Untouchables,Christians,andHindus

HowtheSacredWorldOrder isPreservedandRenounced
VictorvanBijlert

Abstract Hinduism is often regarded as a tolerant and nonviolent religion. Whenever there is violence or injustice perpetrated by large groups of Hindus, there is a tendency to explain this as an anomaly. The lowest groups in Hindu society especially, the socalled Untouchables or Dalits andeven more soDalit con verts to Christianity, often face Hindu aggression. In order to reveal the mo tivation for Hindu resentment, this essay analyses Hinduism in terms of a universally internalised social model. This model is more basic to Hinduism than any particular scripture or cult. It explains the fundamental Hindu viewoftheuniverseasahierarchicallystructuredsacredworldorderwithits complement, a nonhierarchical sphere of renunciation and numinous indi vidualism. This essay argues that if this model is properly understood, it ex plains the subordinate role of Untouchables in Hindu society as well as the strategiesavailabletocopewithoppression.

HinduViolence Christmas 2007 in the Kandhamal district in the Indian state of Orissa was no occasion for joy. Catholic, Pentecostal and other churchesweresetonfire.Hindumobsroamedthestreetsshouting Stop Christianity; kill Christians. The targets of this aggression wereDalitChristians.1Complaintstothepolicedidnotstopthe

Dalits, Untouchables, Outcastes, Harijans (Mahatma Gandhis term)alldesignatethesamesocialgroupofthelowestofthelowestin Hindusociety(cf.MendelsohnandVicziany1998:25,Webster1999:11). NowadaysthetermDalitismostcommonlyaccepted,butUntouchable willalsobeusedinthisessay,sincethetermexplainsverywellthebasis of their low status: highcaste Hindus should not be touched by these lowestofthelowest.Dalitmeanstrampledupon.Gandhieuphemis 319

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continuing Hindu belligerence. These riots were premeditated actsofviolenceresultinginhundredsofhousesdestroyed,doz ens of church institutions burned down, and several casualties (seeCommunalismCombat14/127[January2008:68]).Theywere organised by members of the Hindu Nationalist RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal.2 Although these attacks came as a nasty sur prise and made the headlines of world news, they did not sig nificantly worsen the already tarnished popular image of Hin dunonviolenceandtolerance. That Hinduism is a nonviolent and tolerant religion is a notion still held in the Western world. This notion is based largely on Mahatma Gandhis nonviolent struggle against Brit ishcolonialruleinIndia.Thus,thephenomenonofviolentHin dumobsonarampageandakillingspreecontinuestoastonish Western observers somewhat. Usually, it is explained as an anom aly, as something alien to the normally peaceful character of Hinduism.3PerhapsthefactthatDalitChristianswereatthere ceivingendwasarealjoltbecauseHinduviolenceisusuallydi rected against Muslims. Also, the fact that the Christians tar geted belonged to the lowest rungs of the Hindu social ladder and that some of them were recent converts to Christianity

ticallylabelledthemHarijans(peopleofGod).Accordingtothe1991 censusofIndia,therewereatleasttwentymillionChristians,ofwhom halfwereUntouchables(Webster1999:89).The2001censuscitesaround twentyfourmillionChristiansforthewholeofIndia(source:http://cen susindia.gov.in).

2 RSSstandsforRashtriyaSwayamsewakSangh(CommunityofNa tionalVolunteers).Foundedin1925asaHindunationalistandHindu culturalsect,itsgoalhasalwaysbeentopurifytheHinduholyland IndiaofforeigninfluencessuchasIslamandChristianityandestablish India as a purely Hindu nation. Since the 1960s it has spawned many daughterorganisations:theVHP,VishvaHinduParishad(WorldHin duCouncil),andtheBajrangDal(PartyofHanuman).Alltheseor ganisationssharetheoriginalgoaloftheRSSand,togetherwithitspo liticalwing,theBJP,BharatiyaJanataParty(IndianPeoplesParty),are collectively known as the Sangh Parivar (The Family of the Sangh = RSS).FordetailsseeJaffrelot1996:3344,196204,363ff. 3 FortheseWesternperceptionsofHinduismseePinch2006:514, 24348.

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made the suffering all the more poignant. This violence not on ly signals an alarming breakdown of the modern secular Indian state,italsoneedstobeexplainedagainstthebroaderbackdrop of the Hindu socioreligious system and the way this system is capable of absorbing foreign influences and individual and col lective choices that radically challenge the Hindu body poli tic. DharmaasCosmicandSocialOrder Familiarity with monotheistic religions of the Book, the Abra hamicreligions,oftenrendersthecomplexreligiousphenomen on of Hinduism difficult to grasp. In the Abrahamic traditions God is a unique Deity, the Creator of the Universe and the law giverforallhumankind.TheBibleandtheQuranthuscontain, amongotherthings,universalmorallawsapplicabletoall.Hin duismdoesnothavesuchatranscendentalwrittencode.Itdoes not have a revealed code of conduct nor explicit textual revela tions by the Creator of the universe. Hinduisms code exists not as a text of transcendental origin but as an immanent principle, the dharma, bearer, carrier, supporter, arrangerall these meanings are intended in the word itself. Dharma is never revealed in its totality in textual form. There are innumerable texts in Hinduismbeginning with the Vedasthat describe bits and pieces of dharma and are to a large extent bound by time, place and social status. The final, ultimate, complete and authoritative textual revelation of the dharma does not and will never exist, for dharma is the fundamental order of the cosmos and the order of Hindu society as a whole. Dharma both as cosmic sacred order and as immanent ordering principle of so cietyisthecanonofHinduism. Knowledge of this immanent canon of dharma is by no means obligatory for all Hindus. Acquiring detailed knowledge of dharmaincluding knowledge of it as embodied in sacred textsis not meant for all Hindus but is the domain of two dis tinct groups: the Brahmin priests, who are hereditary religious specialists, and world renouncers (sannyasis, sadhus). The Brah mins preserve and transmit knowledge of the details of the sa cred world order; the renouncers perceive the world order di rectlyasitis.The BrahminsguardthegroupmoralsoftheHin du social order; the renouncers proclaim soteriologies basically

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meant for those individuals that have detached themselves fromthehierarchicalorder. This double access to dharma is reflected in the social and cosmic order that is also dharma. Dharma governs the existence of individuals, social groups, the whole human world and the whole cosmos with its gods and demons and other semidivine beings. Dharma rules the world in two ways: first, as the sus taining principle behind the sacred hierarchical order of Hindu society and, second, as the immanent transcendence from which allorderflows.4Thislatteraspectofdharmaisdirectlyaccessible in the numinous sphere of renunciation, which stands in a ne cessaryandcomplementaryoppositiontothesacredsocialhier archy. SacredHierarchy Traditionally, the social hierarchy of Hinduism is manifested in the system of four varnas, colours or classes. The earliest fulldescriptionofthissacredhierarchyisfoundinRigVeda,book 10, hymn 90. A single plurality, the cosmic spirit or Purusha with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand feet (10.90.1) is being sacrificed by the gods (10.90.6) who also fa shionthecosmosandthesocialorderoutofthepartsofthePu rushasbody(10.90.814).HismouthwastheBrahman,histwo arms were made the warrior, his two thighs the Vaishya; from his two feet the Shudra was born (10.90.12; Macdonnell 1917: 201). To appreciate this metaphor of the social hierarchy we must imagine the Purusha to stand erect on his two feet. The highest part of the cosmic/societal spirit is occupied by the

ThisfactexplainswhyHinduismdoesnothaveapersonalsupreme Godasalawgiver,asintheAbrahamictraditions,andwhyHinduscan easily imagine rather abstract transcendence as a variety of conflicting supremegodsorgoddesses.Therealsourceofreligiousauthorityand object of Hindu devotion is not gods or goddesses but the underlying principleofthecosmos,aprincipleinwhichonedoesnotevenhaveto believebutwhichonecanonlyaspiretoexperienceforoneself.

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Brahmin priests.5 The arms are the princes or kings. The farmers, artisans and traders are collectively indicated by the word Va ishya, meaning those who live in the inhabited areas, the vish. The lowest part of the body, the feet, represent the lowest rung on the social ladder. They are indicated by the collective term Shudra, slave / lowly servant. Later Brahminic texts not only preserved this basic model but also specified the various duties incumbentonthesefourclassesorvarnas. When the Purusha stands up straight, he touches the earth only with his feet, while his head is furthest removed from the earth. This metaphor is important for several reasons. It sug gests that the Brahmins represent the gods: in the next verse of the hymn the gods are said to have emerged from different parts of the Purushas head (10.90.13). Furthermore, the feet/ shudras touch the impurities of the soil while the head/Brahmin is furthest removed from these impurities.6 The fact that the so cial hierarchy is symbolised by a single human body with its parts, implies that the hierarchy is natural and unalterable, for the hands cannot perform the functions of the head nor the feet the functions of the head. Thus, challenging the hierarchy would be tantamount to mutilating the Purusha or even killing him. Lastly, since the goal of human life is to stay healthy, so the goalofthePurushaistostayhealthy.Hishealthispreservedby keeping it clean through Brahminic rituals. Since health in the human body is furthered by physical hygiene, so ritual hygiene keeps the Hindu body politic healthy. It is the task of the Brah min priests to see to this ritual social health. From the bodily hygiene metaphor of Hindu society follows the ultimate task of Brahmins: to keep their ritual purity intact. The real purpose of all purity, and most of all of ritual purity, is to ward off the ul timateimpurityofdeathitself.

Englishhastwospellings:BrahmanorBrahmin.Thelatteristhe moretraditionalBritishspelling,whereastheformerismorelinguistic allycorrect.InSanskritthewordispronouncedasbrhmana. Tothisday,touchingsomeonewithonesfeetisagrossinsultac cordingtoHindusocialetiquette.Conversely,ifonetouchesthefeetof asuperiorwithonesheadoneshowsdeeprespectandhumility.

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ImpurityandPurity Deathinitsbiologicalmanifestationasthefinalendoflifeisthe greatestimpurityimaginabletotheHindureligiousconception. Brahmin ideology is therefore obsessed with excluding real death in every possible way. For only thus can the health of the cosmic body politic be guaranteed. The health ofi.e. the ab sence of death fromthe Purusha is symbolised by recurrent cyclical time. For in cyclical time everything reoccurs, there is nofinalendtothings,norealdeath.Cyclicaltimeinthecosmos is indicated by the fixed movements of the heavenly bodies such as the sun and the moon (which are also parts of the head ofthePurusha[10.90.13]).Theimportanceofregularpredictable cyclical time is reflected in the interest Hindus take in astrology to fix the most auspicious moment for the performance of ritu als or the conclusion of marriages. Stray irregular astronomical phenomena like solar eclipses, lunar eclipses and comets are al ways seen as great cosmic impurities, and no food is cooked or eaten during eclipses. Cyclical time is also the secret behind the Hindu idea of reincarnation: physical irredeemable death is de niedthroughthebelief(fromasocalpointofview!)thatthereis a soul that will be constantly reincarnated in new bodies. The cycles of reincarnation are believed to be without beginning, a perfect metaphor for the ritual health and the notdying of the Purusha. A dharma text from around the third century BCE, theApastambaDharmasutra,hasthistosayaboutreincarnation:
People of all classes enjoy supreme and boundless happi nesswhentheyfollowtheLaws(dharma)specifictothem. [U]ponreturntoearthbyvirtueofhismeritsheob tains a high birth. So, going around like a wheel , he re mains happy in both worlds [i.e. this world and the hereaf ter] . In like manner, others, when they fall from their castes as a result of their sinful acts, are born as outcastes in wombs that are the aftermath of their sins. (2.2.27, transla tionOlivelle1999:4445;emphasismine)

This early text clearly indicates what purposes reincarnation serves. Keeping the impurity of real death away from the Pu rusha is not immediately obvious, but the reason why there is natural socioreligious inequality is evident. People on the low er social rungs owe their plight to themselves, for they had

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sinned in former lives. Their only hope of moving up the social ladder (in future births!) lies in their obedience to the higher castesandinfollowingapathofvirtue.Butthereisanothertra ditional way to escape the inequality of the social system: re nunciationoftheworld. WorldRenunciation Complete escape from the pressures and inequalities of the social order comes through world renunciation. It is the sphere in which one reaches true liberation, mukti or moksha; liberation from all social bonds, from cyclical time, from reincarnation and thus actually also from the sociological impact of death. In the sphere of renunciation the renunciant merges, as it were, with the dharma itself and thus becomes himself (or herself, for renunciationhasnothingtodogender,purityorimpurity,caste or class), a source of externalised dharma for others. This is pos siblebecausethesphereofrenunciationisanunpredictable,nu minous and thus potentially dangerous state of existence in which the distinctions between human and divine melt away. Often, this state is expressed in metaphors of unity with the sourceofbeing,orunitywiththesoulofall:
Whenintheselfofadiscerningman, hisveryselfhasbecomeallbeings, Whatbewilderment,whatsorrowcantherebe, regardingthatselfofhimwhoseesthisoneness. (IshaUpanishad7,translationOlivelle1996:249)

WorldrenunciationisthespherefromwhichIndianspirituality and selfemancipation flow. It is the sphere from which new spir itual movements are born and brought to the social world of hierarchy, not to abolish it but to exist next to it. Both spheres, the sacred social hierarchy and world renunciation, have al ways reinforced each other. Brahminic purity in the form of ve getarianism, nonviolence, and teetotalism has been adopted by many renouncers in order to become socially acceptable, while renunciation has provided the Brahminic order with a safe pas sagefrompressureandoppression,asafepassagethatdoesnot fundamentally endanger the continued existence of the order. World renunciation ideally addresses the solitary individual. But in order to bring the numinous character of renunciation

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under Brahminic control, the renouncerif charismatic enough can establish a sect of followers. The sect is invariably a group of renouncers or aspiring renouncers who look up to the founder as their spiritual guide.7 Thus, the social model of Hin duismistwofold:thesphereofsacredhierarchyandthesphere of world renunciation, with sects as the link between these two.8 HighCasteHinduismandUntouchability WhatistheplaceofuntouchabilityandtheUntouchables/Dalits in this social model? The early Brahminic texts do not use the term outcaste as a permanent situation as happens nowa days. The early texts speak of patita fallen [out of the social system] due to impure behaviour or the performance of sinful actions.9 Being outcaste or untouchable as a permanent and he reditary social situation is a later development. It means a state of permanent, irredeemable impurity that is transmitted to pos terity by birth and from which there is no escape within the hi erarchical system. In any case, every caste and class is hered itary, and one cannot exchange ones caste and class for anoth er. Dumont regards the absolute opposition between the pure Brahmin at the top of the sacred order and the Untouchable at the very bottom, even below the Shudra, as the very essence of Hinduism (Dumont 1980: 4355). This opposition is both struc tural and functional, for the lowest position of the utterly im pure Untouchable complements the highest position of the Brah min (Dumont 1980: 535). The most important factor in being Untouchableisthehereditarypollutionthroughuncleanmenial work such as skinning animal carcasses, tanning leather butchery of animals; fishing; removal of human waste; attend

Thereisnoexceptiontothisrule.AllIndianreligiousmovements, i.e.Buddhism,Jainism,Vaishnavism,Shaivism,Sikhism,Tantrism,etc., followthispattern.Theywerefoundedbycharismaticworldrenouncers/ gurus. ThispresentationofthesociologyofHinduismowesmuchtothe greatFrenchindologist/sociologistLouisDumont,seeDumont1980:267 86,42539.

9 8

Forexample:theft,abortion,homicide,incest;seeOlivelle1999:32.

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ance at cremation grounds; washing clothes (Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998: 7). These jobs are unclean and impure because dead animals, dead humans, dirt and human excrement are han dled. Since handling these substances necessarily entails touch ingthem,theseuncleanjobsmeansthatoneisconstantlytouch ing death or objects that cause diseases. Death and disease (lead ing to death) are the ultimate impurity, and thus the groups that handle death have to be kept on the lowest outer fringes of the sacred hierarchy forever. Hence permanent social un touchability arises, for dirt and death have to be constantly re moved from society by someone, and that someone is the Un touchable. By keeping those that always touch death outside the social fold, the higher castes, as it were, remain pure from the ultimate polluting influence of death, while social distance topollutionpreservesthehealthofthesocialorder. Hierarchy does not only define the Brahminic social sys tem, it also obtains among the Untouchables themselves. Men delsohnandViczianyassertthat
Untouchables are organised in jatis [endogamous commen sal groups] just as other Hindus . yet because of their ab sence from the varna scheme, the Untouchables are often depicted as being outcastes or without caste as a lower grouping to be distinguished from caste Hindus. (Men delsohnandVicziany1998:6)

The comprehensive group called Untouchables is thus far from being homogeneous. Untouchables vary in function within the village society and their pollution handicap varies from region to region. In some places, especially in South India, Untouch ables fulfil an indispensable ritual function in appeasing whim sical local gods (cf. Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998: 10). This function only reaffirms their inferior status because only those who are as impure as death can approach the local gods safely. In other regions, Untouchables are simply scavengers. Irrespec tive of the local variations, the fact remains that in Indian soci ety Untouchables/Dalits are in every way considered to be ex tremely inferior to all other castes due to irredeemable inherent impurity. This impurity not only causes social backwardness but also the discrimination by and the hatred of the higher castes. Some examples of this hatred were given at the beginning of thisessay.

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What are the options open to Untouchables/Dalits for cop ing with caste discrimination and utter backwardness? Basic ally, there are three strategies: first, submission to the caste sys tem and meek acceptance of ones role as the ultimate subal tern; two, utilising forms of dissent available within Hinduism itself;three,convertingtoanonIndianreligion. AcceptanceorOpposition? Acceptance of ones low status amounts to no more than what the majority of the Dalits/Untouchables feel they are forced to do anyway. Especially in the late nineteenth century, after the BritishCrownassumedparamountcyinIndia(in1858),theUn touchables had no general critique of Hindu society, and were concernedwithnothingmorethangainingacceptabilityforthem selves within that society (Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998: 78). Compliance proved to be unprofitable. The colonial presence had a profound impact on Untouchables: like all other Indians, they were drawn into panIndian movements of modernisation and were gradually linked to the network of communications and fast overland transportation that was laid down across the subcontinent. Untouchables began to contemplate their own modes of social reform and opposition to their traditional low status. Opposition to highcaste oppression assumed religious shape, since the source of oppression was also of a deeply reli giousnature:highcasteHinduideologyandritualorthopraxis. Thereligiousnatureoftheoppressioncouldthusbefought with the same religious tradition. The traditional Hindu strate gyofreligiousoppositionwasandstillistooptout,eitherindi vidually or collectively. Individual opting out amounts to indi vidualworldrenunciation,andUntouchablessometimesadopted thistraditionalstrategy.Aswehavealreadyseen,thisisthetra ditional function of world renunciation: to ease social tensions andpressures. Individual world renunciation does not disturb the social hierarchy. More disturbing and politically and socially relevant is collective world renunciation. There are many examples of this, showing that this fundamental Hindu institution is func tional in Indian society. Collective renunciation takes the form of a sect with a charismatic founder at the head. The founder acts as the spiritual guide and teacher of the followers. The e

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thos of liberation that is characteristic of renunciation can be brought to bear on Hindu society as a whole through the sect. Untouchables have used this Hindu idiom as a strategy of so cialselfliberationwithgreateffect.Letuslookatsomeeffective instances of collective renunciation by Untouchables: Satnamis (Followers of the True Name), Ramnamis (Followers of the Name ofRam)andBuddhists. Satnamis The Satnami sect originated in Chattisgarh in Central India,10 around the teachings of the Untouchable chamar (a very impure caste of shoemakers), Ghasidas (around 17701850). Around 1820 Ghasidas left his home to meditate in the forest for six months. When he returned from the forest he told his household that he had communicated with the SatPurush (True Spirit). This True Spirit had instructed Ghasidas to proclaim to his fellow Un touchables that they were to worship only the True Name, Sat Nam.Theyshouldalsoabstainfromalcohol,eatingmeat,tobac co, and handling dead animals and leather (Bauman 2008: 43 44). In other words, they were to follow a lifestyle characterised by Brahminic notions of ritual purity. When Ghasidas died in 1850, the number of his followers had risen to a quarter of a million. In the beginning of the twentieth century this number had doubled again (Bauman 2008: 45). The sect was founded in the traditional way: by a person who was both charismatic and who used the Hindu religious idiom of renunciation. Ghasidas ensured that the sect adopted many traits of world re nunciation, coupled with Brahminic notions of ritual purity: teetotalism and vegetarianism (Bauman 2008: 46). This combin ation is the usual method by which sects adjust renunciation (with its numinous anomy) to the Brahminic world order (with its demands of ritual purity). The Untouchable Satnami sect ex emplifies the traditional option of collective renunciation. The uppercaste Hindus in Chattisgarh did not view this Untouch able emulation of uppercaste Hindu behaviour very lightly. Or,inthewordsofBauman:

10 ChattisgarhusedtoformpartofthestateofMadhyaPradeshbut becameaseparatestateintheIndianUnionin2000.

330 CROSSROADDISCOURSESBETWEENCHRISTIANITYANDCULTURE Orthodox Hindu society forbade dalits to appropriate the signs and symbols of the high castes. But the prohibition seems to have made those symbols all the more desirable, such that they became a natural inducement for the dalits to adopt the customs and behaviour of the highest castes. (Bauman2008:545)

We may remark that the adoption of highcaste behaviour was possible precisely because of the charismatic authority that ra diates from world renunciation. Nevertheless, even some high caste Hindus regarded the Satnami sect as properly Hindu. In the twentieth century, a Maharashtrian Brahmin, Baba Ram chandra,cametoChattisgarhtohelptheSatnamisestablishare form movement for Satnami Untouchables. This movement sought to rework the relationship of the community [of Sat namis] with a reconstituted Hindu order in the image of upper castenationalists(Dube1998:173). Ramnamis The second example of collective selfemancipatory world re nunciation by Untouchables also comes from Chattisgarh. The Ramnamisectformedaroundanothercharismaticandworldre nunciatory Untouchable chamar: Parasuram. Born in the mid nineteenth century, when he was in his midthirties Parasuram metawanderingrenunciantHindumonknamedRamdev,whom Parasuram invited to his home. The monk ordered Parasuram to chant the sacred name of Ram unceasingly. Ram is the sev enth incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu, the Deity who pre servestheworldandisaverypopularmanifestationofVishnu. His cult has spread in the Hindispeaking area mainly through the Hindi epic Ramcharitmanas (The Lake of the Deeds of Ram), written by the poet saint Tulsidas (15321623). Parasur amobeyedtheinstructionofthemonkRamdevand,asaresult, found the next morning that, after a night of chanting, his breast miraculouslydisplayedthenameofRamwritteninDevanagari script. Consequently, Parasuram began teaching his fellow Un touchables to chant the name of Ram and to listen to readings from the Hindi epic by Tulsidas.11 Since its inception Parasur ams sect has induced the followers to tattoo the name of Ram
11

FormoredetailsonParasuramseeLamb2002:61ff.

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all over their body, to chant the name of Ram, and to recite from the Ramcharitmanas. The sect later also established some thing like an order of renunciants to act as spiritual guides for the ordinary Ramnami followers. The features of the Ramnamis that attract most attention nowadays are their tattoos of the name ofRam,theirspecialcrownsmadeofpeacockfeathersandtheir yearly Bhajan Mela (Fair of Religious Singing), at which a speciallydecoratedpoleiserectedandthenameofRamissung uninterruptedly (Lamb 2002: 94112). Like the Satnamis, the Ramnami sect combines world renunciation with a Brahminic lifestyle of vegetarianism and teetotalism (Lamb 2002: 7274, 161). For the Ramnamis, membership in the sect means emanci pationfromuppercasteHindusocietybyemulatingthelatters rulesforpurityinaworldrenunciatorysocialsetting. Buddhism The third example of Untouchables seeking world renunciation as a way of escape from caste oppression is the 1956 mass con versionbyUntouchablestoBuddhism.Thisconversionwasini tiated and led by the leader and spokesman of the Untouch ables, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (18911956).12 Like all other ancient and modern spiritual movements in India, Buddhism was found ed by a charismatic world renouncer, the Shakya prince Sid dhartha, some time in the fourth century BCE. Throughout his whole active life Ambedkar struggled to raise the socioeco nomic status of his fellow Untouchables. After much soul searching, he chose Buddhism as the religion of his choice, not only for himself but also for his fellow Untouchables. During the ceremony on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur in which several hundred thousand Untouchables participated, Ambedkar read out a list of specific oaths they would all take. These included teetotalism, nonviolence, and the rejection of Hindu symbols and casteism (Jaffrelot 2000: 13435). Thus, once more Brah minic purity was linked to renunciation in a sectarian form. In spiteoftherejectionofHindusymbolsanddeities,Ambedkars collectiveconversiontoBuddhismconstitutesamovesimilarto that of the Satnamis and the Ramnamis. Ambedkar did not want

12 For more details on Ambedkar see the excellent monograph by ChristopheJaffrelot(2000).

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to reject Indian religious idioms completely. He is quoted as stating: Buddhism is a part and parcel of Bhartiya [i.e. Indian] culture. I have taken care that my conversion will not harm the tradition of the culture and history of this land (in Jaffrelot 2000: 137). That conversion to Buddhism gave Untouchables a strong sense of dignity is borne out by the following statement made by an Untouchable during the same mass conversion: I am not a Mahar,13 nor an Untouchable, nor even a Hindu. I have become a human being. I am now equal with highcaste Hindus. I am equal with all. I am not lowborn or inferior now (in Jaffrelot 2000: 138). It seems that collective world renuncia tion is one of the right idioms, one of the right strategies for combating the social ostracism that Untouchablesstaying withinhighcasteHindusocietyhavetosuffer. ConversiontoChristianity The last option in our scheme is conversion to nonIndian reli gions. Since it is not known if Untouchables converted en masse to Islam in the past or in recent times, there is only Christianity at which we should look more closely.14 Untouchables have converted to Christianity in significant numbers (see note one). In the late nineteenth century Christian missionaries regarded theUntouchablesasidealrecipientsoftheliberatingmessageof the Gospel. For Untouchables, conversion did not mean resort ing to some form of world renunciation; rather, it meant social and economic improvement, for the converts received educa tion and some financial assistance (Mendelsohn and Vicziany 1998: 789). Christianity brought tangible benefits that conver sion to sects like the Satnamis or Ramnamis did not bring. The flip side of Christianity was that others perceived converts as people who had abandoned their family, friends and commun ity(Bauman2008:99). There are other drawbacks as well. Various authors have observed that, since the independence of India in 1947, Un touchable converts to Christianity suffer three disadvantages.

Thisisalowcasteofgatekeepers,watchmen,messengersofdeath notices,sweepers,andremoversofcattlecarcasses,cf.Jaffrelot2000:26ff.
14 For Untouchables and the absence of conversion to Islam see MendelsohnandVicziany1998:8788.

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First, they suffer from general discrimination. Second, the In dian Government does not recognise the Dalit Christians as op pressedlowcastes,andthereforetheyarenotentitledtospecial state benefits reserved for Dalits. Third, uppercaste Christians discriminate against the Dalit Christians (Massey 1995: 8184; Shiri1997:1314;Webster1999:90). Dalit Christians face huge challenges. Mainstream Indian Christian theology often expresses itself with the help of Hindu philosophical notions. This tendencymeant to avoid alienat ing Indian Christians and Hindus from each otherignores the fact that most Indian Christians do not belong to the upper castes (Webster 1999: 6162). Thus, Christian theology in India must formulate a theology that addresses the lives and experi ences of Dalits. To develop their own version of liberation theo logy, Dalit theologians revert to Ambedkar for inspiration (Webster 1999: 6573). For Ambedkar liberation was a condi tion of liberty, justice and fraternity which has been enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution of India as a national goal (Webster 1999: 113). Dalit theology proclaims new life in Jesus and the message that God identifies with Dalits in their plight. Dalittheologymustargueforthetransformationoftheexternal circumstances of Dalit lives and must assist in the struggles for improvement together with all other oppressed groups (Web ster1999:115). Conclusion What conclusions about (Dalit) ChristianHindu relations can bedrawnfromtheforegoing?TheHinduhatredofdeviantreli gious behaviournoted at the beginning of this essaycannot be explained as a rare and unusual departure from normally tolerant Hinduism, for the violence is persistent and has a long history.NorcantheHinduhatredbeexplainedawayasaspor adic outburst of extreme Hindu chauvinism. A closer look at the targets of the violence and the reasons for it reveal the workings of Hinduism as a religious system of ordering the so cial world. The oftmentioned Hindu tolerance is a tolerance of theological doctrine and specific philosophical beliefs. No Hin du truly objects to Christianity as a doctrine of personal salva tion or a belief in the individual redemption offered by Jesus Christ. Nor do Hindus have much against the idea that Jesus is

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God. The real objection of Hindus against conversion to Chris tianity lies in the latters social impact. Untouchables who vol untarily convert to a nonIndian religion not only reject part of the national culture but also evince disregard for the sacred social order of Hinduism, disregard for the socioreligious hier archy. Private beliefs of the Untouchables do not interest Hin dus of whatever caste. Nor do they care if an individual Un touchable would be personally moved by the Christian mes sage. What is dangerous in the eyes of Hindus is the fact that collective conversion to Christianity disturbs the sacred Hindu order that relegated the Untouchables to performing unclean tasks.WhatworsensthecaseforChristianityisthefactthatitis of foreign origin (like Islam, but unlike Buddhism and the Ram nami and Satnami sects). Hinduism is not based on orthodoxy but on orthopraxis. And the latter is being fundamentally ques tioned and completely undermined by conversion to Christian ity, especially if the converts belong to the lowest of the lowest in Hindu society. It is perhaps for this very reason that resent ment against conversion to Christianitystarted just after Indi an independencehas led to special anticonversion laws in several Indian states.15 Untouchables are there to do menial dir ty jobs for extremely little or no payment. Upper castes resent disobedienceanddevianceamongtheUntouchables. For Christian Untouchables two things are of utmost im portance. From a religious point of view, it is pertinent to de velop a Dalit liberation theology further. From a social and po litical point of view, it is absolutely necessary to defend the present democratic secular Constitution of India at all costs. For it embodies the spirit of justice, liberty, equality, fraternity. Its charter of fundamental rights includes the abolishment of Un touchability, equality before the law, the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to assemble peaceably,therighttoeducationandprotectionagainstexploit

SuchlawsexistineightIndianstates,includingthestateofOrissa where the violence to which we referred at the beginning of this essay tookplace.FormoredetailsontheselawsandonthetreatmentofDalit ChristiansinIndiaingeneral,consultthewebsiteoftheAllIndiaChris tianCouncil:www.christiancouncil.in.

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ation.16 It is on the Indian Constitution, fully at work in all its might,thatthesocialliberationofUntouchablesrests. Bibliography
Bauman, Chad M. (2008). Christian Identity and Dalit Religion in Hindu India,18681947.GrandRapids:EerdmansPublishingCompany. CommunalismCombat14/127(January2008):68. Dube, Saurabh. (1998). Untouchable Pasts: Religion, Identity, and Power among a Central Indian Community, 17801950. Albany: SUNY Press. Dumont, Louis. (1980). Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Im plications. Complete Revised English Edition. Transl. Mark Sains bury, Louis Dumont, and Basia Gulati. Chicago: The University ofChicagoPress. Jaffrelot, Christophe. (2000). Dr Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analysing andFightingCaste.London:HurstandCompany. (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the1990s.NewDelhi:VikingPenguinIndia. Lamb, Ramdas. (2002). Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and UntouchableReligioninCentralIndia.Albany:SUNYPress. Macdonnell, A.A. (1917). A Vedic Reader for Students. Indian Reprint 1951.Madras:OxfordUniversityPress. Massey, James. (1995). Dalits in India: Religion as a Source of Bondage or Liberation with Special Reference to Christians. New Delhi: Mano har. Mendelsohn, Oliver, and Marika Vicziany (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress. Olivelle, Patrick. (1999). Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasishtha. Translated from the Original Sanskrit.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress. (1996). Upanishads. Translated from the Original Sanskrit. Oxford/ NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress. Pinch, William R. (2006). Warrior Ascetics and Indian Empires. Cam bridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

These rights and freedoms are embodied in the first thirtytwo articlesoftheIndianConstitution.Thetextoftheconstitutionisavailable onlineat:http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf.

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336 CROSSROADDISCOURSESBETWEENCHRISTIANITYANDCULTURE Shiri, Godwin. (1997). The Plight of Christian Dalits: A South Indian Case Study.Bangalore:AsianTradingCorporation. Webster, John C. (1999). Religion and Dalit Liberation: An Examination of Perspectives.NewDelhi:Manohar.