Amazing Day

Well, yesterday was one of the coolest days... like ever. Here's why:

As I wrote in my blog, I had contacted Dalit Freedom Network, an NGO that works on Dalit Issues. If you are familiar with Caedmon's Call's CD "Share the Well", they worked with this group when in India. For those of you who don't know who the Dalits are and some of the issues that face them, here is a quick breakdown of what I know (although after these next 4 months, I am sure that I will learn a lot more). Dalits, formerly known as the Untouchables for reasons I will explain in a second, are the casteless society within India. In caste, there are four defined groups: Brahmans (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and rulers), Vaisya (traders and merchants), and Sudra (manual workers) . Each one of these groups has sub groups which is largely defined by occupation. It has become much more defined and rigid over the last 200 years because the British used it to classify people. They used the Brahmins almost exclusively in positions of administration and power. After the British left, the Brahmin's, unsurprisingly, held onto this power. While there have been many Dalit political movements and rights for them in the constitution, they are largely unenforced because those in power are not Dalits. To explain a little about the Dalits, they do not fall into one of the four positions in caste. Traditionally, they did jobs that 'polluted' them and their bodies (such as handle dead bodies, clean sewers, etc.), and hence, according to Hindu ideas of cleanliness of the body and how that effects the soul, they were polluted and 'untouchable.' They have been oppressed in this way for over 3,000 years since the Caste system was implemented with the Rig Vedas. Unfortunately, caste and Hinduism go hand in hand. There are about 160 million Dlaits in India, 16% of the population, although this term is skewed because report on this group is notoriously hard. They often live in the worst conditions of a village, town, or city whether it be a segregated community or a slum. over 40 million of the Dalits are bonded-workers (like indentured servants) and there are the community as a whole experiences violence, segregation, rape, and murder by other caste members. Some examples: two days ago, a Dalit was chained to the back of police motorcycle and dragged across town for 4 km until the chain broke. Several years ago, 50 houses were burned with Dalits in them because one Brahmin was killed by a Dalit. Most crimes go unreported and the few that do get reported rarely get a trail.

Yesterday, I met with a man who works for OM, Oppression Mission, as well as being a pastor at a church in Delhi. He works with Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) and I was referred to him for volunteer opportunities. We talked about ourselves and a possible role I could play with DFN, OM, and DFN's affiliate All Indian Christian Council (AICC). He told me many for the stories he had heard (or witnessed) and the atrocities of oppression toward the Dalits. He was actually going to a place where the Dlaits were rising up and protesting after a Brahmin killed a Dalit in a town. He said he would bring me but he didn't want a white presence to disrupt the protests (as undoubtedly a white person in a rural village would do that). Regarding what i would be doing, i think I will be working in a slum community teaching English. As I am here in India, I am realizing just how important English is! It is becoming the national language of India and definitely the franca lingua of the country. It is the language of the educated and the language in which almost all politics are done in. Furthermore, most good jobs require that you speak English. In 25 -50 years, India will have the largest English speaking language! We also talked about the organization and how they see themselves as a Christian organization. He said that they are not evangelists, there are other Indian Christians who are better at that. Rather, he says that as Christians, he feels called to be working for 1) Christians (who are also oppressed and I will write more about that later) and 2) others who are marginalized and oppressed such as the Dalits. We do this because Jesus calls us to serve. We should witness in these communities. We should not be afraid to share our faith and talk about Jesus, but we are not going with the purpose to convert. God will work through our witness in helping them. He was saying that many Dalits are in fact Christian or want to convert but are afraid. Once one becomes any other religion like Muslim or Christian, you actually lose all of your rights as a Dalit. Your inheritance is taken away and land claims are often taken away as well. You actually fall outside of caste even more (if that makes anysense) so it is a huge thing. But many are attracted to the idea of Christianity and its freedom and sense of self-dignity. Furthermore, they are then not worrying about karma, the idea that the only way to improve your life is to wait out this life living a good life until you are reborn hopefully in a better position (the idea of karma often creates a sense of complacency and people don't fight for their rights).

After we talked about this, he wanted to take me to a meeting they were having and then go pick up some people in the neighborhood I was going to work in (there was a family who had been forcibly removed from their home because they were Dalit in a non-Dalit neighborhood). I had only a vague idea of what we were doing but i thought I was up for an adventure and went with them. I am so glad that I did. We went to meet with a guy named Dr. Abraham Mathai, the head of AICC. He is an important player in politics in Delhi and the nation because he represents the growing Christian population in India. We went with him to Nasaland House and met with the BJP (a major national political power) State President of Nasaland and the Chief of Health and Social Welfare. We went to talk with them about religious tolerance in India. It was a little hard to follow because there was a lot of political jargon and references to the Indian Constitution (which I am clearly not to familiar with) and supreme court cases. Nonetheless, it was so cool. It was like something out of West Wing. They were talking about how a certain bill which would move the right of defining majority religions from a national decision to a state decision would actually be detrimental to states with a majority of national minority religions because it would bar them from certain rights when they leave their states and keep them from setting up institutions and entering educational institutions. We weren't just discussing Christians either. We were talking about Muslims and Jains too (other national minorities). They were saying how the Nasaland BJP would put pressure on BJP India to accept religious tolerance and other things. It was amazing. They were talking about how they would go to the Prime Minster with this. Abraham talked about how he used to met with the Prime Minister every other month or so. It was just amazing. All the sudden, I was thrust into a situation where high level decisions are made all because I said, "Sure, I'll go." I mean, I will read about these things they were talking abut in the newspaper! It was also cool because these decisions really do help the Dalits, albeit small steps toward greater human dignity.

SO needless to say, I am totally sold on this organization that I will be working with. I am very excited. While I will not be doing stuff like that, at lest I know that the organization is legitimate and that they will do amazing things. But I am so excited to get to work on the ground level and see some of the things we only casually read about in pamplets from activists in America. It is really cool.

Finally, the last really cool thing about it is that it is Christian based, something that I really wanted. What an answer to prayers! I I am going to the ministers church the Sunday after this one. He really wants me to give one of the messages. I am a little nervous about that but I think it would be a really cool experience! The church isn't very big, only like 30-50 people he said, but I am still very excited to see it and finally get some of the Christian fellowship I am missing so much! India is getting cooler and more interesting by the minute.