Christianity In India & Caste System

Regions with significant populations
Predominantly Nagaland 90%, Mizoram 87%, Meghalaya 71%, Manipur 60%, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, other parts of South India, Goa
Languages
Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Konkani, Kannada, English, Hindi and various Indian languages
Religion
Predominantly Latin Catholics, Saint Thomas Christians and various denominations of Protestants
Related ethnic groups
Nasranis, East Indians, Khasis, Mizos, Kukis, Nagas, Anglo-Indians, Goan Catholics

              

            Christians are found all across India and in all walks of life, with major populations in parts of South India, the Konkan Coast, North-East. Indian Christians have contributed significantly to and are well represented in various spheres of national life. They include former and current chief ministers, governors and chief election commissioners. Indian Christians have the lowest sex ratio figures among the various religious communities in India. Christians are considered to be one of the most progressive communities in India.

                 Christianity in India has different denominations. The state of Kerala is home to the Saint Thomas Christian community, an ancient body of Christians (Syriac Christianity) who are now divided into several different churches and traditions. There are two Eastern Catholic Saint Thomas Christian churches: the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. There are also several Oriental Orthodox and independent churches in the Saint Thomas Christian community, including the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church and the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. Since the 19th century Protestant churches have also been present; major denominations include the Church of South India (CSI), the Church of North India (CNI), the Presbyterian Church of India, Baptists, Lutherans, Traditional Anglicans and other evangelical groups. Roman Catholicism was first introduced to India by Portuguese, Italian and Irish Jesuits in the 16th century, whereas Protestantism was later spread to India by the efforts of British and American missionaries. The Christian Church runs thousands of educational institutions and hospitals contributing mass conversions.

The Caste system among Indian Christians often reflect stratification by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors. Social practices among certain Indian Christians parallel much of the discrimination faced by lower castes in other religious communities, as well as having features unique to this community.

            Caste distinctions among Indian Christians are breaking down at about the same rate as those among Indians belonging to other religions. There exists evidence to show that Christian individuals have mobility within their respective castes. But, in some cases, social inertia cause old traditions and biases against other castes to remain, causing caste segregation to persist among Indian Christians. About 70–80 per cent of Indian Christians are Dalit Christian, members of the Dalit or backward classes.

              Christian priests, Nuns, Dalits and similar groups are also found in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal.

Kerala

              Christians in Kerala are divided into several communities, including Syrian Christians and Latin Christians. Syrian Christians in Kerala consist of the members of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (also known as Romo-Syrians), Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Jacobite Syrian Church (a non-Catholic group), Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and a few members of the Church of South India in Kerala. Syrian Christians maintain their traditional Syrian rites and practices. They derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they are converted from high caste Hindus who were evangelized by St. Thomas. In the pre-independence period, Untouchability was prevalent in the Kerala society and the Syrian Christians also practiced it in order to keep their upper-caste status. They used to go for a ritual bath to purify themselves on physical contact with the so-called inferior castes. The Syrian Christians did not cooperate with the evangelical activities of foreign missionaries and they did not allow new converts to join their community since they were afraid that their noble position in the society could have been endangered.

Writers Arundhati Roy and Anand Kurian have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community. Syrian Christians tend to be endogamous, and tend not to intermarry with other Christian castes.

            Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of jatis. Also, the caste status is kept even if the sect allegiance is switched (i.e. from Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox).

Goa

In the Indian state of Goa, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. The continued maintenance of the caste system among the Christians in Goa is attributed to the nature of mass conversions of entire villages, as a result of which existing social stratification was not affected. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamonns and the Kshatriya and Vaishya Vanis became Christian noblemen called Chardos . The Christian clergy became almost exclusively Bamonn. Those Vaishya Vanis who could not get admitted into the Chardo caste became Gauddos, and Shudras became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalits or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars (an appellation of the anti-Dalit ethnic slur Chamaar). The upper caste Gaonkar Christians have demanded that only their community be given positions on the Pastoral Council of Goa's Catholic Church.

Tamil Nadu

                Though 11% of the Christians in the State belong to the financially powerful Nadar community, they dominate in every sphere with many of them going on to become Billionaires and Super-Rich. The cohesion of jatis among caste Christians (e.g. Paravas) and the strength of caste leadership are noted by scholars to be much stronger than comparable predominantly Hindu castes in Tamil Nadu. However, discrimination still persists. Lourdunathan Yesumariyan, Jesuit activist notes that "over 70 per cent of Dalit converts Catholics. But only four out of 18 bishops are from the Dalit-Christian community." In Tamil Nadu, Christian dalits also complain of discrimination by the Telugu speaking Reddiar minority

Under the law

            Indian law does not provide benefits for "Dalit Christians", however Christians have been agitating for the same rights given to Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh Scheduled castes. Despite the activists point of discrimination due to social tag or status, which doesn't go away, Justice K. G. Balakrishnan asked: "Could the Christians admit that they practise caste system and that Dalits (among them) face social discrimination requiring reservation to uplift their cause? This is not all that easy."

           Some Christians also oppose the proposed labeling of "Christian Scheduled castes" because they feel their identity may be assimilated. Pastor Salim Sharif of the Church of North India notes "We are becoming another class and caste."

Caste discrimination among Christians

Incidence

               Caste discrimination is strongest among Christians in South India and weaker among urban Protestant congregations in North India. This is due to the fact that in South India, whole castes converted en masse to the religion, leaving members of different castes to compete in ways parallel to Hindus of the Indian caste system. Also, Roman Catholicism is intrinsically more hierarchical and therefore tolerant of caste systems than Protestantism, which is more egalitarian. In Pakistan, derogatory terms are used for Christians who converted from lower caste. Further more, Christian dalits have faced the incidents such as harassment, murder, and police framing.

              There are separate seats, separate communion cups, burial grounds, and churches for members of the lower castes, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.Catholic churches in India are largely controlled by upper caste priests and nuns. Presently in India, more than 70 per cent of Catholics are Dalits, but the higher caste Catholics (30% by estimates) control 90 per cent of the Catholic churches administrative jobs. Out of the 156 catholic bishops, only six are from lower castes.

Criticism

            Many Dalit Catholics have spoken out against discrimination against them by members of the Catholic Church. A famous Dalit activist with a nom-de-plume of Bama Faustina has written books that are critical of the discrimination by the nuns and priests in Churches in South India(CSI). During 2003 ad limina visits of the bishops of India, Pope John Paul II criticized the caste discrimination in the Roman Catholic Church in India when addressing bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Madras-Mylapore, Madurai and Pondicherry-Cuddalore, the three archbishops of Tamil Nadu. He went on to say: "It is the Church's obligation to work unceasingly to change hearts, helping all people to see every human being as a child of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and therefore a member of our own family"

 

               Dalits who converted to Christianity did not escape the caste system which has a strongly ingrained presence in Indian society that is not limited to Hindu religious ideals. The different branches of Christianity in India still engage in these societal practices with regards to the caste system, along with all its customs and norms. The Roman Catholic Church treated the caste system as part of the Indian social structure and, for much of its history in India, it chose to work within the established social system; similarly the Syrian Orthodox Churches responded in like fashion, except it has tended to collectively act as one caste within the caste system instead of maintaining different castes within their churches.

                 Other major factors affecting Dalit Christians and other Christians within India in regard to caste statutes are the regional variances in maintaining the caste system. The southern part of the country has traditionally more rigidly maintained the caste system than the northern regions. Rural communities also hold more strongly to the caste system and Roman Catholics are the majority of Christians in these communities. The urban areas tend to have the least pressure to maintain caste classes and Protestant churches are best represented in this background.

               There have been regular complaints by Hindus and some Christians that Dalit Christians are denied admission and appointments in Church-run educational institutions.

                    After conversion, people in India lose any privileges they had in their former caste, while those in lower castes often gain more opportunities. Although about 70% of Indian Christians are widely reported to be Dalit Christians, the Sachar Committee on Muslim Affairs reported that only 9% of Indian Christians have Scheduled Caste status, with a further 32.8% having Scheduled Tribe status, and 24.8% belonging to other disadvantaged groups.
 

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