Tirunelveli: The present struggle of Dalit Christians in Tamil Nadu for their “rightful place” in the Church and its institutions has not been free from violence in Palayamkottai diocese. A 2,000-strong mob of Dalit Christians made the 63-year-old Bishop, Rt. Rev. S. Irudayaraj, sign under duress an agreement on Oct. 26, 1990. In another incident, there was vandalism on the premises of a Church-run school at Chidambar Puram on March 8 this year. Police were obliged to intervene in the school incidents and they arrested a few persons, including Francis, father of Chidambarapuram parish priest, Rev. Fr. Gnanaprakasam. Fr. Gnanaprakasam figures as the first accused in the police FIR. The police have identified 34 persons and over 100 other identifiable persons as accused.
Palayamkottai diocese, carved out of the eriwhile Madurai archdiocese in 1973, comprises the western parts of Tirunelveli-Kattabornman district and northwestern parts of Chidambar Anar district. Rev. Irudayaraj has been its Bishop since its formation. The diocese has 27 parishes and 40 ordained priests. Fr. Gnanaprakasam and Fr. M. Arul are the only Dalit members of the Diocesan clergy. Fr. Arul is now in the Philippines, pursuing higher studies. Fr. Gnanaprakasam was holding charge of Chidambarapuram parish and the schools under it until March this year. He was divested of the correspondent ship of the schools in the first week of March on the ground that he had committed some gross violations of the rules of appointment.
The first incident which attracted the public eye took place at Bharathi Nagar on the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur Road, about 12 km from here, and it indicated that the Dalits would not take the action against the priest lying down.
The Diocese owns a well-irrigated 40-acre agricultural model farm at Bharathi Nagar. The big elegant building, situated in the middle of coconut palms, is used for training social workers and it is managed by one of the organisations of the diocese called the Tirunelveli Social Service Society.
The bishop and about 30 priests were there on a five-day retreat. About 2,000 Dalits, led by Prof. M.S. Arockiaswamy of St. Xavier’s College, president of the Palayamkottai unit of the Dalit Christian Movement of Tamil Nadu, took them by surprise on Oct. 26, the concluding day of the retreat.
The Dalit Catholics, who had arrived from all over the diocese, converged at the adjoining Arockianathapuram and marched to the farm shortly ~ afternoon, shouting slogans. They compelled their “Bishop to sign an agreement that a commission Dalit Voice comprising Dalit leaders and diocesan representatives would be set up to make a survey of the socioeconomic conditions of the Dalits, etc.
The Diocesan procurator, Rev. Fr. M. Susai Marian, said that the bishop had been reluctant to sign such a unilateral agreement.
But Prof. Arockiaswamy had a different version. Explaining the encounter, he said that it was the bishop who had called them there. He said that the bishop had been a good one until he had allowed himself to be guided by a group of young priests who wanted to perpetuate the present discriminatory treatment to the Dalits.
He also refuted the charge that the Dalits in Palayamkottai had been acting on the advice of a Madurai-based Jesuit organisation called Institute for Development, Education, Action and Service (IDEAS). He agreed that he had collected data on the Dalits in the State and chalked out programmes for their upliftment.
Prof. Arockiaswamy said that the first ray of hope for better days dawned on them when the 14 Catholic Bishops of Tamil Nadu, who held a three-day meeting at Vellore in January 1990, declared the nineties the decade of Dalit Christians. A ten-point scheme to improve their lot was also chalked out. But nothing was done.
in the light of this promise, the Dalits of Palayamkotiai diocese submitted a memorandum to their Bishop on May 30, 1990, to urge him to carry out the promises. The bishop had agreed to do so, but apparently changed his mind at the instance of a group of young – priests.
However, the meeting was held between Prof. Arockiaswamy and the Bishop’s representative, Thamburaj, on Oct. 29. But it ended in failure and mutual recriminations. The non-Dalit Catholics became aggressive and called upon the clergy not to take any unilateral decisions regarding Diocesan matters without consulting them. Dalit leaders charged the non-Dalit members with trying to manhandle Fr. Gnanaprakasam right under the bishop’s nose. (Indian Express, Madurai, April 10).
