11, August 2001 Offer
to build free homes in Gujarat
Recent articles in the Indian media announced the
Janvikas's, a nonprofit NGO organization, generous offer to rebuild homes of
earthquake victims in Gujarat free of cost provided the victims demonstrate
their opposition to the caste system by drinking water from the home of a Dalit. The
refusal of the vast majority of victims exposes the deeply ingrained caste prejudice that prevails in 'modern' India.
The hostility and violence displayed by high caste Hindus
to Dalits is a serious blight to our national character and puts in serious doubt that
we have progressed spiritually. The silence of our religious leaders speaks
volumes of their complicity in this national scandal. Hordes of 'religious'
leaders who grace the pages of the Indian press remain silent and lack
the courage to condemn this insidious behavior. We have ceased to become a nation of
spiritual free thinkers. We perpetuate the prejudices of our forefathers and
willingly cast our minds in a strait jacket of misguided thinking.
Would God have created the Dalits to be abused and
ill-treated by their higher caste brethren? Does anybody truly believe that God
sanctions such behavior? Then pray why do we remain silence? Why do we not cast the caste system to
the rubbish heap of history? That is where it belongs. It is time to discard
the excess caste baggage that many of us still
carry.
I hope some of our religious leaders who read this letter
will rise to the occasion and urge their devotees to respect all people, especially our
Dalit brothers and sisters. Failure to do so will only encourage more of these
oppressed people to embrace Christianity.
Finally,
I applaud Navsarjan Martin Macwan and Gagan Sethi of Janvikas for having the courage to swim against the tide of popular
custom and reach out to 'the children of God.'
