The Christian church in India, captured by the upper caste converts, is taking hardly any interest in the liberation of the country’s indigenous peoples oppressed by its alien Aryan colonials. At least the Protestant church is slightly better because it is not so much in the hands of the Aryan converts.
But the catholic church is fully in the grip of Brahminical converts. Syrian Christians of Kerala, Goan and Mangalorean Catholics unashamedly claim that they had Brahmin origin. Caste (racism) continues to rock the catholic church much’ worse than the Protestant one.
Not that the church leadership doesn’t understand the problem of the Dalit Christians, it doesn’t want to understand it (“Catholic churches’ three crimes against Christ, Dalit Voice, June 16 1991, p.7).
Recently, a rich Syrian Catholic institution in Bangalore organised a series of programmes during “Aug-Oct. 1991. We also received an invitation from the Director of its well-founded Centre for Study of World Religions, Dr. Thomas Manimekhala.
We wrote a letter to him on July 29 91 pointing out certain “grave lapses in their perception of Indian reality”. The Dharmaraj College, a double-distilled Brahminical catholic church, thinks exactly on the lines of India’s Hindu nazis who claim India is a Hindu country while the fact is that its Scheduled Castes (20%), Scheduled Tribes (10%) and Backward Castes (35%) are not Hindus and never Hindus. “Hinduism” itself is not the name of the religion of the Aryans. ‘They don’t call their religion by that name. No – – Shankaracharya talks of Hinduism. Over 85% India’s 850 million population are not Hindus. This is a sociological fact and historical truth.
Dharmaraj College: Yet the Dharmaraj College authorities did not invite any of the non-Hindu religionists belonging to the SC/ST/BC order for “dialogue”. The church thus lives in a fool’s paradise.
SC/ST/BCs are not Hindus. They are only “called” Hindus, so that they could add to the strength of ‘Hindus’, and rule India.
But Dr. Thomas did not even reply to our letter of July 29. A reminder was posted on Aug. 21 and even to this no reply came. A student of the college came to meet us and he said the college library subscribed to Dalit Voice and the journal was popular among the students but the college leadership being ‘Brahminical, our suggestion would never be accepted.
What is the use of such a religion and its church which is working against the interests of the countries over 85% of the peoples including its own followers? A religion must aim at social transformation and liberate its followers from all forms of oppression. But the Blacks in America say that Christianity is a Whiteman’s religion and they are steadily leaving the – church. And the more militant among them are going over for Islam. Racism is so strong in the catholic church that during the latest visit of the People, the CBCIl warned him “not to talk of caste in Indian church”. When Dalit Christians, who formed 80% of the country’s Christian population, wanted to meet the Pope in Madras, they were lathi-charged by the® police and the church leaders enjoyed the scene.
So, we will not be surprised if the oppressed followers of the church desert this Brahminical church.
Revolt in Kerala: Against these brahminesses church some priests have started revolting and it is a happy sign. More and more such priests are coming to us. They defied the church rule and started working for the liberation of the oppressed. The catholic church and its bishops started persecuting such priests who have now formed an organisation of their own, called the Catholic Priests Conference of India (CPCI) as against the authoritarian CBCI, the country’s apex catholic umbrella organisation. It has 500 diocesan – priests as members. Its secretary is Fr. K. Jose Sebastian of Palaic, Madhya Kerala, whose – suspension for alleged Naxalite connection was revoked through papal intervention. The official church is naturally not happy with it because these 500 priests are working for the “poor and the oppressed”. *
Poverty not our problem: This is another problem with our Christian priests and particularly the Catholics. Because, most of them being brahmin converts, while they revolted against the church, they committed yet another blunder — they fell from the frying pan into the fire. In trying to defy the authoritarian brahminesses church, they fell prey to the more dangerous and more mischievous Marxists. This is specially so in title Marxist-dominated Kerala.
(V.T. Rajshekar: How Marx Failed in Hindu India, Dalit Sahitya Academy, 1988). In Kerala and West Bengal, the upper castes took to Marxism as they found it a more effective tool to oppress the SC/ST/ . BCs and minorities.
That is why the rebel priests in their genuine desire started working for the “poor and the oppressed” influenced by the Marxian mischief. Earlier the church took them for a ride and now the “Marxists” are taking them for a ride.
Rebel priests studying Dr. Ambedkar : Only lately they have started realising that their innocence is being exploited by the “sacred thread Marxists”. Wisdom started dawning on these innocent priests as they studied Babasaheb Ambedkar’s revolutionary literature. And that is how for the first time, the annual convention of the CPCI at Trivandrum (Oct. 15 17) adopted the theme : “Dalits and Backward Castes” — a Christian response”. This is an important development. That the Dalit Sahitya Academy books and Dalit Voice and its language editions have been kept for sale and exhibition proves that the protesting priests are trying to get out of the Brahminical clutches and the more dangerous Marxist mischief and trying lap understand the realities of India through Ambedkar’s.
The Christian church leaders are suffering from too much Marxism. And this meaningless Marxism rejected by the very country of its birth — very well suited the cross-thread Marxists. And that is how even such prestigious catholic institutions like the Indian Social Institute are serving the Brahminical interests, particularly its Bangalore branch.
Not only most of the Christian educational institutions are serving upper caste children but, in many respects, they are working against the interests of the SC/ST/ BCs – the indigenous peoples of India.
But this problem arises only when it comes to the question of SCs and BCs. The tribal church is free from both Brahminical and Marxist contamination. In fact, the tribal converts to Christianity are in the forefront of tribal liberation struggle. The church liberated the North-Eastern magnoliid tribals.
foreign missionaries misled: But the church failed when it came to non-tribals like SC/BCs. Tribals are not Hindus and so also SC/BCs. All the three, SC/ ST/BCs, are pre-Aryan tribes. Since the STs lived away from “Hindus”, in jungles and hills, they remained uncontaminated by the Hindus. But since SCs and BCs lived amid Hindus but separate, the “Lindo” converts to Christianity played into the Brahminical hands and believed the Brahminical version that SCs and BCs were also castes and that Brahmins were “upper castes” and SCs and BCs were “lower castes” of the Hindu order. Foreign Christian missionaries were the first to believe this version and that was how the SCs and BCs were “called” Hindus although the Hindus never accepted ~them as part of them.
Indianisation: Yet another problem facing the catholic church is its craze for “Indianisation”. Its obsession the “Indianisation” is part of the Brahminical game. _-~ In Bangalore, the CBCI has set up well-funded massive institution called NBCLC to preach and propagate “Indianisation” of church and many brahminesses church priests are having a gala time there. Here the church is built to resemble a temple. Inside, the catholic priests dispense Kumkum, thither. The priest looks like a painted animal. He chants bible in sensitised verse form and gives flowers.
He dresses in Kavi. All sorts of nonsense. And this is widely publicised as Indianisation while the fact is it is brahmin station and the Brahmins are very happy with this church.
Full support to CPCI assured: SC/ST/BCs are pre- Aryan original Indians. Brahmini station, Sanskritization means organisation. Not Indianisation. By imitating the Brahmins, the church is distancing itself from the original Indians. Some thinking sections in the catholic church have defied the church and have set up the CPCI and we wish it all success. But the CPCI must revolt not only against Brahminism but also its more dangerous incarnation, Marxism. It must make a serious study of the Babasaheb literature.
CPCI has a small office in Bangalore at No.16, Harris Road, PB No. 4637, Benson Town, Bangalore-560 046. It is getting inquiries from all parts of the country and its secretary, Fr. Jose Sebastian, is trying to take the CPCI towards the Indian realities. As Abderites it is our duty to extend our full support to CPCI provided they are sincere in their thinking and approach.
Class struggles a myth: India has no “classes” but only castes. And each caste is a nation by itself — a distinct ethnic identity. India itself is sub-continent of several nations. Marxism, which has no solution to racism, cannot solve the Indian brand of sanctified ~ racism called varnashrama dharma. Reservations are the human rights of each Jati (tribe) and reservation is the road to self-determination.
The CPCI will be able to attract the entire church to its fold if it makes a serious study of the Ambedkar literature which alone can open them to Indian realities.
The strategy is this. (1) They must fully support and fight for constitutional reservations to SC/STs — plus the Mandal Commission recommendations without any dilution (2) It must recognise every Jati (tribe) as a separate ethnic identity and work for strengthening its identity which is being delayed through Aryan aggression. (3) Lastly, it must recognise and work for the nationality question.
This three-part agenda is of immediate importance and the rest of the problems will find their own solutions as the revolution takes shape through Babasaheb’s time-tested Three Commandments: “Educate, Agitate and Organise”.
