Consequences of becoming Christian
Of India’s 29 million Christians, around 60 to 70% are Dalits. For the Dalits, who are branded as outcastes, who have endured discrimination and humiliation in daily life for centuries, the message of Christianity brings salvation. It is an almost incredible relief for them to learn that there is a God who suffered – as they do – and who invites especially the poorest to his community as brothers and sisters in Christ. This faith leads to a transformation. The Dalits feel stronger when they become part of a community. However, when Dalits choose to become Christians they are subjected to yet more suffering in their already difficult lives, because as Christians they face further exclusion and harassment.
Most Catholics in the North and in parts of the East of India – the majority of whom are Dalits – live in pitiful conditions. As landless bonded labourers, they earn barely enough to survive. Once they fall into debt with their landlords and employers, they are reduced to little more than outright slavery. Official efforts by the Indian state to promote small businesses, introduce widows’ pensions and similar benefits are entirely inadequate and frequently redirected into channels of corruption. They live far below the poverty line, confined to the edge of the villages in mud or straw huts, sharply segregated from the homes of the higher castes. In some parts, they are banned from entering any temple, from drinking from the public wells and even from attending school, for the caste system is still very deeply entrenched in this region. And in professing their Christian faith, the Dalits lose all official entitlement to state social benefits. Women are even further discriminated against, having absolutely no voice in any decisions that affect them personally. Instead, they are utterly at the mercy of their fathers, husbands and sons.