1. CHRISTIAN DALITS IN PUDUCHERRY -- With special reference to ERAIYUR P.CHARLES CHRISTOPHER RAJ M.A., M.Phil. M.I.M., M.L.I.S.C., M.C.A.,B.Ed.,P.G.D.T.A.,P.hd., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL STUDIES KASTHURBA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN VILLIANUR, PUDUCHERRY 605 110 MOBILE: 9443723327 Email Id:ccraj18@gmail.com Christian Dalits in India are officially non-existent because any individual cannot enjoy two status i.e. one cannot be a Christian and a Dalit at the same time. If you want to be the follower of Jesus Christ and converted to Christianity, you leave behind the Hindu caste-status and abide by the faith where everyone is equal at the sight of God. But, the caste system is so much intertwined with the Indian tradition and it is inevitable for the individual to escape from it. Then, who is a Dalit?1 . In the biblical context this term has been used to describe people who have been reduced to nothingness or helplessness2 . This term was first used by the Marathi reformer Jyotirao Phule to describe the Outcastes and Untouchables as the oppressed and the broken victims of caste-ridden society3 . The term Dalit is a past participle of the Sanskrit root dal implying to crack, split, and open etc. Dalna means tearing or causing to burst and Dalit as a corollary means split, broken, destroyed, scattered torn etc. The noun dala, besides meaning the splitting, has also the positive connotation of something unfolding itself (dala-komala- a lotus, dala-kosala a jasmine). Two inter-related processes can be identified with regard to the evolution of the term. The term has gained a new connotation with a positive meaning. It must be remembered that Dalit does not mean Caste or low-Caste or poor; it refers to the deplorable state or condition to which a large group of people have been reduced by social convention and in which they are now living4 . The conversion of some Dalits to Christianity brought out a new term called Christian Dalits. 1

2. Christian Dalits and their inception in Puducherry French India also did never escape from what the rest of caste India suffered. Casteism dominated the social hierarchy of French Settlements. For many years, French scholars of India have paid as little attention to the Indian Untouchables as their foreign colleagues, or, for that matter, many Indian sociologists. The development of a European learned tradition of textual studies, from the end of the 18th century, gave birth to classical Indianism as a branch of Orientalism, and privileged for more than 150 years the extremely vast realm of religious texts and treaties, mostly governed by Brahminical paradigms. A different legacy of the 17th and 18th centuries was henceforth forgotten, or pushed to the sidelines. For some of the first observers of India, such as Abb Dubois5 and his rarely acknowledged predecessor, Father Coeurdoux6 , to whom he owed much, wrote on Untouchables, as they were eager to understand Indian society in its entirety. At that time, Christian missionaries, eager to convert the gentiles, had to decide if they would focus their attention on the upper castes, as Roberto de Nobili decided to do, or on the masses as most of missionaries did later on. As far as Pondicherry is concerned, the Brahmins were not the perpetrators of caste discriminations and atrocities against the outcastes. The non-brahman caste or the Sudra castes were more rigid in imbibing, imitating and following the dogmas of Hindu dharma, which was nothing, but caste dharma. The vital impact of colonial rule in Pondicherry was that a number of sudras, so called pillai, mudali besides the traditional chetti and komuttichetty gained opportunities to be employed as interpreters, accountants and ambassadors of the French East India Company and engaged themselves in the trading ventures. This is also the fact that these Sudra castes played a predominant role in the economic life throughout the eastern coast of India. French and Tamil records referred to the so-called caste-Hindus as Thamizhar in Pondicherry. Anandarangapillai, the intermediary, the dubashi of French company, in his diaries has referred to Tamil people. Tamils identified as caste Hindus or caste Christians, named their street after their caste names; still, the stigma of casteism is sticking at the cerebrum of these caste people in keeping the street names as vellala street, mudaliyar street, komutti street, kuyavar street, idayar street, chetty street and so 2

3. on. Many are also conscious but not guilty of calling their villages and towns in the name of castes, such as mudaliyar palayam, kosa palayam, kanakachetty kulam7 , etc. One of the vital attributes of social hierarchy in French India was the caste conflict between the valangais and idangais, the caste-cultural legacy of the great Cholas, continued to be a socio-political concern of the conflicting non-brahman middle caste groups for what they called the caste ego. Both valangais and idangais were of sudraic cluster but they objected each other using each other insignia. Particularly, the usage of white insignia was opposed by valangais. For instance, it turned out to be a caste conflict, resulting in bloodshed, when idangais used a white horse for a wedding gathering in 1848. This was also refuted and suppressed by Dumas, the Governor of Pondicherry and he also objected to such privileges of using a white insignia by the idangais. It is also significant to know that it was Dumas who opened the public way to idangais who were previously prohibited by valangais. Tamil caste Hindus who engaged in agrarian employment as dominant castes, were called valangais and the non- agricultural castes were identified as idangais. As the position of valangais was little higher than that of the idangais due to the formers dominance in numbers and in wealth, some of the secular groups like porkollars, chettiyars and other artisan communities joined valangais line and also called themselves chandrakulam or suryakulam8 . Dupleix supported conversion and missionary activities in French India. In the beginning, the Dalits and the fishermen communities were attracted towards converting to Christianity and Vanyas later took to conversion. The caste Hindus like muddaliyars, and chettis wanted to get into Christian faith for the kind of socio-economic and political benefits they aspired from the French rules. Subsequently, the caste design of valangais and idangais was also extended to Christians and thus they became caste Christians, rigidly resisted the Dalits from approaching closely to them during the prayer and ceremonial gatherings; and there was no matrimonial affairs between Dalits and caste Christians recorded during this period publicly. The Church authorities also accepted closed endogamy and it enhanced the caste identity among the Christians. There was a tradition that the Sacred Heart Church in Puducherry, belonged to the Dalits and so was looked down upon by the caste Christians as the church belonged to the Dalits, as these people were sometimes called as valangai people in the church surroundings. It is really 3

4. prickling to a true believer of the Christ if he / she comes across the reality in a church where caste Hindu converts were admitted with their caste-culture status quo. The caste Christians in most of the churches of Puducheri congregation came to the prayer hall with costly saris and jewelleries adorning all the parts of their body with prejudice that the outcastes / untouchables should not be identified equally with the caste Christians. In the beginning, the Parish priests objected to such identity which Christ had strongly opposed, but later, on account of the need to increase the converts, the priests compromised with the entry of caste dharma into the hall of Christ. As a result, the erection of wall was allowed between the Christian Dalits and caste Christians; the priest being persuaded by the caste Christians, offered the sacred communion appam which is considered to be the Christs flesh, not by his hands but by handling appam tightly crushed with a metal instrument like kidukki and offered to the untouchables with a separate spoons. They used to offer them sacred grape juice, which is the Christs blood9 . At the Synod of Pondicherry in 1844, the seating arrangement in church for different castes, inequality and injustice to Dalits were discussed and the Synod also issued a statement. But the caste Christians accused the missionaries that they were trying to abolish the caste system. Church attendance was boycotted till the old order was restored. The real protest against all caste discriminations in French India began only after January 16, 1873, when a young Advocate called Ponnuthambipillai who was called La porte (which means the door), was not allowed by the French magistrate, who was persuaded by the caste Hindu advocates, and denied entry to the court, for Ponnuthambi wore the socks and shoes which were the dress code of the French advocates. In reality the caste Hindus opposed Ponnuthambi as he was the head of the Christian Dalits. The magistrate asked Ponnuthambi to remove the shoes out of the court hall. Ponnuthambi refused the order of the magistrate and was punished. Ponnuthambi was not allowed to process his cases. He went to appeal in the Court de Cassation in Paris. Jules Godin took his case and he got justice. Godin and Ponnuthambi became friends and it resulted in making Godin as the Representative of French Indians to the Assemblee Nationale in 1876 and this enabled some of the inhabitants to secure a new name renoncants10 . Some of the missionaries of Pondicherry have mentioned that in some Parishes they came across kalagam (revolts) and a special mention in 1909 by Fr.Leroy who faced a trouble due to a religious 4

5. procession but the priests have dedicated themselves to remove away the caste based discrimination but in vain11 . Therefore the very emancipatory idea that the caste discriminations, untouchability and gender oppression could be eliminated from caste ridden society dates back to 19th century. Christians in Puducherry Eraiyur Parish Eraiyur, is situated on the west of Ulundurpet in State highway between Tirukovilur - Elavasanurkottai of 200 kilometers south of Chennai. It has a population of nearly 15000 of which Catholics are 14,500 and the rest belong to other religions. In the Archdiocese of Pondicherry Cuddalore, Eraiyur is the largest parish and 115 years old. Many missionaries made their way to this place for evangelization. More than 30 priests and 55 sisters hail from this parish working in the archdiocese and elsewhere12 . Evolution of Eraiyur Parish The first Catholic community was established in the 17th century, more precisely around 1660 when Christianity began to spread in the Madura Mission in the south up to Vettavalam in the north. Only a few families of Eraiyur are originally from here while others have settled here from other villages. Eraiyur began to grow in Catholic faith. The building up of the first Catholic community was the hard work of Rev. Fr. Freyre, a French Jesuit priest.. At that time a small house was used as the place of worship. During the rule of Marathas, these people were tortured and also due to a great famine they began to move away from Eraiyur and settled near Salem. Second Catholic community in Eraiyur started, where Fr. Beschi, popularly known as Veeramamunivar, based at Konankuppam / Arianur (some 25 kms south of Eraiyur) came here and worked with these people. Many of the Catholics living at Eraiyur were converted by him. Elders were familiar with Veeramamunivars great literary works in Tamil like Thembavani, Marugerathammal Ammanai and Thirukavalur Kalambagam. This witnesses to the spiritual encounter that the people of Eraiyur had with Fr. Beschi / Veeramamunivar. In the year 1740 under the Pontificate of Pope Leo XVI, Eraiyur was separated from the Madura mission and joined to the Pondicherry mission under the MEP (Paris Foreign Mission society). But, the Padroada priests based at Konankuppam under the direct rule of the Portugese did not want to give up this place. This caused confusion among the 5

6. Christians who did not know whom to follow. The priests belonging to the Pondicherry mission (called the new church) chose Kovilanur as their centre to which Eraiyur was attached. This went on till 1887. The first parish priest of this new parish was Rev. Fr. Badouil who worked at Kovilanur from 1843 to 1865. He travelled a lot and asked the people to come under the rule of the Pope. In the year 1870 with the blessing of Archbishop Laouenon, Eraiyur was separated from Kovilanur and was raised as a separate parish. Fr. Bothero was appointed as the first parish priest. The present gigantic Church building, a monument of the faith and hard work of Eraiyur people was started by Rev. Fr. Marylop in the year 1874. The work was continued by Fr. Niel and Fr. Feron and it came to completion in the year 1894 when Fr. Felix Dupas was the parish priest13 . Eraiyur Disputes The hamlet which was so happy and enjoying the tranquillity of the new religious ideas faced its difficulties through land, for agriculture is the main occupation. Many had land of their own and cultivated their wanted crops, but those possessing the land belonged to a different caste called Vanniar. The sense of caste discrimination takes the role from here and those who dont possess land were low caste people who took the term themselves as dalits and converts called themselves as Christian Dalits. Down the decades, discriminations on the basis of caste like separate feasts, separate Thumba, separate cemeteries, and separate places in the church - have been in practice. The Church that should have been the first to break this kind of discriminations but could not do so. Even in the rectory the Dalits have to stand and talk (or they have to sit apart) while the others could sit and talk to the priest. The Christian Dalits have to meekly yield to such discriminations because they are numerically few, economically poor and politically powerless. There were occasional skirmishes between the Dalits and Vanniars, like the brawl after drinking which led up to the registration of cases under the Untouchability Prevention Act and so on14 . It was so when the usual tradition was not followed when the mother of a local Dalit priest passed away on February 15th , 1999 and a few days prior to the death of his mother the priest has allegedly expressed his intention to take the body to the church through the Main Street. When, such an attempt was made on 16th February 1999, the caste groups sat on the main street and blocked the funeral procession, abused the Archbishop Mgr. Michael Augustine using filthy language and 6

7. pelted stones on the procession. Expressing its inability to control the crowd that was getting wilder, the police requested the Archbishop to persuade the Dalits to take the customary route. It was fortunate that the Archbishop did not stick to his stand. Otherwise, it would have caused worse law and order crisis. The body was taken straight to the Dalit cemetery where the Archbishop celebrated the mass and buried the body. Then, Fr. R. Ratchagar, the then Principal of St. Joseph's Hr. Sec. School, Cuddalore took responsibility for a peace meeting on 20th February which actually took place on 23rd February. The caste people seemed to have said that they would ask pardon for what had happened on 16th February but they were not ready to allow the Dalit funeral procession through the Main Street. Meanwhile as a fall out of the incident at Eraiyur, the Assistant Parish Priest of Mugaiyur (who belongs to Vanniar community) was asked by the people of Mugaiyur to leave the parish. Two other teachers in the school also were asked to leave. Adding fuel to the fire, on 25th February, DCLM (Dalit Christian Liberation Movement) organized a public meeting and condemned the Eraiyur incident. Notices condemning the incident started coming from various Dalit movements and support groups. On 15th March, nine Dalit priests staged a dharna before the Archbishop's house at Pondicherry. The Archbishop promised some definite decision on this issue before 26th March. There were also peace meetings at Ulundurpet and the Archbishop himself attended the third meeting held on 22nd March. But then, these meetings made no headway. The consequences are to be reaped by the future generation15 . Steps taken by the Archdiocese to solve the problems The title suggests as though Eraiyur alone still continues to reel around the caste shadow. The evil of this caste system is not a problem of Eraiyur alone. It is a wide- spread evil in India. As soon as the event took place, the Archbishop constituted a team of priests to go into this matter. Fr. Pon Antonysamy, Vicar General of the Archdiocese, Fr. S. Kulandaisamy, the Procurator and Fr. R.S. Arokiaraj, Secretary of the Archdiocesan Senate of Priests, made an immediate visit to the village to study the 7

8. situation. The last two mentioned priests had earlier served in Eraiyur parish. Their stay and ministry in this parish adds authenticity to the report that follows. Eraiyur had been a large parish where the Fathers of the French Foreign Mission and the indigenous clergy had worked for the past 125 years. It was divided into three parishes and in the near future the existing parish of Eraiyur will be further bifurcated. The population of this parish consists of the Vanniars and the Adi Dravidars. Having realized that only education and religion could be the effective means of bringing together the caste-ridden communities into one, the Bishops of the Foreign Mission Society founded schools and churches, where people could be brought together. In this connection, it is worth stressing the point that the present Mgr. Dr. Anandarayar, has personally raised funds for the education of children, with special emphasis on the education of Dalit children. Many school buildings were put up in these parishes, where the Dalits were living in large numbers. This is a clear, tangible proof of the concern of the Archdiocese and the Archbishop for the welfare and empowerment of the Dalits. He had disbursed a sum of Rs. 6,56,000/- for the affected Dalit children of Eraiyur alone by way of tuition fees, uniform and stationery. The people were given cooking utensils, rice and provisions for their immediate relief. The first indigenous Archbishop and all the successors, including the present Archbishop, have faithfully followed the footsteps of the Foreign Archbishops in uplifting and empowering the Dalits, the economically poor and the downtrodden. The people of Eraiyur, consisting of both the Vanniar community and the Adi Dravidar community, have always been living in perfect unity and peace, even up to the time of this unhappy event. There had been marriage arrangements, sharing of meals and get together between these two communities without any inhibition. On 10th March, the three priests mentioned earlier, visited the spot. They spent the whole forenoon session visiting and interacting. The priests went from house to house of all the people in the part of the village where the Adi Dravidars were 8

9. living. Not a single house was seen to be put on fire. The report that hundreds of houses of Dalits were set on fire, and that their properties were looted, is totally false and baseless. The roof tiles of a few houses were found broken. There was no major damage to the properties. In some of the houses, electric bulbs, pots and cooking vessels kept on verandahs were found broken or damaged. Nobody justifies this act, and in fact we do condemn it. These are the stark realities witnessed by the priests. The whole incident has been blown out of proportion by the vested interests of certain unwanted forces or groups including political forces. The real shame of the incident lies not in the incident but in the unnecessary provocation caused by these forces. The celebration of the annual Church Feast is an occasion to exhibit the solidarity and oneness of the Christian Community. This has been insisted upon and efficiently put into practice by every parish priest of this village up to the present time. The erection of a separate parish for the Dalits is not only not feasible but also not advisable. This will only further stigmatize these people. Unity in diversity is the characteristic of our country, and the quintessence of Christian faith. The fight for human rights, equality of all people, gender indiscrimination, empowerment of the poor and the marginalized is a universal phenomenon and the Church of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry & Cuddalore is no exception. The Archbishops, the clergy and all well-minded Christians have been assiduously working for the upliftment of all, with a special concern for the Dalits. The congregations of the religious Priests, Brothers and Sisters have spread out their service to all these people by opening hospitals, educational institutions and service centers. These are living testimonies to the concern for the poor16 . It seems to imply that certain forces are seriously working to further vitiate the situation instead of working for peace and solidarity. The concern of these people seems to be the benefit of their own selfish and vested interests and not the well being of the people. 9

10. Accordingly Eraiyur a peace abode and primitive parish among the Archdiocese started to face various problems and took the attention of the media, which in their own style highlighted it to the outside world. In the following years people of Christian faith are facing many problems as if Jesus Christ, once again gets crucified in the cross of caste, he got resurrected on the third day when the Romans nailed him to wooden cross but by the cross of caste will he be resurrected? A big question rises in each human being hearts. It is high time that Christians sit together in the name of Lord Jesus and build up a Church that live together, pray together and work together. Conclusion Every religion teaches, Love, Equality, Fraternity and Respect to the Fellow human beings. Religious principle does not have discrimination. It is man who discriminates for his own benefits. Enactment of laws and Reservation will add more flavours and never end up the caste crisis. Total eradication alone can bring oneness and each one must think the other as himself. Will Jesus who identified himself with the Dalits of his day (the Samaritans, Publicans, tax-collectors, sinners etc.,) and assured them places of honour in the kingdom has the heart to tell the Dalits of today that they will always remain low-people, despised and derided by one and all17 ? Jesus Christ insists upon us through his command, Love your neighbor as you love yourself18 . Worldly life is only short lived. Have faith in your religion but show respect to other religion. Notes and References 10

11. 1. John C.B. Webster, The Dalit Christians: A History, New Delhi,1992,p.iii. 2. M.E. Prabhakar, Mission and the Dalit issue, New Delhi,1988,p.83. 3. Prakash Louis, Caste based Discrimination Atrocities on Dalit Christians and the Need for Reservation, New Delhi,2007,vol-2,p.3. 4. Prakash Louis,The Political sociology of Dalit Assertion, New Delhi,2003,p.26. 5. Abb Dubois, Moeurs, institutions et crmonies des peuples de lInde. Paris, 1825. Dubois was a missionary from the French Missions Etrangres, and arrived in Pondicherry in 1792. The English translation of his work, Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, remains on the catalogue Oxford University Press, New Delhi, after innumerable editions. 6. Fr. Coeurdoux, a missionary serving at Pondicherry was offended by the caste barrier in 1745 & see Anandarangapillai, The Diary of Anandarangapillai,vol-I,p.284. 7. Anandarangapillai,op.cit.,vol-I,pp177-178. 8. Article published by J. Mohan, Dalit Movements In French Iindia- Some Historical Perspectives Of Caste Questions In Puducheri (AD 1873 2005,Chennai,2005. 9. Stanislaus, L., The Liberative Mission of the Church among Dalit Christians, New Delhi, 1999, pp. 109-111. 10. Evariste Dessame : Tribulations de lInde Francaise,1950,p.18. 11. P.A.Sampathkumar & Andre Carof, History of Pondicherry Mission: An Outline, Chennai,1999,p.240. 12. Amalorpavadoss, D. S., ed. The Indian Church in the Struggle for a New Society. Bangalore, 198,pp.18-27. 13. http:www.pondicherryarchdiocese.org/special-issues.php 14. http:www.dalitchristians.com/html/TNBCSCST.html 14. ibid., 15. http:www.pondicherryarchdiocese.org 16. Hedlund, Roger E. Caste and the Bible, Evangelization and Church Growth, Malayasia,1992:p.137. 17. Ayrookuzhiel, A. M. Abraham, Dalit Challenge to Religious System A People Ignored by Church History." Religion and Society, 36:4. 18. Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible,. Gospel of St.Matthew,Chapter22, Versus 36-40. 11