Jesus and Dalits- The struggle between dual identities.

I am venturing into murky ground here. There are people who have laid down lives for their worldviews and it is difficult to pull it off without causing offence. Let me confess that I am a struggling Christian and a Dalit trying to make sense of my identity in the Indian society of 2015. This prose is a natural consequence of that struggle and it is, I believe, the state of affairs of lakhs in our country. I have long tried to evade this topic, but I now think that I have to get into deeper waters to arrive at a semblance of truth, which according to the Good Teacher would set me free. I also admit that my opinion may not be complete or circumspect. After all my views are the product of my life and the realities it has presented so far- incomplete and at some instances wet behind the ears.

I am a member of a fusion family. My father is an atheist and a Dalit. My mother is a Christian and a Dalit. Being their child I had the unpleasant experiences of being bombarded by the philosophies of my parents, who would end the episode in a tone of vehemence and personal insults. Needless to say, that those childhood indoctrination sessions, had no effect on me. Some may wonder, what is the tension between being a Dalit and a Christian! After all one is the community you belong to and the other is a religion to which you owe your allegiance. But in some states of the country (which includes mine), a Dalit cannot practice any religion he wants but can subscribe to only few paths laid down in the constitution. If you want to practise any other religion, you’ll have to forgo the benefits as a member of Scheduled caste or tribes. That nuance in the law opened a Pandora’s Box for me.

When I gave my pre-medical entrance, I was a Dalit compatible with the larger culture the members of the community must follow. Attending church on Sunday, buying new clothes for Christmas and distributing cakes on New Year’s Eve was a by-product of my maternal Christian influence. In college, I continued to occasionally drop in to Church services until the most improbable thing happened to me. I HAD A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS. When I say that I don’t mean that a surreal figure in white with flowing hair and baritone voice knocked at my hostel door and said- ‘Behold I am the Lord’. But there was a peace and joy that shrouded my heart that moment. I could make sense of the good news that Jesus died for the sins of the world and He being the only son of God rose again on the third day. Jesus, the only Holy man (and God) without any sin to have walked on this planet, bore the punishment I had to receive and died in my place. Now I can be with Him in eternity. Now I have to live for Him in this world sharing His love and comfort to the suffering millions. In short I became a Christian. I wanted to study those Scriptures with renewed vigour and what Christ said and did personally, to prevent any hearsay guide my infant faith.

It was then that my struggle started. My friends were still Dalits and my radical change in affiliation worried them. I began to distance myself from them and developed a holier-than thou attitude losing a lot of friends. Once a year, we had a get-together when we could meet both seniors and juniors from our community. I felt that as a Christian, I had nothing to do with people who did not know the truth. Dining with them, I thought, was fraught with spiritual detriment. I did not want to garland Dr.B.R. Ambedkar, the champion for Dalit causes, fearful that the Deity of Christ was at risk, with a bunch of flowers. Naturally I, with my Christian friends almost severed bonds with the members of our community. We cajoled ourselves that adhering to the truth was costly and these relationships were the sacrifices we had to make.

But as I read the Bible and observed the personality of Jesus from close quarters, I soon realised that I was utterly UNCHRISTIAN in my approach to my former friends. Jesus who lived thirty three and a half years in rural Palestine 2000 years ago was a Jew. The societal sanctions during Jesus’ time were much fiercer than today. Being a Jew then could be equated to a forward caste of today. But His association with the forward caste ended there. Most of His public life was with ordinary, poor, lower caste folk. Fishermen, tax collectors- notorious for their embezzlement of public funds, prostitutes, sick, lepers-the untouchables of that society, Samaritans- THE DALITS OF PALESTINE, were his friends. Though He was a Jew, his followers were not Jews. He dined with sinners and made weak His disciples. He revealed His glory, first to Samaritan woman, the lowest in the echelons of that society and He made the good character of His parable, again a Samaritan. He abhorred the self-righteous people. He blessed the humble hearted. In short, He lived His life with the members of weaker sections. He did not just leave it there, but He commissioned His disciples to go and do the same.

( The hero of the good Samaritan fable was a Dalit of those days. )

I misread the heart of God.  No person on this planet deserves God’s mercy. It is only by sheer grace, a free gift from God that he/she receives salvation from God. So, any Christian, whatever may be His denomination and age, cannot boast of His works earning him the righteousness before God. ‘Holier-than-thou’ attitude does not make sense, since I came to Christ realising my unworthiness. Calling others sinful does not make sense, because I was a sinner in the first place. Unfortunately that is the attitude of most of the believers in Jesus as they start to follow Him. Christian witness- speaking about Jesus to others starts from our family, then our community and then to the larger realms. Being a Dalit, my first friends and focus must be members of my community than others.

 Not that Christianity promotes divisions and castes in society, but these are worldly realities we have to take to account. In fact in the hierarchical society of those times, Christianity presented a new social structure with no hierarchy based on race and caste. Paul, one of the Apostles wrote clearly to one of the early churches that ‘No Jew, no Greek, no man, no woman, no rich no poor- Christ has died for everyone’, introducing the equality of all spiritually. Women who were considered second grade humans took active part in ministry of the church. Having spread from 1^st century Palestine, Christianity had to face the rigid caste system in our nation. Though introduced as a religion that does not tolerate grading people by the virtue of birth, even the most devout Christians often ask for  same caste people for marriage. Off late there have been few churches exclusive for certain castes bringing the Christian faith ignominy. One has to confess that caste is a stronghold that Christianity has not yet broken. And people like me struggle with the conflicting identities.

(Samaritan Woman was the last social class of that day)

Now I am committed to Christ. But I am still a Dalit. I am an Aadi Andhra Mala, to be exact. God made me to be born in this family.  This may change equations according to the law. I may have to give up reservations for further education. And I gladly did give them up. Now I give all exams in open category as a witness to the Greater Affiliation. I will still be a Dalit in a society, and the first person to whom I will offer service, help, counsel and aid would be a Dalit. Not that I will abandon other communities. My best friends, my mentors, my teachers, my inspirations- are all members of other castes. I’ll have to start like this at first but I must work for the ideal where castes will be blurred to insignificance. The reason why I have to serve Dalits is not because I belong to that community, but because they are the most backward people in the society. I can testify to that fact because I worked in tribal Orissa for two years where Dalits comprise 95% of population. Poverty, ignorance, illiteracy are at their heights. Jesus said, “When you do good things to the least of your brethren, you have done it to Me!”. We do not have to think long to know who the least of the brethren are!