Dalit Christian
[1][2][3][4][5][6] Despite their conversion to Christianity, this group often continues to face societal discrimination both within and outside their religious community due to the pervasive influence of the caste system.
[7] However, some people within the different branches of Christianity in South Asia still engage in societal practices with regard to the caste system, along with all its customs and norms, to varying degrees depending on their background.
[8] Asif Aqeel and Sama Faruqi documented in Herald Magazine:[8] In 1947, there were two types of Christians in what was then known as West Pakistan: landless, unskilled, poor labourers and peasants living in villages across central Punjab, and educated Christian professionals, mostly Anglo-Indians and Goans, who lived in big cities such as Karachi and Lahore.
Their rather privileged social status under the Raj – that prized their English language skills and British cultural mannerisms – started waning.
Dalit Christians in colonial Kerala faced severe discrimination despite their conversion, remaining at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
[12] However, these churches, often made of sticks, mud, and straw, were frequently attacked and burned down by upper-caste Hindus and prominent Muslim groups.
[12] Despite this opposition, conversion to Christianity became a mass movement among the Dalits, who found strength in composing and singing songs that broke the restrictions of upper-caste language.
[13] Within churches, Dalit Christians experienced continued discrimination, such as being forced to sit at the back during services or being relegated to separate areas in cemeteries.
[21] Leonard Fernando, G. Gispert-Sauch writes that: "Today, no Indian Christian think would approve or speak of tolerating the caste reality.
[26] Dalit Christian songs emerged as a significant medium for the expression of social change and emancipation in 19th century Kerala.
Syrian Christians, a significant part of Kerala society, were major slaveholders and played a crucial role in the sale of slaves.
[27] In the 19th century, Christian missionaries and native preachers composed and performed songs that carried anti-slavery and anti-caste messages.
Hear our heartbreaking cries Cleared forest and made it into land We made our small huts as home These people are thrown into the wilderness Half dead and half alive (Oh God) Made to plough fields yoked with bull and oxen When they become frail Beaten to death and buried (2) Lord of creation heard our cries on the cross Showed us the path of mercy (Oh God) And we remember the color of his mercy Fell down fatigued with the heavy load Fell down exhausted Found too frail and beaten up mercilessly Bundled together and thrown into the wild Half alive and half dead (Oh God) Six days after delivery Mother went out for work Left the sleeping baby under the shade of a tree Returned to find ant-eaten remains Lord of creation heard our cries on the cross Showed us the path of mercy And we remember the color of his mercy (Oh God) Europeans came among us Slaves were freed with gospels (2) LMS missionary Samuel Mateer and native missionary Mosavalsala Sastrikal composed songs that were sung with fervor in Dalit congregations.
Dogs might enter streets, markets, courts, and lands; (but) if we went near, they beat and chased us to a distance These songs, which were performed in traditional Carnatic music style, were in stark contrast to the religious practices of the Syrian Christians and the caste-marked language used by Dalits in earlier generations.
[28] Through the use of modern Malayalam language, Dalits learned new vocabulary, biblical concepts, and even Sanskrit words, thus constructing a new linguistic culture among them.
