonly known
as Dalits. The word ‘Dalit’ means oppressed, crushed, downtrodden etc. Dalit is
word which untouchables themselves have adopted for their identification. Dr.
Gangadhar Pantawane, a Marathi Professor defines “Dalit is not a caste, but is
a symbol of change and revolution”. The word Dalit has been popularized by the
“Dalit Panthers” and the Dalit writers of Maharashtra during the last four
decades. They were the indigenous people of India subdued as untouchables by
Hindu Brahmins. Most of the Dalit leaders and the leaders of Dalit movements
agree they are not Hindus. They have their own identity without religion as a
factor. [8]
Very large number of people in India were treated as untouchables,
unapproachable and unseeables. They were in search of equality and betterment
of their status by escaping forms of tyranny, rigidity, exploitation and
oppression. Conversion as a phenomenon leading to change of faith has been one
of the means through which social promotion was sought in India. Conversion is
to gain humanity, dignity of life, happiness, liberty, equality, fraternity and
democracy, conversion is a must. Dr. Ambedkhar favored conversion and advised
to discard Hinduism sooner or later.
3.1.The problem of Dalit
Christians
The
desire to find release from caste slavery and acquire social status was the
motive behind conversions. There has been caste tension within Christianity and
Dalit Christians experience double discrimination. On the other hand the state
declares itself secular, does not extend the SC privileges to them on purely
religious basis. Other Christians continuously treated the new converts as
inferior. [9]
Dalit identity is the only powerful weapon that can destroy the enemy, identity
means recognition. [10]
4.Minority rights
Minority rights have gained greater visibility and relevance all
over the world. India is no exception to it being a multi-ethnic,
multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multi-cultural society. It is in this
context that minority rights have assumed added significance in
post-independence India. When India attained independence after its division on
religious lines, religious minorities became very apprehensive of their
identity. The Constitution of free India has given recognition to a number of
languages in the Eighth Schedule and there are five religious groups which have
been given the official status of National Minorities, namely, Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsees. The framers of the Constitution
bestowed considerable thought and attention upon the minority problem in all
its facets and provided constitutional safeguards; yet the issue has evaded
solution till today. Consequently, the progress of minorities in India is beset
with problems including those of prejudice and discrimination. Today minority
rights have introduced two new dimensions into democracy. First, they made
community a legitimate subject of political discourse; and second, they placed
the issue of inter-group equality on the agenda. The principle of
non-discrimination and the concept of common citizenship are enshrined in all
provisions of the Indian Constitution. Father T.K. John expressed the feeling that
the basic rights of the religious minorities are violated in a number of ways.
4.1.Right to Equality
The first
and foremost is the Right to Equality (Article 14) which is an extension of the
rights ensured in the Preamble to the Constitution. Article 14 of our
Constitution says: The State shall not deny to any person equality before the
law and shall provide equal protection for every person within the territory of
India. But in the real sense, Indian minorities do not fully enjoy some of the
basic fundamental rights. Christian minorities faces major problem with regard
to fundamental rights.
4.2.Linguistic and cultural rights
The
discrimination on grounds of religion is very clearly prohibited by Article 15
of our Constitution which says in clause (1): “The state shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth
etc.” This fundamental right against discrimination on ground of religion is
one of the most important rights for the flourishing of any religiously
pluralistic society as we have in our country. If a Scheduled Caste becomes a
Christian, he loses all the reservation facilities, and if he produces a
certificate of Scheduled Caste he gets back all the benefits. Even the children
of the same Scheduled Caste parents, living under the same roof, sharing the
same meals are discriminated against on the basis of religion. The Dalit
Christians continue to be the victims of all kinds of ill-treatment. The
history of independent India is both pathetic and shameful on the treatment
meted out to Dalits.[11]
4.3.Right to employment
The
Constitution in Article 16 gives equality of opportunity in matters of public
employment. But, because of the Presidential Order of 1950 and the refusal of
Shanker Dayal Sharma to issue an ordinance for reservation for Christians
during the time of P.V. Narashima Rao as the PM the Article has been made
infructuous. This has been made available to the Dalits in the fold of
Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism but not to those who are Christians.
4.4.Right of personal liberty
The fact
that the Dalit Christians are not getting protection of life and personal
liberty is manifest in the various government Acts and rules passed by
Parliament to give special protection to the Scheduled Castes but these are not
applicable to the Christians of Scheduled Caste origin during atrocities. These
Acts and rules include Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, Protection of Civil
Rights Rule 1977 and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act 1989. All these Acts and rules are supposed to give the SC
(Dalits) special protection and rights against various kinds of atrocities and
oppressions meted out to them by the people of so-called upper castes of
forward classes. But this protection is not made available to Dalit Christians.
4.5.Freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practice and propagate religion
Article
25 of the Indian Constitution gives all citizens the “freedom of conscience and
the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion”. The Christians
have almost always faced problems with this fundamental right especially with
the last part of propagating its faith. A number of States such as Orissa,
Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have passed Acts
through their legislature severely curbing this right. In many States like
Punjab, the concerned authorities refused to allow any venue and date for
religious conversions or religious conventions for preaching the teachings of
Jesus Christ. This is undoubtedly a violation of Article 25.
4.6.Right to own institutions
Aritcle
26 and Article 30 (1) of our Constitution has given to all the religious minorities
the right; to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable
purposes, to manage their own affairs in matters of religion, in any manner
they wish to administer and maintain such property in accordance with the law. The
government not only discriminates against minority schools, colleges, nursing
colleges, and hospitals in granting aid, but also imposes many rules and
restrictions to prevent minority institutions from appointing their own
candidates. When a vacancy comes up in schools and other institutions they are
forced to accept the State’s choice to fill it and on many occasions Christian
educational institutions have had to go to court to get justice.[12]
4.7.Cultural rights
Article 29 offers protection to the cultural rights of
minorities; Any section of the citizens residing in
the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script
or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same. No citizen
shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the
State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, language or any of them.
4.8.Christian Personal Law
The next
problem is concerning Christian Personal Law which includes; the Indian
Christian Marriage Act 1872, the Indian Divorce Act 1869, and the Indian
Succession Act 1925. These Acts were enacted under British rule and reflect the
British point of view. Some contents and Acts have direct relationship to the
English law and the Courts.[13] The Christian Marriage
Act 1872 has, at a number of places, references to the Churches of England and
Scotland. The Indian Succession Act 1925 also has a number of weak points like
the restrictions imposed on a widow’s right to property. All these
discrepancies need immediate attention of both the Indian Christians as well as
the Indian Government in order to introduce suitable amendments to these Acts.
The Christian law is biased in circumstances of marriage, grounds for divorce,
demand for damages and equitable relief. The need for a change has been widely recognized.
The Joint
Women’s Programme (JWP) along with the Church of North India drafted a new
Christian Marriage and Maintenance Bill in 1985 with help of P.M. Bakshi, the
then Member of the Law Commission. The Joint Women’s Programme also requested
all the Churches to send in their consensus opinion and the Christian Marriage
and Matrimonial Bill 1990, the Indian Succession Amendment Bill 1990, and the
Christian Adoption and Maintenance Bill 1990 were formulated. Thereafter an
economic committee for changes in the Christian Personal Law was formed. This
committee studied the 1992 Bill and a draft was finalized to change the
existing Acts covering marriage, divorce, succession and adoption. It also
drafted a Christian Adoption Law 1994. The draft of the “Christian Marriage
Bill” enabled the solution of cases of divorce on the grounds of cruelty by
mutual consent and did away with the compulsion of restoration of conjugal
rights. The Church leadership raised its voice to bring in changes in the Bill.
The Fourth Law Commission studied the matter in its own free time. Matters
moved in the late nineties and James Massey, a former member of the National
Commission of Minorities, played a part in the formulation of another reformist
draft which was submitted to the government in 1997 to replace the existing
Acts covering marriage, divorce, succession and adoption.
In April 2000, the Law Minister invited some Church leaders and
women activists to discuss his proposed Christian Marriage Bill 2000. The
Christian representatives demanded that if the Law Minister kept Sections 3 and
9 the same as were in the Bill of 1994, the proposed Bill will get the
consensus of all churches throughout India. They would agree for the Bill 2000
to be introduced in Parliament. This bill, prepared by the Law Ministry with
the consent of the community was passed by Parliament in 2001.[14]
5.Reservations
5.1.Conversion has not
changed the conditions of the Dalits
Dr.
Shankarrao Kharat suggests, that there is no change in the condition of the
untouchables even after the conversion except in their religion. The Dalit’s and
tribals have natural right or reservations and concessions, but they deserve
the right of reservation. In many states of India Dalit/tribal Christians are
not acceptable by the government. The denial of reservations and concessions to
the Dalit/tribal Christians in the country is a grave injustice to these
community. However reservations were given to other Dalit converts.[15]
Karmaveer Dadasaheb Gaikwad a leader of Republican Party of India helped the Dalit
Christian community to organize a convention to press the demand for
reservations, held at Tilaknagar in Ahemednagar district on May 2nd
1970.
It
demands the declaration of right to reservations by the Dalit Christian
Community, The following Concessions were demanded: Educational concessions,
Exception from tuition fees, reservation of seats, scholarships, scholarships
for college education, scholarships for education abroad and free boarding
schools; Redistribution of uncultivated land, help for improvement of
agricultural fields; Loans and grants for business, training and production
centers, cooperative industrial societies; Reserved seats in Assemblies,
municipalities, zilla parishads, taluka committee, village councils,
cooperative societies and banks. These concessions were given to Hindu brethren
but denied to Christians, given with the principles of equality and justice.
Fr.
Nunes in his addressed at the convention, said since we have converted to
Christianity the rights meant for Dalit’s or SC/ST communities were not
granted. The moment we are baptized we are included among the developed
classes. Our thinking has improved because of Christian ideology, our attitude
became better, but our progress was interrupted by the Indian constitution. The
government is responsible for our degradation. There is no change in our
economic and social conditions due to conversion.[16]
In India where secularism was taught the minorities and people of other
religions snatching away their constitutional rights is giving rise to a void
in the secular constitution.[17]
5.2.Benefits
of reservations
It provides opportunities in various
areas to people who denied basic rights, it contributes to the promotion of
equality in a widely unequal society. It creates a culture for the just
distribution of resources, and serves as a process of social education for all
the citizens, it creates self-respect among the victims and gives them
self-confidence. The identification of occupation and caste is the challenge
for reservation.[18]
The
provision in Articles 330 and 332 of the constitution for reserved seats in the
Lok Sabha and state legislatures did not give Dalit’s the same independent
voice. Recent researches had brought out the reservation seats has helped widen
the gap between the Dalit and elite, Dalit’s have successfully manipulated the
system of reservations to their own advantage. Reservation for jobs in Article
16 was applied only in recruiting for central and state government service,
expanded for promotion as well as initial employment has limited in 1963 but
later restored in 1968. The use and implementation of reservations for
employment by local government has varied from state to state. Reservations
have not been introduced and the states have not enforced the central
government’s anti – discrimination law of 1976 in the private sector.[19]
Reservation for the scheduled castes and
Tribes is an important aspect of the modern Indian political history. It is a
constitutional provision which has generated a lot of debate from the time of
its framing. [20]
6.Institutions
Christianity from the middle of
nineteenth century through modern educational institutions contributed to the
field of education. SC/STs are more benefited through the primary education.
Missionaries played a crucial role in putting pressure on the state to open
government schools for all. In few higher educational institutions the upper
and middle castes were allowed to join and the Dalit’s were denied. Education
is considered as the most important means for the empowerment of the Dalit’s,
so many intuitions called for a revision of policies which will allow the Dalit
to get education. Dalit Christian leaders often pointed out the discrimination
faced by Dalit boys and girls in Christian intuitions, mostly dominated by
upper caste Christians.[21]
Conclusion
Christianity faces numerous trouble in independent India, as
such the converts are challenged by various problems from the very beginning of
framing Indian constitution. However constitution does not provide protection
and equality to the Dalits and tribals. Christian SC/STs are the victims of
injustice and oppression, conversion does not provide dignity in spite they
were twice discriminated. Often Dalits and Tribals sought to fight for their
rights in this secular, democratic country.
Bibliography
Babu,
Durga Das. Introduction to the
Constitution of India New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India, 1985.
Forrester,
Duncan B. Caste and Christianity London:
Curzon press, 1980.
Jayakumar,
A. History
of Christianity in India Kolkata: SCEPTURE, 2013.
Kuriakose, M.K. History of Christianity in India: Source materials New Delhi:
ISPCK, 2011.
Longchar, A.Wati. In
Search of Identity and Tribal Theology Assam: Tribal Study Centre, 2001.
Parkhe,
Camil. Dalit Christians: Rights to
reservations New Delhi: ISPCK, 2007.
Pinto,
Ambrose. ed, Dalits: Assertion for
identity New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 1999.
Webster,
John C.B. The Dalit Christians A History
New Delhi: ISPCK, 1994.
Wilfred, Felix. Dalit Empowerment New Delhi: ISPCK, 2007.
[1] John
C.B.Webster, The Dalit Christians A History (New Delhi: ISPCK, 1994), 35.
[2] A. Jayakumar, History of Christianity in India,
(Kolkata: SCEPTURE,2013), 78
[3] Duncan B.
Forrester, Caste and Christianity,
(London: Curzon press, 1980), 69.
[4] A. Jayakumar, History of Christianity in India…, 78.
[5] John
C.B.Webster, The Dalit Christians…, 55,
57.
[7] A.Wati Longchar, In Search of Identity and Tribal Theology
(Assam: Tribal Study Centre, 2001), 21-26.
[8] Ambrose
Pinto,ed, Dalits: Assertion for
identity,( New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 1999), 133-137.
[9] Ambrose
Pinto,ed, Dalits: Assertion for identity…
, 128- 129.
[10] Ambrose
Pinto,ed, Dalits: Assertion for identity…
, 158.
[11]
Durga Das Babu, Introduction to the
Constitution of India (New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India, 1985), 35-366.
[12]Durga
Das Babu, Introduction to the
Constitution of India (New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India, 1985), 359-362.
[13] Kuriakose, History of Christianity in India: Source materials (New Delhi:
ISPCK, 2011), 339.
[14] Durga Das Babu,
Introduction to the Constitution of India
(New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India, 1985), 87-88.
[15] Camil Parkhe, Dalit Christians: Rights to reservations,
(New Delhi: ISPCK, 2007), 5- 7.
[16] Camil Parkhe, Dalit Christians…, 47-55.
[17] Camil Parkhe, Dalit Christians…, 58.
[19] John C.B.
Webster, The Dalit Christians…, 142- 144.
