CHRISTIAN DALITS IN PUDUCHERRY -- With special reference to ERAIYUR P.CHARLES CHRISTOPHER RAJ M.A., M.Phil. M.I.M., M.L.I.S.C., M.C.A.,B.Ed.,P.G.D.T.A.,P.hd., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL STUDIES KASTHURBA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN VILLIANUR, PUDUCHERRY 605 110 MOBILE: 9443723327 Email Id:[email protected]Christian Dalits in India are officially non-existent because any individual cannot enjoy two status i.e. one cannot be a Christian and a Dalit at the same time. If you want to be the follower of Jesus Christ and converted to Christianity, you leave behind the Hindu caste-status and abide by the faith where everyone is equal at the sight of God. But, the caste system is so much intertwined with the Indian tradition and it is inevitable for the individual to escape from it. Then, who is a Dalit? 1 . In the biblical context this term has been used to describe people who have been reduced to nothingness or helplessness 2 . This term was first used by the Marathi reformer Jyotirao Phule to describe the Outcastes and Untouchables as the oppressed and the broken victims of caste-ridden society 3 . The term Dalit is a past participle of the Sanskrit root dal implying to crack, split, and open etc. Dalna means tearing or causing 1
Transcript
1. CHRISTIAN DALITS IN PUDUCHERRY -- With special reference to
ERAIYUR P.CHARLES CHRISTOPHER RAJ M.A., M.Phil. M.I.M., M.L.I.S.C.,
M.C.A.,B.Ed.,P.G.D.T.A.,P.hd., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL STUDIES KASTHURBA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
VILLIANUR, PUDUCHERRY 605 110 MOBILE: 9443723327 Email
Id:[email protected] Christian Dalits in India are officially
non-existent because any individual cannot enjoy two status i.e.
one cannot be a Christian and a Dalit at the same time. If you want
to be the follower of Jesus Christ and converted to Christianity,
you leave behind the Hindu caste-status and abide by the faith
where everyone is equal at the sight of God. But, the caste system
is so much intertwined with the Indian tradition and it is
inevitable for the individual to escape from it. Then, who is a
Dalit?1 . In the biblical context this term has been used to
describe people who have been reduced to nothingness or
helplessness2 . This term was first used by the Marathi reformer
Jyotirao Phule to describe the Outcastes and Untouchables as the
oppressed and the broken victims of caste-ridden society3 . The
term Dalit is a past participle of the Sanskrit root dal implying
to crack, split, and open etc. Dalna means tearing or causing to
burst and Dalit as a corollary means split, broken, destroyed,
scattered torn etc. The noun dala, besides meaning the splitting,
has also the positive connotation of something unfolding itself
(dala-komala- a lotus, dala-kosala a jasmine). Two inter-related
processes can be identified with regard to the evolution of the
term. The term has gained a new connotation with a positive
meaning. It must be remembered that Dalit does not mean Caste or
low-Caste or poor; it refers to the deplorable state or condition
to which a large group of people have been reduced by social
convention and in which they are now living4 . The conversion of
some Dalits to Christianity brought out a new term called Christian
Dalits. 1
2. Christian Dalits and their inception in Puducherry French
India also did never escape from what the rest of caste India
suffered. Casteism dominated the social hierarchy of French
Settlements. For many years, French scholars of India have paid as
little attention to the Indian Untouchables as their foreign
colleagues, or, for that matter, many Indian sociologists. The
development of a European learned tradition of textual studies,
from the end of the 18th century, gave birth to classical Indianism
as a branch of Orientalism, and privileged for more than 150 years
the extremely vast realm of religious texts and treaties, mostly
governed by Brahminical paradigms. A different legacy of the 17th
and 18th centuries was henceforth forgotten, or pushed to the
sidelines. For some of the first observers of India, such as Abb
Dubois5 and his rarely acknowledged predecessor, Father Coeurdoux6
, to whom he owed much, wrote on Untouchables, as they were eager
to understand Indian society in its entirety. At that time,
Christian missionaries, eager to convert the gentiles, had to
decide if they would focus their attention on the upper castes, as
Roberto de Nobili decided to do, or on the masses as most of
missionaries did later on. As far as Pondicherry is concerned, the
Brahmins were not the perpetrators of caste discriminations and
atrocities against the outcastes. The non-brahman caste or the
Sudra castes were more rigid in imbibing, imitating and following
the dogmas of Hindu dharma, which was nothing, but caste dharma.
The vital impact of colonial rule in Pondicherry was that a number
of sudras, so called pillai, mudali besides the traditional chetti
and komuttichetty gained opportunities to be employed as
interpreters, accountants and ambassadors of the French East India
Company and engaged themselves in the trading ventures. This is
also the fact that these Sudra castes played a predominant role in
the economic life throughout the eastern coast of India. French and
Tamil records referred to the so-called caste-Hindus as Thamizhar
in Pondicherry. Anandarangapillai, the intermediary, the dubashi of
French company, in his diaries has referred to Tamil people. Tamils
identified as caste Hindus or caste Christians, named their street
after their caste names; still, the stigma of casteism is sticking
at the cerebrum of these caste people in keeping the street names
as vellala street, mudaliyar street, komutti street, kuyavar
street, idayar street, chetty street and so 2
3. on. Many are also conscious but not guilty of calling their
villages and towns in the name of castes, such as mudaliyar
palayam, kosa palayam, kanakachetty kulam7 , etc. One of the vital
attributes of social hierarchy in French India was the caste
conflict between the valangais and idangais, the caste-cultural
legacy of the great Cholas, continued to be a socio-political
concern of the conflicting non-brahman middle caste groups for what
they called the caste ego. Both valangais and idangais were of
sudraic cluster but they objected each other using each other
insignia. Particularly, the usage of white insignia was opposed by
valangais. For instance, it turned out to be a caste conflict,
resulting in bloodshed, when idangais used a white horse for a
wedding gathering in 1848. This was also refuted and suppressed by
Dumas, the Governor of Pondicherry and he also objected to such
privileges of using a white insignia by the idangais. It is also
significant to know that it was Dumas who opened the public way to
idangais who were previously prohibited by valangais. Tamil caste
Hindus who engaged in agrarian employment as dominant castes, were
called valangais and the non- agricultural castes were identified
as idangais. As the position of valangais was little higher than
that of the idangais due to the formers dominance in numbers and in
wealth, some of the secular groups like porkollars, chettiyars and
other artisan communities joined valangais line and also called
themselves chandrakulam or suryakulam8 . Dupleix supported
conversion and missionary activities in French India. In the
beginning, the Dalits and the fishermen communities were attracted
towards converting to Christianity and Vanyas later took to
conversion. The caste Hindus like muddaliyars, and chettis wanted
to get into Christian faith for the kind of socio-economic and
political benefits they aspired from the French rules.
Subsequently, the caste design of valangais and idangais was also
extended to Christians and thus they became caste Christians,
rigidly resisted the Dalits from approaching closely to them during
the prayer and ceremonial gatherings; and there was no matrimonial
affairs between Dalits and caste Christians recorded during this
period publicly. The Church authorities also accepted closed
endogamy and it enhanced the caste identity among the Christians.
There was a tradition that the Sacred Heart Church in Puducherry,
belonged to the Dalits and so was looked down upon by the caste
Christians as the church belonged to the Dalits, as these people
were sometimes called as valangai people in the church
surroundings. It is really 3
4. prickling to a true believer of the Christ if he / she comes
across the reality in a church where caste Hindu converts were
admitted with their caste-culture status quo. The caste Christians
in most of the churches of Puducheri congregation came to the
prayer hall with costly saris and jewelleries adorning all the
parts of their body with prejudice that the outcastes /
untouchables should not be identified equally with the caste
Christians. In the beginning, the Parish priests objected to such
identity which Christ had strongly opposed, but later, on account
of the need to increase the converts, the priests compromised with
the entry of caste dharma into the hall of Christ. As a result, the
erection of wall was allowed between the Christian Dalits and caste
Christians; the priest being persuaded by the caste Christians,
offered the sacred communion appam which is considered to be the
Christs flesh, not by his hands but by handling appam tightly
crushed with a metal instrument like kidukki and offered to the
untouchables with a separate spoons. They used to offer them sacred
grape juice, which is the Christs blood9 . At the Synod of
Pondicherry in 1844, the seating arrangement in church for
different castes, inequality and injustice to Dalits were discussed
and the Synod also issued a statement. But the caste Christians
accused the missionaries that they were trying to abolish the caste
system. Church attendance was boycotted till the old order was
restored. The real protest against all caste discriminations in
French India began only after January 16, 1873, when a young
Advocate called Ponnuthambipillai who was called La porte (which
means the door), was not allowed by the French magistrate, who was
persuaded by the caste Hindu advocates, and denied entry to the
court, for Ponnuthambi wore the socks and shoes which were the
dress code of the French advocates. In reality the caste Hindus
opposed Ponnuthambi as he was the head of the Christian Dalits. The
magistrate asked Ponnuthambi to remove the shoes out of the court
hall. Ponnuthambi refused the order of the magistrate and was
punished. Ponnuthambi was not allowed to process his cases. He went
to appeal in the Court de Cassation in Paris. Jules Godin took his
case and he got justice. Godin and Ponnuthambi became friends and
it resulted in making Godin as the Representative of French Indians
to the Assemblee Nationale in 1876 and this enabled some of the
inhabitants to secure a new name renoncants10 . Some of the
missionaries of Pondicherry have mentioned that in some Parishes
they came across kalagam (revolts) and a special mention in 1909 by
Fr.Leroy who faced a trouble due to a religious 4
5. procession but the priests have dedicated themselves to
remove away the caste based discrimination but in vain11 .
Therefore the very emancipatory idea that the caste
discriminations, untouchability and gender oppression could be
eliminated from caste ridden society dates back to 19th century.
Christians in Puducherry Eraiyur Parish Eraiyur, is situated on the
west of Ulundurpet in State highway between Tirukovilur -
Elavasanurkottai of 200 kilometers south of Chennai. It has a
population of nearly 15000 of which Catholics are 14,500 and the
rest belong to other religions. In the Archdiocese of Pondicherry
Cuddalore, Eraiyur is the largest parish and 115 years old. Many
missionaries made their way to this place for evangelization. More
than 30 priests and 55 sisters hail from this parish working in the
archdiocese and elsewhere12 . Evolution of Eraiyur Parish The first
Catholic community was established in the 17th century, more
precisely around 1660 when Christianity began to spread in the
Madura Mission in the south up to Vettavalam in the north. Only a
few families of Eraiyur are originally from here while others have
settled here from other villages. Eraiyur began to grow in Catholic
faith. The building up of the first Catholic community was the hard
work of Rev. Fr. Freyre, a French Jesuit priest.. At that time a
small house was used as the place of worship. During the rule of
Marathas, these people were tortured and also due to a great famine
they began to move away from Eraiyur and settled near Salem. Second
Catholic community in Eraiyur started, where Fr. Beschi, popularly
known as Veeramamunivar, based at Konankuppam / Arianur (some 25
kms south of Eraiyur) came here and worked with these people. Many
of the Catholics living at Eraiyur were converted by him. Elders
were familiar with Veeramamunivars great literary works in Tamil
like Thembavani, Marugerathammal Ammanai and Thirukavalur
Kalambagam. This witnesses to the spiritual encounter that the
people of Eraiyur had with Fr. Beschi / Veeramamunivar. In the year
1740 under the Pontificate of Pope Leo XVI, Eraiyur was separated
from the Madura mission and joined to the Pondicherry mission under
the MEP (Paris Foreign Mission society). But, the Padroada priests
based at Konankuppam under the direct rule of the Portugese did not
want to give up this place. This caused confusion among the 5
6. Christians who did not know whom to follow. The priests
belonging to the Pondicherry mission (called the new church) chose
Kovilanur as their centre to which Eraiyur was attached. This went
on till 1887. The first parish priest of this new parish was Rev.
Fr. Badouil who worked at Kovilanur from 1843 to 1865. He travelled
a lot and asked the people to come under the rule of the Pope. In
the year 1870 with the blessing of Archbishop Laouenon, Eraiyur was
separated from Kovilanur and was raised as a separate parish. Fr.
Bothero was appointed as the first parish priest. The present
gigantic Church building, a monument of the faith and hard work of
Eraiyur people was started by Rev. Fr. Marylop in the year 1874.
The work was continued by Fr. Niel and Fr. Feron and it came to
completion in the year 1894 when Fr. Felix Dupas was the parish
priest13 . Eraiyur Disputes The hamlet which was so happy and
enjoying the tranquillity of the new religious ideas faced its
difficulties through land, for agriculture is the main occupation.
Many had land of their own and cultivated their wanted crops, but
those possessing the land belonged to a different caste called
Vanniar. The sense of caste discrimination takes the role from here
and those who dont possess land were low caste people who took the
term themselves as dalits and converts called themselves as
Christian Dalits. Down the decades, discriminations on the basis of
caste like separate feasts, separate Thumba, separate cemeteries,
and separate places in the church - have been in practice. The
Church that should have been the first to break this kind of
discriminations but could not do so. Even in the rectory the Dalits
have to stand and talk (or they have to sit apart) while the others
could sit and talk to the priest. The Christian Dalits have to
meekly yield to such discriminations because they are numerically
few, economically poor and politically powerless. There were
occasional skirmishes between the Dalits and Vanniars, like the
brawl after drinking which led up to the registration of cases
under the Untouchability Prevention Act and so on14 . It was so
when the usual tradition was not followed when the mother of a
local Dalit priest passed away on February 15th , 1999 and a few
days prior to the death of his mother the priest has allegedly
expressed his intention to take the body to the church through the
Main Street. When, such an attempt was made on 16th February 1999,
the caste groups sat on the main street and blocked the funeral
procession, abused the Archbishop Mgr. Michael Augustine using
filthy language and 6
7. pelted stones on the procession. Expressing its inability to
control the crowd that was getting wilder, the police requested the
Archbishop to persuade the Dalits to take the customary route. It
was fortunate that the Archbishop did not stick to his stand.
Otherwise, it would have caused worse law and order crisis. The
body was taken straight to the Dalit cemetery where the Archbishop
celebrated the mass and buried the body. Then, Fr. R. Ratchagar,
the then Principal of St. Joseph's Hr. Sec. School, Cuddalore took
responsibility for a peace meeting on 20th February which actually
took place on 23rd February. The caste people seemed to have said
that they would ask pardon for what had happened on 16th February
but they were not ready to allow the Dalit funeral procession
through the Main Street. Meanwhile as a fall out of the incident at
Eraiyur, the Assistant Parish Priest of Mugaiyur (who belongs to
Vanniar community) was asked by the people of Mugaiyur to leave the
parish. Two other teachers in the school also were asked to leave.
Adding fuel to the fire, on 25th February, DCLM (Dalit Christian
Liberation Movement) organized a public meeting and condemned the
Eraiyur incident. Notices condemning the incident started coming
from various Dalit movements and support groups. On 15th March,
nine Dalit priests staged a dharna before the Archbishop's house at
Pondicherry. The Archbishop promised some definite decision on this
issue before 26th March. There were also peace meetings at
Ulundurpet and the Archbishop himself attended the third meeting
held on 22nd March. But then, these meetings made no headway. The
consequences are to be reaped by the future generation15 . Steps
taken by the Archdiocese to solve the problems The title suggests
as though Eraiyur alone still continues to reel around the caste
shadow. The evil of this caste system is not a problem of Eraiyur
alone. It is a wide- spread evil in India. As soon as the event
took place, the Archbishop constituted a team of priests to go into
this matter. Fr. Pon Antonysamy, Vicar General of the Archdiocese,
Fr. S. Kulandaisamy, the Procurator and Fr. R.S. Arokiaraj,
Secretary of the Archdiocesan Senate of Priests, made an immediate
visit to the village to study the 7
8. situation. The last two mentioned priests had earlier served
in Eraiyur parish. Their stay and ministry in this parish adds
authenticity to the report that follows. Eraiyur had been a large
parish where the Fathers of the French Foreign Mission and the
indigenous clergy had worked for the past 125 years. It was divided
into three parishes and in the near future the existing parish of
Eraiyur will be further bifurcated. The population of this parish
consists of the Vanniars and the Adi Dravidars. Having realized
that only education and religion could be the effective means of
bringing together the caste-ridden communities into one, the
Bishops of the Foreign Mission Society founded schools and
churches, where people could be brought together. In this
connection, it is worth stressing the point that the present Mgr.
Dr. Anandarayar, has personally raised funds for the education of
children, with special emphasis on the education of Dalit children.
Many school buildings were put up in these parishes, where the
Dalits were living in large numbers. This is a clear, tangible
proof of the concern of the Archdiocese and the Archbishop for the
welfare and empowerment of the Dalits. He had disbursed a sum of
Rs. 6,56,000/- for the affected Dalit children of Eraiyur alone by
way of tuition fees, uniform and stationery. The people were given
cooking utensils, rice and provisions for their immediate relief.
The first indigenous Archbishop and all the successors, including
the present Archbishop, have faithfully followed the footsteps of
the Foreign Archbishops in uplifting and empowering the Dalits, the
economically poor and the downtrodden. The people of Eraiyur,
consisting of both the Vanniar community and the Adi Dravidar
community, have always been living in perfect unity and peace, even
up to the time of this unhappy event. There had been marriage
arrangements, sharing of meals and get together between these two
communities without any inhibition. On 10th March, the three
priests mentioned earlier, visited the spot. They spent the whole
forenoon session visiting and interacting. The priests went from
house to house of all the people in the part of the village where
the Adi Dravidars were 8
9. living. Not a single house was seen to be put on fire. The
report that hundreds of houses of Dalits were set on fire, and that
their properties were looted, is totally false and baseless. The
roof tiles of a few houses were found broken. There was no major
damage to the properties. In some of the houses, electric bulbs,
pots and cooking vessels kept on verandahs were found broken or
damaged. Nobody justifies this act, and in fact we do condemn it.
These are the stark realities witnessed by the priests. The whole
incident has been blown out of proportion by the vested interests
of certain unwanted forces or groups including political forces.
The real shame of the incident lies not in the incident but in the
unnecessary provocation caused by these forces. The celebration of
the annual Church Feast is an occasion to exhibit the solidarity
and oneness of the Christian Community. This has been insisted upon
and efficiently put into practice by every parish priest of this
village up to the present time. The erection of a separate parish
for the Dalits is not only not feasible but also not advisable.
This will only further stigmatize these people. Unity in diversity
is the characteristic of our country, and the quintessence of
Christian faith. The fight for human rights, equality of all
people, gender indiscrimination, empowerment of the poor and the
marginalized is a universal phenomenon and the Church of the
Archdiocese of Pondicherry & Cuddalore is no exception. The
Archbishops, the clergy and all well-minded Christians have been
assiduously working for the upliftment of all, with a special
concern for the Dalits. The congregations of the religious Priests,
Brothers and Sisters have spread out their service to all these
people by opening hospitals, educational institutions and service
centers. These are living testimonies to the concern for the poor16
. It seems to imply that certain forces are seriously working to
further vitiate the situation instead of working for peace and
solidarity. The concern of these people seems to be the benefit of
their own selfish and vested interests and not the well being of
the people. 9
10. Accordingly Eraiyur a peace abode and primitive parish
among the Archdiocese started to face various problems and took the
attention of the media, which in their own style highlighted it to
the outside world. In the following years people of Christian faith
are facing many problems as if Jesus Christ, once again gets
crucified in the cross of caste, he got resurrected on the third
day when the Romans nailed him to wooden cross but by the cross of
caste will he be resurrected? A big question rises in each human
being hearts. It is high time that Christians sit together in the
name of Lord Jesus and build up a Church that live together, pray
together and work together. Conclusion Every religion teaches,
Love, Equality, Fraternity and Respect to the Fellow human beings.
Religious principle does not have discrimination. It is man who
discriminates for his own benefits. Enactment of laws and
Reservation will add more flavours and never end up the caste
crisis. Total eradication alone can bring oneness and each one must
think the other as himself. Will Jesus who identified himself with
the Dalits of his day (the Samaritans, Publicans, tax-collectors,
sinners etc.,) and assured them places of honour in the kingdom has
the heart to tell the Dalits of today that they will always remain
low-people, despised and derided by one and all17 ? Jesus Christ
insists upon us through his command, Love your neighbor as you love
yourself18 . Worldly life is only short lived. Have faith in your
religion but show respect to other religion. Notes and References
10
11. 1. John C.B. Webster, The Dalit Christians: A History, New
Delhi,1992,p.iii. 2. M.E. Prabhakar, Mission and the Dalit issue,
New Delhi,1988,p.83. 3. Prakash Louis, Caste based Discrimination
Atrocities on Dalit Christians and the Need for Reservation, New
Delhi,2007,vol-2,p.3. 4. Prakash Louis,The Political sociology of
Dalit Assertion, New Delhi,2003,p.26. 5. Abb Dubois, Moeurs,
institutions et crmonies des peuples de lInde. Paris, 1825. Dubois
was a missionary from the French Missions Etrangres, and arrived in
Pondicherry in 1792. The English translation of his work, Hindu
Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, remains on the catalogue Oxford
University Press, New Delhi, after innumerable editions. 6. Fr.
Coeurdoux, a missionary serving at Pondicherry was offended by the
caste barrier in 1745 & see Anandarangapillai, The Diary of
Anandarangapillai,vol-I,p.284. 7.
Anandarangapillai,op.cit.,vol-I,pp177-178. 8. Article published by
J. Mohan, Dalit Movements In French Iindia- Some Historical
Perspectives Of Caste Questions In Puducheri (AD 1873
2005,Chennai,2005. 9. Stanislaus, L., The Liberative Mission of the
Church among Dalit Christians, New Delhi, 1999, pp. 109-111. 10.
Evariste Dessame : Tribulations de lInde Francaise,1950,p.18. 11.
P.A.Sampathkumar & Andre Carof, History of Pondicherry Mission:
An Outline, Chennai,1999,p.240. 12. Amalorpavadoss, D. S., ed. The
Indian Church in the Struggle for a New Society. Bangalore,
198,pp.18-27. 13.
http:www.pondicherryarchdiocese.org/special-issues.php 14.
http:www.dalitchristians.com/html/TNBCSCST.html 14. ibid., 15.
http:www.pondicherryarchdiocese.org 16. Hedlund, Roger E. Caste and
the Bible, Evangelization and Church Growth, Malayasia,1992:p.137.
17. Ayrookuzhiel, A. M. Abraham, Dalit Challenge to Religious
System A People Ignored by Church History." Religion and Society,
36:4. 18. Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible,. Gospel of
St.Matthew,Chapter22, Versus 36-40. 11