Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Christianity changing lives of India’s ‘untouchables’

Christianity changing lives of India’s ‘untouchables’

Last updated on: July 12, 2012 at 10:07 am by CNA Daily News

Christianity changing lives of India’s ‘untouchables’ 2012-07-12T10:07:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bangalore, India, Jul 12, 2012 / 04:07 am (CNA).- A human rights group in India says Christianity has brought slow but lasting change to the country's Dalits or “untouchables,” especially for the community's women who are often victims of prostitution and human trafficking.

“The Dalits are told that they are less than animals and we tell them they are not,” non-profit director Jeevaline Kumar told CNA, “because they are made in the likeness of God.”

Kumar – who heads up Operation Mobilisation's Anti-Human Trafficking Project in Bangalore, Karnataka – explained that the simple message that every person created in God's image has transformed the lives of India's Dalits.

“They are crying out for a change now that they know they can live differently,” she said.

At roughly 250 million people, Dalits make up close to one quarter of the country's 1.2 billion member population but, according to the caste system, are seen as inherently impure and worthless.

“It is not normal in our world for how these people are treated,” Kumar said.

Although caste discrimination, not the caste system itself, was technically outlawed in 1950 after India won its independence from Great Britain, law enforcement is still lacking.

Dalit women bear the brunt of caste discrimination, Kumar added, since women are looked upon even more unfavorably in Indian culture as they will need to be married off at the expense of their parents.

“The women are the Dalits of the Dalits,” Kumar said, explaining that many of them are forced into lives of prostitution, cleaning human waste or being aborted as soon as their gender is learned.

Prostitution, either in a brothel or as a temple “devadasi,” is among one of the greatest risks that threaten Dalit girls and women.

Even though the caste system teaches that they are impure, Kumar said that “when it comes to sex, no one thinks of them as untouchable.”

Three million people in India are forced into lives of sex-trafficking, 1.2 million of whom are children and 250,000 of whom are enslaved for “ritualized temple prostitution,”According to the Dalit Freedom Network.

“A little help can change the lives of these girls,” she said.

Her organization, which is just “one of many that works towards the same goal,” is striving to promote the message that “there is value in every human being” by responding to “Jesus' mandate” to “love thy neighbor.”

Her work with the Tarika Institute, a school that trains women who have rescued from prostitution in tailoring, spoken English and computer skills, has been especially inspiring, she said.

“I have known God like never before after I got involved in acts of justice,” she said. “It really brings meaning and fulfillment in anyone's life.”

Recently, Kumar helped organize a graduation ceremony for 106 women who completed courses with the Tarika Institute.

“Many of them have come and tell me, 'We have never been treated like this, we were treated like rubbish before and you honored us on stage,'” she said.

Most of the women Kumar has worked with never had a “proper childhood” due to caste discrimination, but the message of the Gospel “gives them so much dignity and worth,” she said, “they just feel they are regaining their childhood.”

Asia - Pacific

Previous Post

July 12, 2012

Orchestra performance inspires Pope's message on peace

Next Post

July 12, 2012 Family planning summit neglects women's real needs

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I was summoned from Lo Debar and ate at the king's table despite my disability. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Amnon Mephibosheth Jonathan Absalom