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DFN Involvement

Wall Street Journal on DFN schools and recent graduation

Originally published as “It’s Time for India to Teach in English”, by Paul Beckett, Wall Street Journal (online only), July 1, 2009.

[Editor’s note: The article refers to Operation Mercy India Foundation. This is the same as OMCC (Operation Mercy Charitable Company). OMCC is the title more widely known in the communities of India and OMIF is simply the official registered name in India’s government records.]

By the middle of next month, almost 90 schools across the country will open their doors for a new year of teaching to about 18,000 predominantly Dalit schoolchildren. Their parents will pay tuition of 100 rupees a month to get their kids – and this is the key – an education in English.

The organizers, known as the Operation Mercy India Foundation, have been expanding the program since the mid-1990s. Earlier this year, their Good Shepherd English Medium Schools reached a major landmark: The graduation of the first 45 Class 10 students – nine from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, 17 from Jeedimetla near Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh and 19 from Agasand near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

There’s also a training program in Hyderabad to ensure a steady supply of qualified, English-speaking teachers. The dropout rate of students in the schools is just 0.7%.

Yet, inexplicably – or perhaps all too explicably—no prominent, elected Dalit politician has championed this cause. “Dalit politicians should have and could have taken a lead on this issue but they have not,” says Joseph D’souza, international president of the Dalit Freedom Network, one of the organizations involved in the program.

In fact, much of the political class remains opposed to English medium education supposedly because they fear the loss of local culture and language. It’s more believable that it’s because an ill-equipped population of voters is a malleable population of voters.

Let’s take the cultural argument. India has taken countless outside influences and made them her own by imprinting on them her unique and wonderful stamp. There is no reason, aside from a misplaced post-Colonial chippiness, that prevents India doing the same with English on a national scale.

Consider India’s flagship outsourcing and information technology industry. Does anyone say we should discourage the industry because its management practices, corporate culture and clients are American? No, because it has become a distinctly Indian business, admired around the world, that is now being replicated by other countries that want to make it their own. It is an industry that doesn’t just use English but depends on it for its very survival. Are the people who work in call centers who are fluent in English but may converse in a local language outside the office any less Indian as a result?

Moreover, there already is a strong tradition of English-medium education in some parts of India – in many of its private schools, Catholic schools, military schools and colleges. So to suggest that there is some cultural imperative that says local language must be the only medium for teaching, in effect, poor children sounds like the kind of patronizing attitude that can sometimes be heard in the (frequently English-speaking) drawing rooms of New Delhi.

It’s akin to saying that India’s villages are full of “poor but happy sons and daughters of the soil” who shouldn’t be “corrupted” with the vulgarities of satellite TV. Of course, for everyone else to be so corrupted with the joys of Twenty20 cricket and 24-hour news is absolutely fine.

Lest anyone doubt the benefits of learning English fluency, it was telling last week that Pearson, the London-based media and education company, invested $30 million as part of a push into vocational training in India. A big part of it, said Vivek Govil, CEO of Pearson Education in India, involves teaching English “because it increases employability.”

“People who know English get better paid, better jobs and progress faster,” he added. That is something parents might take as a motto in deciding on a school for their children.

If for no other reason, English should be widely used as the chief teaching language because it is the language chosen by the elite for the education of their offspring. A decent definition of inclusion – the new government’s mantra – might be: To provide the same opportunities for the masses that are enjoyed by the rich. English-medium education fits that bill. It would have the added benefit of filling up all those seats set aside in universities for the underclass which now are vacant because there aren’t enough candidates with the English skills to occupy them.

Indeed, not widening access to education in English risks highlighting the hypocrisy among those responsible for setting education policy – something that Mr. D’souza notes was a motivating factor in the Good Shepherd schools.

“We have been articulating that India and its power brokers, consciously or unconsciously, deliberately or not, have a double standard policy in education,” Mr. D’souza says. “The upper castes and the powerful and the rich have no problem getting westernized and English-educated.”

Fortunately, there is already some movement in a positive direction in some states. Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in particular have made recent strides in making English the language of school, or at least one of the languages that school is taught in from an early age. Tamil Nadu may follow suit. Others should do the same and fast.

If there was lesson from the last election, it is that India’s voters want politicians to push development and provide them with prospects for moving up and out. The success of the Good Shepherd schools shows there is so much demand for English-medium education that those with almost nothing will pay what little they have to give their kids a chance. (Note: despite their rather Christian-sounding name, the schools run state-approved curricula and open only in areas where they are invited by local Dalit leaders.)

New Delhi can’t issue an edict to compel the states to enforce English-language teaching in schools. But Kapil Sibal, the government’s point man on education, has spoken loudly of his determination to shake up the system. Providing incentives for states to adopt English—and disincentives for states that don’t—would be a good place for him to make his mark.

—Paul Beckett is the WSJ’s bureau chief in New Delhi

Posted on: July 1, 2009

Yes, we can!

From the Times of India, 16 November, 2008. To read full article, click here

Beyond business

When I told people that I was working on a book, they assumed it was a memoir of my business career, or my take on management strategy. They looked quizzical (and were probably alarmed) when I said that I was writing a book on India. Businessmen, after all, do not usually make good public intellectuals. I console myself that I am but an accidental entrepreneur, who if he had not walked into the office of the charismatic N R Narayana Murthy in late 1978 in search of a job would probably have at best languished in a regular nine-to-fiver while living in a New Jersey suburb, taking the daily train to Manhattan.

The way I see it, the fact that I am not a specialist of any particular stripe, whether in history, sociology, economics or politics, may actually give me a broader viewpoint on our most significant issues. At a time when our arguments are so polarized, what we need might indeed be an avid amateur, and someone who can avoid the extreme ends of the debate.

While this is a book on India, this is not a book for people fascinated with Indian cinema and cricket — I would not be able to add very much to either topic, colourful as they are. Instead, I have attempted to understand India through the evolution of its ideas. I think that no matter how complicated, every country is governed through some overarching themes and ideas — an intricate web of shared, core beliefs among a country’s people is, after all, what unites them.

The ideals of French nationalism, for instance, the notion of the United States as the land of opportunity and the emphasis on ‘harmony’ in Singapore were all dominant ideas that shaped the economic and social policies of these countries.

India in particular, for all its complexity, is a country that is as much an idea as it is a nation. The years of colonialism have meant that India has not evolved through a natural arc; disparate regions were brought together by the ideas, good and bad, of British administrators and Indian leaders. My first glimmer of the power of these ideas came when I was five years old. I understand this in hindsight, of course. One day my father bundled all of us into his Austin motorcar and drove us to a rally.

It was 1960, the Congress session was being held in Bangalore, and we were there to see the charismatic Jawaharlal Nehru. As a towering leader of our independence struggle and the country’s first prime minister, his stature both within the country and outside was immense — to a whole generation, he was synonymous with India. My memory of standing on the sidelines, caught up in the large crowd and waving at this thin, intense man is an unforgettable one.

Growing up in those days, it was very easy to believe in the idea of a nurturing government and public sector. A paternal, socialist state would own companies which would create wealth and the wealth would be used for the betterment of society. Why allow wealth to be created in private hands where it would probably be used for nefarious purposes? It all made perfect sense. The logic of it, especially coming from the benevolent patriarch Nehru, appeared unimpeachable. My father,.....click here to continue reading.

Posted on: November 21, 2008

BBC Interview of Dr. Joseph D'souza

Dr. Joseph D’souza – President of All India Christian Council and International President of Dalit Freedom Network was interviewed on BBC, which was broadcasted last week.
The interview is available by clicking here.

Posted on: November 19, 2008

The oppression of untouchables is modern India's shame

From the Sunday Herald by Andrew Duke

Noon in Karimnagar, central India, and already it’s over 40 degrees. A queue of 2000 wedding guests wait patiently in the sun outside a covered courtyard decorated with lotus flowers and ornate drapes. The women wear brightly coloured saris and fan themselves as they chat; the men, clad in sharp, 1970s-cut suits, dab at their foreheads. From time to time, a VIP is whisked along to the front of the line. I know these people are important because they have bodyguards, and their bodyguards are carrying sub-machine guns.

Everyone here knows who these people are, and why this wedding ceremony is so significant. Before the betrothed marry, they will undergo a controversial religious conversion and the congregation of well-wishers, family members, politicians, academics and writers are here to show their support.

Deekonda Tirupathi and his bride-to-be, Sucharitha, are converting to Buddhism because they are Dalits, members of society rooted below even the bottom rung of India’s complex hierarchical system. Above them, four main Hindu classes, or varnas, occupy their own places in life: the priestly Brahmins; then the ruling class, the Kshatriyas; next are the Vaishyas, the artisans and traders; then follow the Shudras, labourers and servants. Those born without varna are seen as sub-human, or, as they used to be referred to, “untouchable”, their lives restricted to menial jobs and duties deemed impure in Hinduism: they alone work leather, dispose of dead bodies, handle carcasses, clear human and animal excrement.

Our wedding couple are the latest in a long line of Dalits who hope to rid themselves of the stigma of “untouchability” and be accepted as equals by adopting a new religion. They follow in the footsteps of one of the country’s greatest thinkers, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a Dalit lawyer and scholar who went on to become the main architect of India’s constitution.

Ambedkar’s attempts to reform the system in the 1940s and 1950s came under attack from an unlikely source: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – later Mahatma Gandhi, celebrated peace campaigner, spiritual leader and father of the nation.

Gandhi’s hope of finding a solution to the problem of untouchability without dividing Hindu society sat at odds with Ambedkar’s intention of direct political action: Ambedkar’s demands that Dalits should form separate electorates were initially accepted by the ruling British but he was forced to back down after Gandhi began to starve himself to death in protest.

Ambedkar did, however, manage to ensure that a quota system was introduced in education, politics, the law and public service before his disdain for caste-based Hinduism led him to convert to Buddhism in the late 1950s. “Ambedkar said if a Dalit is to be empowered, the only true way is to leave Hinduism,” Tirupathi tells me. “Since Ambedkar converted to Buddhism and I follow him, I am leaving Hinduism and embracing Buddhism.”

But for the vast majority of the estimated 180 million Dalits (16% of India’s population), everyday life is about basic survival.

“What can we do?” asks Vimalemma Mari, a widow since 1983. “We have families to support and no choice of what work we do.” I meet Mari as she starts work in a northern suburb of Hyderabad. Every day, seven days a week, the 52-year-old mother of six joins an army of women across India in the unending task of sweeping litter and dust from the nation’s roads. A gangmaster – her boss – circles the neighbourhood on a motorbike checking all the sweepers are pulling their weight.

A couple of metres beneath Mari’s feet, 27-year-old Padma Rao begins his job of clearing the drains of human waste with his bare hands. Once the task is complete, his colleagues pull him out. He lets me take his photograph but, as a friend explains, he doesn’t want to talk to me about his life because he is too embarrassed. He looks at me apologetically, gulps some fresh air and is lowered into another drain.

For their efforts, Mari and Padma will be paid around £1 a day.

Discrimination against Dalits, although outlawed, is deeply ingrained. “In rural areas it is still very dangerous for a Dalit to allow his shadow to fall across an upper-caste man – it is the biggest crime a Dalit can commit,” says Moses Vattipalli, himself a Dalit. “It results in very severe punishment, sometimes death. In villages, all Dalits live together on the east side because the wind flows from the west. This way, members of the upper caste will not have any wind or sound coming in from the direction of the Dalits.”

Vattipalli, 31, manages a website documenting the problems faced by Dalits. Much of the site catalogues violence – the beatings, acid attacks, rapes and murders – as well as day-to-day discrimination. “At my village school,” says Moses, “I was told again and again that I was a Dalit boy, and so I was unfortunate. In class we would sit separately and couldn’t share anything. Teacher would abuse me and beat me with sticks – when the upper-caste boys got something wrong, I got the beating. We weren’t allowed to drink in the same place and I had to bring my own tumbler. I was always angry, always asking, Why was I born a Dalit’ ... thinking it would have been better if I hadn’t been born.”

Despite everything, Vattipalli made the most of his education and left his village to work overseas. But moving away from the rural areas does not guarantee acceptance. “Discrimination in the city is different and can be more severe,” says Vattipalli, who now lives with his wife and daughter in Secunderabad. “In the villages you know what is happening and can be careful; here it is psychologically oppressive and dehumanising. They always ask your name: they find out you are a Dalit, then treat you differently.”

But that doesn’t stop thousands seeking work in the major IT and industrial centres each year, especially places like Hyderabad, nicknamed Cyberabad, home to Hitec (Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy) City. Here, confidence in India’s future is reflected in the mirrored buildings housing the likes of General Electric, Microsoft and Dell. In the shadow of these multinationals, small shanty towns of itinerant workers have grown up, providing temporary shelter for those lucky enough to be given work.

Others fall into the trap of bonded labour. A few miles north of Hyderabad is a settlement unofficially known as Pipe Village. The encampment consists of discarded pipes beside the factory that produced them. Inside the pipes live the factory’s Dalit workers. Mostly from rural villages, they were enticed by the prospect of a job, accommodation and a loan to help with the move. What they got was a 12-hour day, a pipe to live in and a long-term debt that ensures they stay put.

According to a 2006 survey by the Hindustan Times, 48% of villages still deny Dalits access to water, while three-quarters of villages do not permit Dalits to enter non-Dalit homes. Meanwhile, a third of public health workers refuse to visit Dalit homes. It’s perhaps unsurprising that the contentious process of religious conversion appeals.

“Every day thousands of Dalits choose to embrace a new religion,” says Dr Joseph D’souza, international president of the Dalit Freedom Network. “Dalits are primarily choosing Buddhism or Christianity, although some have chosen Islam. Changing their religion means they – and more important, their children – think of themselves differently. Instead of following holy texts which say they were created only for one role in life and are of lesser value than others, now they learn about a creator who made them equal and truly free. This mental change impacts on their behaviour as they attempt new careers or fight for dignity by embracing their legal rights.”

This growth in confidence has, however, set those with a vested interest in preserving the status quo on a collision course with reformers. “Just 7% of the population rules the majority of India,” says Moses Vattipalli. “When the 93% gain empowerment, the minority fear they will lose everything.”

Realising the threat, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindu heartlands of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu introduced laws to severely restrict conversions, while others, including the state of Gujarat, have attempted to reclassify other faiths and bring them into the fold of Hinduism.

“When the small number of fundamentalist Hindus who want to rule all India and continue to oppress Dalits saw these conversions to Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, they feared they were losing manpower and growing weaker,” says Vattipalli, himself a convert to Christianity. “They realised that soon they would become the minority and said that the other three religions were in fact branches of Hinduism.”

But that assertion met with little sympathy. “The other religions said no, we are not part of Hinduism so long as there is the caste system,’” says Vattipalli.

As their strength has increased, Dalit leaders and support groups have taken their battle further afield to help shift domestic policy.

“The Dalit movement is at a turning point in history,” says D’souza. “Most Westerners have never heard of Ambedkar, Phule, or Periyar, who were great Dalit leaders and writers. But since 2000, influential bodies such as the United Nations, the US Congress, the UK parliament have issued statements condemning caste discrimination. We are gaining momentum. We are gaining recognition that caste is similar to apartheid and deserves the involvement of the international community.”

Unsurprisingly, the talk over lunch at the wedding in Karimnagar is dominated by the topic of change. But any transition from such deeply entrenched positions may prove painful. If the caste system were to be abolished folowing next year’s crucial elections then, according to Vattipalli: “There may be clashes with Hindu fundamentalists because the Hindu scriptures are everything for them.”

His words seem to be have been born out after recent conflict in the states of Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Trouble in Orissa alone left 13,000 people without homes when Anti-Christian violence flared up after local Hindus accused Christian Dalits of murdering a controversial holy man. Claims of forced conversions were also levelled at the Christians. (Both allegations have been vehemently denied). During the most recent clashes, one Christian woman was left dead and scores of others were injured.

So far the outbreaks have been relatively contained, given the size and population of the country, but Moses Vattipalli fears that Dalit empowerment may prompt reprisals.

“Dalits will be angry because of injustices and oppression spread over the last 3000 years,” he warns. “There could be bloodshed, even civil war.”

But Dalit campaigner D’souza takes a different view. “Of course, any group of people that has been oppressed for thousands of years is tempted to take revenge, but I’m confident that Dalit leaders will follow the example of Gandhi and, even more so, BR Ambedkar,” he says. “They will respond with a firm but peaceful defence of their rights and human dignity.”

Posted on: October 13, 2008

India's Anti-Christian Violence Unparalleled Among World Democracies

For Immediate Release

Orissa violence continues unabated and enters seventh week. Despite Supreme Court ruling, police neglect duties.

NEW DELHI – October 4, 2008 – Despite the deployment of thousands of central and state law enforcement troops, the violence in Orissa continues to inflict daily casualties and massive damage to Christian properties.

Rev. Madhu Chandra, All India Christian Council (aicc) Regional Secretary, said, “The death tolls are climbing, but less than a hundred are confirmed. Perhaps this is why the Orissa attacks haven’t gained international attention the worst violation of the freedom of religion in any democracy in recent history. What most people don’t realize is the goal of the attackers is to inspire fear. The attackers believe India is only for Hindus and their stated purpose is to convert people to Hinduism or force them to leave. To accomplish this, they only need to kill one or two people in each village or church. This is clearly terrorism and ethnic cleansing, but few Indian leaders are admitting it.” Most of the victims are Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, from a tribe called Pano.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc president, said, “The events of the last month, not only the anti-Christian attacks but the negligence of government, would be sad if it happened in a dictatorship or a totalitarian regime. The fact that it’s happening in the world’s largest democracy makes it infinitely sadder.”

Some police, mostly in rural areas, are neglecting their duties. For example, a Roman Catholic nun was raped amidst mob violence on Aug. 25, 2008, in Kanjemandi village between Raikia and Balliguda, Kandhamal District, Orissa. A medical examination of the nun conducted that night at the Balliguda Hospital confirmed rape. Both the victim and a priest, who tried to defend her and was severely beaten, tried to file cases in the Nuagaon police station. Their “First Information Report” (FIR) was rejected. Eventually, the same FIR was accepted at the Balliguda police station. But, in spite of numerous eye witnesses, police didn’t investigate until 38 days after the attack and made four arrests yesterday.
India’s Supreme Court said on Aug. 8, 2008 that any police officer who turns away a person without registering his or her complaint could face contempt of court charges and imprisonment (see “Cops understand only crack of whip, says Supreme Court” by Dhananjay Mahapatra, Times of India, Aug. 9, 2008). Justice B.N. Agarwal and Justice G.S. Singhvi instructed victims to appeal to their local chief judicial magistrate or the chief metropolitan magistrate. Ironically, the decision was scheduled for review on Aug. 25th, the same day as the attack on the nun.

“We demand that the officials in Orissa follow the law. We know multiple cases where Christians have tried to file cases with police after being attacked and the police turned them away. Police say they are overwhelmed and don’t have time to file cases or investigate since they must focus on maintaining order. But surely they realize that, unless crimes are promptly punished, the perpetrators are indirectly encouraged to continue their crimes. Justice is being denied to hundreds of victims,” said Chandra.

There has been no news about a second rape case. A young nun of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Roman Catholic diocese working at Jan Vikas Kendra, a social service centre near Nuagaon, was reportedly gang raped by mobs on Aug. 24, 2008.

Similar violence lasted about a week over Christmas 2007. Some are calling it “Christian-Hindu clashes” but media reports and aicc Orissa state leaders confirm that Christians are the overwhelming victims and are not instigating attacks. There are scattered reports of Christians firing guns in self-defense. The current violence is entering its seventh week since it began on Aug. 23, 2008 after the killing of a controversial swami by unknown assailants. Extremist groups blamed Christians for the murder.

The violence spread to at least ten other states and has affected hundreds of churches and thousands of Indian Christians. Within Orissa, the violence spread to almost half of the districts, and then was contained to Kandhamal District. But now attacks are spreading again with incidents reported in Gajapati and Boudh districts in the last few days.

Other examples of recent violence include:
Sept. 26th – G. Udayagiri, Kandhamal District: A young Christian man named Rajesh Digal was on his way home from Chennai. While walking with his Hindu friend, they were attacked. The Hindu man was stabbed but escaped. Rajesh was buried alive.
Sept. 30th – Rudangia, Kandhamal District: About 60 houses of Christians were burned in the morning, and one Christian lady was shot and killed while seven others were injured.
Oct. 2nd – Sindhipakali, Kandhamal District: At 8 p.m., mobs attacked the village and set Christian houses on fire. They stabbed and killed a father and his teenage son in 9th standard (grade). Both were Dalit Christians.

Across Orissa, aicc leaders have reliable reports of 315 villages damaged, 4,640 Christian houses burnt, 53,000 Christians homeless, 57 people killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 priests/pastors/nuns seriously injured, 18,000 Christians injured, 2 nuns gang-raped, 149 churches destroyed, 13 Christian schools and colleges damaged.

The All India Christian Council (http://www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders

For more information, contact:
Madhu Chandra, aicc Regional Secretary, New Delhi

Posted on: October 4, 2008

India"s Civil Society Defends Christians in New Delhi Rally

About 15,000 people joined Peace & Solidarity Rally on International Day of Non-Violence. “Killers of Mahatma Gandhi are the same killers of Christians in India,” said Swami Agnivesh. Union Minister Lalu Prasad promised to bring up the anti-Christian violence in Parliament. Over 50,000 homeless Dalit & Tribal Christians in Orissa demanded refugee status from UNHCR

NEW DELHI – October 2, 2008 – About 15,000 Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhists including politicians and civil society leaders joined the Peace & Solidarity Rally on the International Day of Non-Violence which falls on the 139th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s ‘Father of the Nation’. The protest highlighted recent anti-Christian violence in India.

Addressing the rally, Swami Agnivesh said, “The very killers of Mahatma Gandhi are the same killers and abusers of Christians in Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country. The killers – the Hindutva fascists – do not represent the peace loving Hindu society. Rather they are damaging the Sanatam Dharma [Hindu way of life].”

India’s Union Minister of Railways, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav, broke his silence over anti-Christian violence across India. Addressing the rally, he said, “I will personally meet the Prime Minister and discuss the implementation of Article 355. I will also bring up the anti-Christian violence in Parliament and debate the hatred of Hindutva forces.” Article 355 of India’s Constitution allows the central government to warn a state government to stop internal disturbances or face federal action and possible dismissal.

In the morning, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mrs. Sheila Dixit, showed her solidarity and expressed concern and pain over the anti-Christian violence. She condemned the Hindu fanatics who are responsible for widespread crimes and causing damage to properties owned by the Christian minority.

Other dignitaries who participated in the rally included Mr. Oscar Fernandez, Union Minister of Labor; Mrs. Teesta Setalvad, General Secretary of Mumbai-based Citizens For Justice & Peace; Dr. Udit Raj, Chairman, All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe Organisations; Dr. Valson Thampu, Principal of the prestigious St. Stephen’s College of New Delhi; Mr. Sitaram Yechury, senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist); Ms. Shabnam Hashmi, senior leader of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy). There were additional speakers from Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu communities.

The rally concluded seven days of a “Sit-in Protest” organized by the Christians of Delhi and the NCR (National Capital Region). Major contributors included the Delhi Federation of Catholics and the All India Christian Council (aicc). Beginning on Sept. 26, 2008 at 10 a.m and ending today at 6 p.m., there was 152 hours of constant prayer and protest at Jantar Mantar – a park in the center of New Delhi – to express solidarity with victims. Most of the victims are Dalits, formerly called untouchables and officially categorized as Scheduled Castes by India’s government.

Rally participants shouted “Ban Terrorists, Ban Bajrang Dal,” “Ban Vishwa Hindu Parishad,” and “Ban Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” as they marched along a 5 km route from Jantar Mantar to Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Since the surge in violence beginning in rural Orissa on Aug. 23, 2008 after the murder of a controversial Hindu swami by unknown assailants, civil society groups, human rights activists, and various religious leaders have increasingly called for these Hindutva fundamentalist groups to be banned as terrorists.

Yesterday, a delegation led by noted film maker Mahesh Bhatt along with Christian victims from Orissa met the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in New Delhi and demanded refugee status for over 50,000 homeless Christians. The delegation included Dr. Abraham Mathai from the Indian Christian Voice and Dr. John Dayal, aicc Secretary General.

The toll of violence against Christians from Aug. 23 to Oct. 2, 2008:
BIHAR: 1 Church damaged; CHHATTISGARH: 4 Nuns assaulted; JHARKHAND: 1 Church attacked; KARNATAKA: 4 (of 29) Districts affected, 35 Churches damaged or destroyed, 20 Nuns and women injured by police; KERALA: 4 Churches damaged; MADHYA PRADESH: 4 Churches destroyed or damaged and 4 schools vandalized; NEW DELHI: 2 Churches damaged; ORISSA: 14 (of 30) Districts affected, 315 Villages damaged, 4,640 Houses burnt, 53,000 Homeless, 57 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 Women gang-raped, 149 Churches destroyed, 13 Schools and colleges damaged; PUNJAB: 3 Christians harassed and imprisoned by police on false charges; TAMIL NADU: 4 Churches damaged; UTTAR PRADESH: 3 Pastors and a pastor’s wife beaten; and UTTARAKHAND: 2 Christians murdered.

For immediate release

Posted on: October 2, 2008

United States Legislators Concerned about Violence Targeting Christians in Orissa

For immediate release

HYDERABAD – September 6, 2008 – Seven United States members of the House of Representatives sent a letter on Sept. 4, 2008, to India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ronen Sen, expressing concern about attacks on Christians in Orissa state. Also, on Sept. 3, 2008, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom called for action to stop the violence and accountability within India.

There are still sporadic reports of anti-Christian attacks from the eastern state of Orissa. The violence has entered its 15th day despite the emergency deployment of Central law enforcement troops. Attacks began on Aug. 23, 2008, after the murder of a controversial Hindu swami by unknown assailants.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc) said, “The global community is alarmed at the breakdown of law and order in Orissa, and rightly so. The widespread, continuing attacks on innocent Christians and violations of their human rights is unprecedented in India’s history. We welcome the concern of US politicians and all global citizens who believe in freedom of religion. As a proud Indian, I’m grieved that our democratic ideals are being hijacked by religious extremists.”

The seven American legislators were: Trent Franks, Chris Smith, Bill Sali, Robert Aderholt, Bob Inglis, Mark Souder, and Joseph R. Pitts. Excerpts of the letter: “We unequivocally condemn the murder of the Swami, yet we are also appalled to see how mob violence has taken root so quickly once again… The reports of brutal killings and the widespread destruction of property…are extremely disturbing and we strongly urge the Government of India to maintain a strong security presence to guarantee the protection of vulnerable communities which are facing the immediate risk of violence and death. …We urge the Government of India to take immediate steps to investigate these events and bring justice for the victims of the violence. In order to prevent future attacks, it is imperative that the government also address the climate fostering these attacks. India, with its great religious diversity, faces considerable challenges with communalism, but a democratic government must work to ensure the security and freedom of all its citizens.”

Past international condemnation includes last week’s statement by the Italian government and the Vatican as well as a joint letter by Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Dalit Freedom Network to the U.K. Foreign Secretary, U.S. Secretary of State, French Foreign Minister, and European Commissioner for External Relations. “We also welcome the condemnation of the riots by civil society Hindu leaders like Swami Agnivesh, President of the World Council of Arya Samaj, and Mahesh Bhatt, noted Bollywood film producer, and others,” said D’souza. On Friday, Sept. 5, 2008, Swami Agnivesh returned from a fact finding trip to Orissa and told reporters in Delhi that the attacks on Christians were “very similar” to the 2002 violence against Muslims in Gujarat.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008, India’s Supreme Court instructed the Orissa government to control the violence, and the Orissa authorities promised to halt a procession by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council) on Sept. 7, 2008. However, VHP leaders told Indian journalist they still planned to hold the “Shraad Yatra” on the 16th day of the swami’s death, a traditional funeral rite performed by Hindu sadhus. Previously, Christian leaders from all major denominations and church networks called for a day of prayer and fasting across India on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008.

The Supreme Court was hearing a case filed by Roman Catholic Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar seeking a Central government investigation into the riots. The Central government publicly approved the idea, but the Orissa state government must initiate a request for the probe and has, so far, declined. The only other way to start an investigation is through a court order.

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, Minister of Home Affairs Shivraj Patil visited the epicenter of the violence, Kandhamal District, and promised compensation for the victims.
Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu swami and VHP leader, was killed by unknown assailants on Aug. 23, 2008. VHP leaders publicly blamed Christians and mobs attacked Christians in at least 12 of 30 districts in the eastern state of Orissa. Christian leaders reported, as of Sept. 3, 2008, at least 4,014 Christian homes destroyed in 300 villages, an estimated 50,000 people displaced, two pastors and 24 other Christians killed, one nun gang raped, and over a hundred churches burned. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

From Dec. 24, 2007-Jan. 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed over 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.
The All India Christian Council (http://www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

Posted on: September 9, 2008

Citizen's Delegation meets President of India; Demands Central Government Action on Orissa

New Delhi, September 1, 2008, 18:25 hrs

A Citizen’s Delegation met President Pratibha Patil on Monday morning calling upon her to enforce Article 355 of the Constitution of India on Orissa so that the Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik administration takes adequate measures to protect Christians in the state from Hindutva violence.

The best legal opinion available. according to the delegation, was Article 355 which calls for imposition of President’s rule and New Delhi takes over reins of power. Article 355 reminds both New Delhi and state governments of their duties to protect States against internal disturbance and should be brought into force now.

The delegation reminded the President that the violence that has continued against Christians in Orissa from 23rd August till today justifies the use of this Article. The violence far exceeds that of Christians 2007, the delegation told the President, reminding her that she had a big role to play at this juncture.

In fact, violence has spilled out of Orissa into neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. In Orissa, it is not confined to Kandhamal but has affected other districts. In Kandhamal, fifty thousand people are hiding in forests or are in a few refugee camps, hiding from murderous gangs seeking to kill them or convert them to Hinduism, Over 4,000 houses have been completely destroyed apart from close to a hundred small and big churches which have been torched.

(Picture: Delegation meeting the President of India, Sep 1, 2008)

The Citizen’s Delegation, the first such to meet the President, was led by film maker Mahesh Bhatt , Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP, and Orissa Archbishop Raphael Cheenath. National Integration Council member Dr. John Dayal, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Maharashtra Government State Minorities Commission vice chairman Dr. Abraham Mathai, Jamiat leader Mohd Faruqi, All India Christian Council regional secretary Rev. Madhu Chandra, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese Federation President Adv. Jenis Francis and Mumbai’s Catholic Social Forum secretary general Joseph Dias were the other members.

The President gave the delegation a patient hearing and said she would have their demand for Article 355 examined. She said the government had briefed her on steps which had already been taken. Mr. Bhatt told the President that the State government was in a coma; its police totally complicit in the violence and the Sangh Parivar was running havoc.

Maulana Madani said it was a matter of security of India’s minorities. It was India’s concern for its minorities that had brought it respect internationally, and it was the object of deep concern globally. Archbishop Cheenath, Dr John Dayal and Dr Mathai briefed the President in detail about the Sangh violence in the state which has continued after the murder of the VHP vice President Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

Note: Attached were excerpts from letter to the President of India. See: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2357/47/

Following are excerpts from the Memorandum Citizen’s Memorandum to the President of India:

Letter to the President of India from Citizen’s Delegation

Following are excerpts from the Citizen’s Memorandum to the President of India:

September 1, 2008
Shrimati Pratibha Patil
The President of India

Your Excellency,

You are aware of the still continuing carnage against the Christian community, mostly Dalits and Tribals, in the Kandhamal district of Orissa and in several other districts including the state capital of Bhubaneswar since 23rd August 2003 following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, reportedly by Maoist groups who have been operating in the state for some time. The violence has now spread to some other states, especially Madhya Pradesh.

Nine months after attacks in Kandhamal District on Christians of Dalit, Hill peoples and Tribal ethnicity celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are deeply saddened by a repeat of the violence in the month of India’s Independence. The Christmas 2007 attacks claimed the lives of at least four Christians, and we verified the destruction of at least 105 churches and 730 Christian homes. The current spate of violence will exceed these totals as it continues to spread into other districts. Our estimate from Ground Zero is of close to two dozen people dead, one a Hindu girl burnt to death working for a Christian orphanage, a Nun has been gang raped, religious men and women personnel humiliated, beaten, tortured, some close to death, while policemen have looked on, or have been absent. We appeal for the restoration of law and order. But the root cause must also be addressed.

We, the secular civil society community, perceive that the great nation of India is at a tipping point. The groups, which favour a “Hindu Rashtra”, have made Orissa their laboratory, as they earlier did Gujarat. The so-called saffronisation of the state has been the subject of well-documented academic and socio-political studies. We entreat you, as President of the Republic, to enforce the rule of law upon Sangh Parivar organisations which blatantly flaunt their divisive agenda. Specifically, we call upon you to bring the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, and Bajrang Dal under the rule of law.

As Orissa authorities have repeatedly said there was ample circumstantial evidence of Maoist involvement in the killing of VHP leader Lakshmananada Saraswati and four others on August 23rd. Additionally, someone who identified himself as Azad, a leader of Maoist outfit, People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army claim responsibility for the killing as Times of India carries the news on August 30 referring to an interview with a leading Oriya daily on August 29.[1]

Yet Praveen Togadia, VHP general secretary, told an international journalist on August 27, “It is clear that the church killed the Swami.”[2] Gouri Prasad Rath, Orissa state VHP secretary, said, “This attack is the handiwork of the Christians.”[3] Subhash Chavan, national co-convener of the Bajrang Dal, said, “The police are trying to hide the truth by blaming the Maoists.”[4] An unnamed RSS spokesperson said, “This is an attack by the agents of Christian missionaries, whose attempts at forcible conversions the Swamiji countered.”[5] RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav told CNN IBN on Tuesday night⁶ that Christians were behind the murders. Perhaps based on a media report⁷, Madhav The final word lay with RSS supreme Kupahalli Sudershan who in a Press Statement faxed to the Media called the late VHP vice president a martyr for “stopping Christians from carrying on coversions.”

These types of irresponsible statements must be met with the full force of the law. They are all culpable for penal action under IPC 295A for the crime of creating enmity between communities and religions. This would benefit not only Orissa, but the nation.

We sincerely wish Swami Saraswati was not murdered and he still might be alive if the state government had followed the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities. The NCM urged the authorities to examine the speeches of Swami Lakshmananada to determine whether they amount to incitement to violence.[8] [9] We are confident that, if this had been done, the swami would have been jailed and protected from coming to any harm.

Your Excellency, the violence in Orissa continues without adequate police forces to stop mobs which break curfew and harm innocent civilians, chasing our fellow countrymen and women like animals in the forests where they have taken refuge since August 24. Today the irresponsible leaders of hardliner Hindu nationalist groups are damaging our great democracy and secularism of the nation.

We request you to order the Union Government and the State Administration to take legal action against the irresponsible organisations which called the bundh on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 and have passively watched their members wreak havoc. They must, of course, fully investigate the murder of the VHP vice president.

This is to request you to use your powers as President of India, and the tremendous force of your good offices, to impress on the Central Government to rush adequate Union forces, including contingents of the Armed Forces if required, to restore law and order and governance in the Kandhamal region.

The consequences of any further delay, we the secular civil society fear, may be catastrophic for the small Christian community in the State in particular, for peace in Orissa in general, and for the fair name of India as a secular country

Yours Sincerely and Most Respectfully,

[The delegation included: Bollywood film producer Mahesh Bhatt, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP, Orissa Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, National Integration Council member Dr. John Dayal, Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao, Maharashtra Government State Minorities Commission vice chairman Dr. Abraham Mathai, Jamiat leader Mohd Faruqi, All India Christian Council regional secretary Rev. Madhu Chandra, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese Federation President Adv. Jenis Francis, and Mumbai’s Catholic Social Forum secretary general Joseph Dias]

[1] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maoists_claim_Orissa_killing/articleshow/3423908.cms
[2] “Indian state erupts in violence after Hindu shot”, by Saeed Ahmed, CNN, Aug. 27, 2008.
[3] “Orissa on edge, VHP scoffs at Maoist theory”, see above
[4] “Orissa tragedy takes a backseat, hunt starts for scapegoat”, by Soumyajit Pattnaik, Hindustan Times, Aug. 25, 2008.
[5] “Orissa: Bandh-related violence claims 9,” by Krishnakumar P., Rediff.com, Aug. 26, 2008.
[6] “Blind Faith? Fragile Peace Blown to Bits”, CNN-IBN debate, Aug. 26, 2008, 10 p.m. IST.
[7] “Widespread anger in Kandhamal”, The Pioneer, Aug. 25, 2008.
[8] “This mischievous [VHP & Sangh Parivar anti-conversion] campaign has created an atmosphere of prejudice and suspicion against the Christian community and Christian priests and organizations. The role of the Sangh Parivar activists and the anti-conversion campaign in fomenting organized violence against the Christian Community deserves close scrutiny.” From “Report of the NCM visit to Orissa, 6-8 January 2008”, http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/orissa%20report.pdf.
[9] “The recommendation made by the NCM team that visited Orissa in January, 2008 that the State Government must look into the speeches of Swami Lakshmanananda to determine whether they amount to incitement to violence does not appear to have been acted upon.” From “Report on the Visit of the Vice Chairperson, NCM to Orissa, 21-24 April 2008”, http://ncm.nic.in/pdf/VC%20Tour%20Report%20of%20Orissa.pdf.

The All India Christian Council (http://www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

Released by

The All India Christian Council
Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary, New Delhi

Posted on: September 2, 2008

Massive rally in India's capitol and nation-wide closure of Christian schools

For immediate release

New Delhi, August 29, 2008

Reports of attacks from the eastern state of Orissa are decreasing, but many rural villages remain cut off from communication and being attacked at night. Outside Orissa, the Indian Christian community engaged in several peaceful protest actions to highlight the breakdown of the rule of law and governance. After six days of rioting, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, broke his silence and called the violence a “national shame”.

“We are thankful that we did not receive any reports of new attacks last night. However, there are literally thousands of displaced Christians whose homes were destroyed in the mob violence. Hundreds more are afraid to return home,” said Rev. P.R. Parichha, All India Christian Council (aicc) Orissa state president. “The violence in towns and cities seems to be over, but the villages face the strong possibility of more attacks since security forces are spread thin. We still are requesting military intervention,” said Parichha.

Media reports said Orissa officials estimate 4,000 Christian families are homeless. The death toll, currently at 17, is expected to raise as troops secure rural areas. The violence, which at one point spread across 12 of 30 districts in the state, now seems to be contained to Kandhamal District, the epicenter of similar attacks during Christmas 2007.

In protest of the collapse of governance and the rule of law in Orissa, about 10,000 Christians rallied in New Delhi this morning and were joined by Muslims, Buddhists, and progressive Hindus. Protestors tried to march to Orissa Bhavan (the official state government guest house in the capitol), but police issued a localized curfew to stop the rally. Attendees were forced to regroup at the Teen Murti traffic circle, but eventually reached Orissa Bhavan.

“Udit Raj, a major Dalit leader, and other non-Christian human rights activists clearly explained that the violence in Orissa is not because Christians are fraudulently converting people. That allegation is simply lie and hate propaganda.”

Civil society leaders suggested India needs an investigation into why Hindu nationalist organizations – who have converted tribals and Dalits in a major campaign – are not being held accountable under Orissa’s 1967 Freedom of Religion Act. “We must confront the fictional idea of “re-conversions”, created by Hindutva activists, which ignores the fact that these people’s ancestors were animists and not Hindus,” said Rev. Madhu Chandra, aicc Regional Secretary and a member of the rally’s organizing committee.

Also, an estimated 30,000 Christian schools across India closed their doors on Friday. The goal was to make millions of children – and their parents – aware of the evil of communal violence and the damage it is doing to the world’s largest democracy. Aicc and major church networks which called for the closure encouraged people to pray for victims as well as perpetrators. Much of the Indian press inaccurately reported that only Roman Catholic schools were closed.

Christian leaders are also calling for a day of prayer and fasting across India on September 7, 2008.

In the aftermath of the murder of a Hindu swami by unknown assailants on August 23, 2008, mobs attacked the Christian community across the eastern state of Orissa. Media reports and eye witness accounts from aicc leaders indicate thousands of Christian properties burnt, sexual assaults of nuns, and pastors killed in their homes. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

For more information, contact Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs, , +91-9989697778

Release by

Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary

Posted on: August 29, 2008

Unprecedented Anti-Christian Violence Spirals Out of Control in India

HYDERABAD, August 28, 2008, 23:15 hrs

For immediate release

Reports from eastern India of burning Christian homes, murdered pastors, and massive destruction of Christian property continued for a sixth day. All India Christian Council (aicc) leaders in Orissa state reported 17 Christians are dead and expect the figure to rise when communication is made with remote regions.

“Differences over religion cannot be blamed for these crimes. We are distressed at the defiance of law and order by Hindu fundamentalist leaders and their public comments which are spreading lies and hate. Their unpardonable excuse is that followers are uncontrollably angry about Christian conversions in the region,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President. “We are also deeply troubled by the state and central government’s inadequate response. The fact that identical attacks happened in the same area exactly nine months ago is unbelievable. What will convince authorities to protect human rights and enforce constitutional guarantees?”

Although some state authorities claimed there were no new attacks, the situation continues to spiral out of control, especially in rural villages. Yesterday police were given shoot on sight orders in Kandhamal District, the epicenter of the violence, because mobs were violating curfews. Also, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr. Prakash Jaiswal, was supposed to visit affected areas. But his trip was canceled due to security concerns. Aicc had reliable reports of increased violence in Gajapati District in the southern part of the state.

Today Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) sent joint letters to the U.K. Foreign Secretary, U.S. Secretary of State, French Foreign Minister, and European Commissioner for External Relations urging them to issue statements of concern about the anti-Christian attacks in Orissa. CSW and DFN are aicc partners in Britain and the USA, respectively. France currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Yesterday, in his afternoon address at Vatican Square, Pope Benedict XVI said he was deeply saddened by the violence against India’s Christians. A senior Vatican official called the attacks “a sin against God and humanity” according to one newspaper.

A seven member inter-denominational delegation from the aicc Orissa state chapter met with the governor, Mr. Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, for about 30 minutes this afternoon. “We apprised him of the situation and requested emergency deployment of the army, compensation for the victims, rebuilding of houses and churches, construction of relief camps, and restoration of the rule of law,” said Rev. P.R. Parichha, aicc Orissa state president. This evening the aicc Secretary General was scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the ruling Indian National Congress Party in Delhi.

The aicc is supporting the call from major Indian church networks to close all of India’s Christian schools on Friday, August 29, 2008. The groups want children – and parents – to learn about the situation in Orissa and realize that communal divisions are harmful for India. They have encouraged people to pray for victims as well as perpetrators. It is estimated that about 30,000 schools will close their doors across India.

Christian leaders are also calling for a day of prayer and fasting across India on September 7, 2008.

In the aftermath of the murder of a Hindu swami by unknown assailants on August 23, 2008, mobs attacked the Christian community across the eastern state of Orissa. On Monday, a 12 hour strike called by hardliner Hindu nationalist organizations resulted in the spread of violence. Media reports and eye witness accounts indicate thousands of Christian properties burnt, sexual assaults of nuns, and pastors killed in their homes. See dedicated webpage at: http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2332/45/

For more information, contact Sam Paul, aicc Secretary, Public Affairs, , +91-9989697778

Release by

Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary
9868184939

Posted on: August 28, 2008

Indian state erupts in violence after Hindu shot

Original article from CNN, by Saeed Ahmed.

The remote east Indian state of Orissa, historically a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions, erupted in violence this week after gunmen killed a Hindu leader and mobs burned churches in retaliation.

Four days of communal clashes left at least nine people dead. Authorities have imposed a curfew and ordered security forces to shoot violators on sight.

Pope Benedict XVI “firmly condemned” the fighting and urged the state’s residents to “re-establish with the members of the various communities the peaceful cohabitation and the harmony that has always been the distinctive mark of the Indian society.”

The Hindu leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, and four others were killed Saturday in the Kandhamal district when up to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and opened fire, Orissa’s chief minister’s office said.

Authorities have not definitively determined who killed Saraswati, but they detained five Christian people after the incident, said Sukanta Panda, spokesman for the chief minister.

The government said the killings may have been the work of Maoist rebels, but hardline Hindus blamed the Christian minority.

They took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses. They chopped down trees to block roads, making it difficult for police to reach trouble spots. Christian residents fought back.

By Wednesday, an eerie calm prevailed, but both Hindu and Christian leaders said they were bracing for the worst.

“The state is a mute spectator to the violence that has been unleashed in the Christian community,” Joseph D’Souza, president of the All India Christian Council, said Wednesday.

Amit Sharma of the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said Hindu people in the area had taken the death of the Swami (religious leader) “very seriously, and now they are going to pay them back.”

Orissa, on the east coast of India, is a poor state with a population of about 36.7 million: 94 percent are Hindu, with little more than 2 percent Christian.

However, for thousands, converting to another religion—such as Christianity or Islam—is the only way out of the confines of Hinduism’s centuries-old complex caste system.

The caste system dictates a Hindu’s lot in life, elevating some to positions as priests and labeling others as “untouchables.”

Some Hindu groups accuse missionaries of bribing or forcing Hindus into converting.

“There is no forcible conversion,” said D’Souza of the All India Christian Council. “This is nothing but pure political hate propaganda against the Christians when the root problem is, of course, caste oppression.”

The simmering anger sometimes boils over, with deadly consequences.

In 1999, a Hindu mob burned to death an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two children while they slept in their car.

At Christmas, clashing groups killed four people and burned several churches in Kandhamal.

D’Souza said Saraswati “piloted” the Christmas communal violence and had carried out a “vicious campaign against the Christians.”

Sharma said missionaries were threatened by Saraswati’s growing influence.

“He was doing a good job of propagating the bright points of Hinduism, and the missionaries were not able to convert the tribal people as effectively as they were doing previously,” Sharma said. “So they decided to do away with him.”

Investigators, however, have raised the possibility that Maoists rebels may be to blame.

The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed, have been battling the government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s.

However, Hindu groups insist Christians was behind Saraswati’s death.

“It is clear that the church killed the Swami,” said the Hindu council’s general secretary, Praveen Togadia. “The rest of what happened is something the government needs to investigate and tell the people of India.”

On Monday, Hindu hard-liners declared a general strike, prompting banks and markets to close across the state.

Mourners marched to a Christian orphanage and set it on fire. A 20-year-old woman who was teaching children burned to death, Panda said.

The next day, armed Hindus and Christians fired at each other, resulting in four deaths, he said.

Both sides said the communal violence had destroyed Christian churches and Hindu temples.

The violence spread to the state capital, Bhubaneshwar, about 140 miles (225 km) away.

Father Pius Fernandes said mobs threw stones at a children’s school and ransacked a nearby college.

“I would say the violence is seven times worse [than in December],” he said. “I mean, the government is trying its best. But it’s like a mad frenzy. They are just destroying everything.”

Posted on: August 27, 2008

Updated List of Violence Against Dalit Christians in Orissa

The aicc is maintaing this list to keep the world informed of the ongoing persecution of Christians, largely Dalits or Tribals, in India. This list is being updated daily as more incidents occur. Go to this link to see this list.

If you would like to help the victims, please click on the donate button now.

Posted on: August 27, 2008

DFN Statement on Bombings in Bangalore (Bengaluru)

On Friday afternoon, several small bombs went off in downtown Bangalore (officially called Bengaluru). Early media reports indicate that the targets were crowded locations and one report said they were “near refugee settlements”. It doesn’t seem like a particular religious community or nationality was targeted, but there has been no claim of responsibility yet. Most important, the blasts were far from our partner organization’s main campus, (Operation Mercy Charitable Company or OMCC). In addition, no international personnel from DFN or OMCC were near the bombings or affected in any way.

The phone networks are experiencing problems either because the authorities have temporarily shut them down or simply because of an increased volume of calls. Police and federal officials have assured the public that things are under control and urged people to continue with their daily lives. However, most businesses and schools have closed for the day and might remain closed for several days; this is typical response in India. There was a similar attack on the city of Jaipur in May 2008 and Hyderabad in August 2007. In both cases, the city residents and officials quickly calmed the situation and began investigations.

We expect a bulletin from the American Consulate in Mumbai or Chennai shortly and are in touch with our Indian partners living in and around Bangalore (via email, Skype, phone). We’ll inform you if there are any new developments in the coming hours.

Below are three stories from the local (Indian) media:
CNN-IBN, “5 blasts rock Bangalore, one killed”
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/5-blasts-rock-bangalore-one-killed/69540-3.html

NDTV, “Serial blasts rock Bangalore, 1 killed”
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080058672

Times of India, “7 blasts rock Bangalore; two killed, 20 wounded”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/7_blasts_rock_Bangalore_2_dead_20_wounded/articleshow/3279730.cms

Posted on: July 25, 2008

Dalit woman manual scavenger Film

Originally posted on WNN.

This 2003 film, shows the degrading conditions for a Dalit woman manual scavenger. Without protective gloves, masks or shoes she works to clean the dry latrines.

Posted on: May 16, 2008

Spring 08 Newsletter

Download the Spring 08 Newsletter to find out the latest news on DFN’s involvement with the Dalits in India.

Posted on: May 11, 2008

A 6 year old girl thrown on fire for being 'lowest class'

Original article from CNN.com.

Dalits, or “untouchables,” are victims of discrimination in India despite laws aimed at eliminating prejudice.

A man, incensed that a 6-year-old girl chose to walk through a path reserved for upper caste villagers, pushed her into burning embers, police in north India said Wednesday. She was seriously burned.

The girl is a Dalit, or an “untouchable,” according to India’s traditional caste system.

India’s constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country.

The girl was walking with her mother down a path in the city of Mathura when she was accosted by a man in his late teens, said police superintendent R.K. Chaturvedi.

“He scolded them both and pushed her,” Chaturvedi said. The girl fell about 3 to 4 feet into pile of burning embers by the side of the road.

The girl remained in critical condition Wednesday.

The man confessed to the crime and was charged with attempted murder, Chaturvedi said.

The assault took place in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Delhi. The state is governed by Mayawati, a woman who goes by one name and is India’s most powerful Dalit politician.

Her Bahujan Samaj Party seeks to get more political representation for Dalits, who are considered so low in the social order that they don’t even rank among the four classes that make up the caste system.

Hindus believe there are five main groups of people, four of which sprang from the body of the first man.

The Brahmin class comes from the mouth. They are the priests and holy men, the most elevated of the castes.

Next is the Ksatriyas, the kings, warriors and soldiers created from the arms.

The Vaisyas come from the thighs. They are the merchants and traders of society.

And the Sudras, or laborers, come from the feet.

The last group is the Dalits, or the “untouchables.” They’re considered too impure to have come from the primordial being. Untouchables are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells. They use different entry ways, coming and going from buildings.

They number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network.

“Dalits are seen to pollute higher caste people if they come in touch with them, hence the ‘untouchables,’” the group says on its Web site. “If a higher caste Hindu is touched by, or even had a Dalit’s shadow fall across them, they consider themselves to be polluted and have to go through a rigorous series of rituals to be cleansed.”

Recent weeks has seen a rise in violence against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, CNN’s sister network, CNN-IBN, reported Wednesday.

Posted on: May 1, 2008

Created Equal?

Linked from Listen Up TV.

Listen to the program

A multi-million dollar kidney transplant scam and its victims. We’ll examine religious realities in India that set people up to be sold for body parts.

We’ll also examine atrocious vulnerabilities amongst the poorest people in the world’s largest democracy. India is prosecuting the latest of an underground kidney trafficking ring that shocked the world.

Today we’ll learn about the people targeted for exploitation: those known as Dalits and scheduled caste’s. We’ll find out why they’re vulnerable to the most violent of human rights abuses. And we’ll hear a plea to speak out on their behalf after the trail of their misery found its way to Canada.

THE CONTEXT

A suspected mastermind accused of a shocking crime. Amit Kumar, is alleged to have coordinated the theft of human kidneys for sale in markets around the globe. Over 500 people from underprivileged castes in India were victimized in the scandal. Some desperate for money, sold their kidneys. Others were forced at gunpoint and drugged as their kidneys were surgically removed, then sold to wealthy recipients around the world.

In India, it’s led to nationwide revulsion. Charges of “crimes against life and health” were laid against Kumar, who made his home in Canada where he was known as a medical doctor and where he kept his money and family.

Indian police said teams of kidney scouts roamed labour markets in Delhi and cities in India’s poorest state, searching for potential donors for the kidney scam. Implicated in the case are 20 paramedics, five nurses, three hospitals, 10 clinics and seven police charged with accepting bribes.

Kumar denies all wrong doing. News reports here, say emails he had been receiving suggest Kumar was getting transplant inquiries from Canada.

Posted on: March 16, 2008

Rally taken out against Kandhamal violence

Original source from a staff reporter of The Hindu Newspaper.

(Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty)
IN PROTEST MODE: Activists of All India Confederation of SC/ST taking out a rally against Kandhamal violence in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

BHUBANESWAR: A fortnight after the communal violence engulfed several remote villages of Orissa’s Kandhamal district, church leaders and hundreds of villages, who claimed to be victims, staged a demonstration here on Thursday raising slogans against ‘sangh parivar groups and apathetic State administration.’

All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations (AICSO) and All India Christian Council (AICC) took out the rally which was participated by several leaders from Christian community from Master Canteen Square to Lower PMG Square.

Speaking to media, AICSO Chairman Udit Raj said: “I don’t think that the State government, led by Naveen Patnaik, is a secular government since BJP is the ruling alliance.”

He flayed the State government for its reported announcement of probe into violence through the perspective of involvement of Left wing extremists. “The State government does not have any proof of any NGO having links with extremists groups. And they even lack evidence of connection with naxalite groups with churches. The allegations are baseless,” Mr. Raj said. State government should produce proof of its claims, he dared.

Several priests of Churches described as to how the victims of violence spent their days of horror in forests.

They said several families had to consume roots and leaves and drink dews deposited on leaves.The State-level coordination committee on communal harmony, which met here on Thursday, recommended putting a grievance redressal mechanism in place for the communal disturbances. Moreover, such forum should also be activated in panchayat, block and district level in order to act proactive manner to prevent communal disturbance in the State, it said.

Meanwhile, Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA), which was pressed into service to carry out relief and rehabilitation programmes after violence broke out, said distribution of food, winter clothes and other necessary articles were going on in full swing.

Single window system approach had been adopted for distribution of relief and all types of facilities were made available at the three relief camps, it said.

Posted on: January 11, 2008

Speakers at Historic Rally Demand Orissa Government Tell Truth about Christmas Attacks on Christians

Written by AICC
Thursday, 10 January 2008

For immediate release

About 10,000 protestors from all religious backgrounds; speakers slam Orissa government for blaming Naxalites involvement and limiting Christian NGOs relief efforts

BHUBANESWAR – Jan. 10, 2008 – Today about 9,000-10,000 people marched to the Orissa State Assembly building in Bhubaneswar to protest Christmas attacks on Christians and demand justice for victims. Rally speakers demanded the Orissa state government stop making allegations about Christian association with an outlawed Maoist rebel movement and allow Christian churches and groups to provide direct relief to victims.

“Some people have characterized the violence as a Hindu-Christian clash. This is wrong. Dalit Christians were clearly the targets and innocent victims. The state government has also made baseless accusations that some Christian NGOs are aligned with Naxalites. The authorities must write a white paper or give proof about these sensitive issues instead of spreading rumors,” said Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations. Naxalites are Maoist rebels who often attack government installations throughout central India. Most are disenfranchised Dalits or Tribals.

Christian leaders expressed concern about relief efforts for the devastated Christians in Kandhamal District. “Orissa’s government should allow direct relief projects by churches and Christian NGOs. Currently, we are being told we can only distribute blankets, food and other supplies through the District Collectors. We are deeply concerned this will delay needed assistance and could create opportunities for discrimination or corruption,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, President, All India Christian Council (aicc). “There is no logical reason to ban the direct involvement of established, peaceful Christian organisations that are already registered with the government.”

Bishop Joab Lohara of the Free Methodist Church said, “We are worried about reports that aid to the homeless Christians still in relief camps is not being fairly distributed. We appeal to authorities to be even-handed in their compensation to victims of this horrific violence. They have suffered enough already.”

The “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” was sponsored by the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations and the aicc. Protestors met at Master Canteen Chowk and marched to the Orissa State Assembly. Speakers included Raj, D’souza, Lohara, as well as Muslims, progressive Hindus, and Buddhists.

Rally organisers also announced they would set up a “Communal Harmony Monitoring Group” which will closely watch relief and compensation for victims and report progress to the national offices of the aicc and SC/ST Confederation. Dr. Udit Raj also demanded that any enquiry commissions set up by the Orissa government include representatives from both the aicc and SC/ST Confederation since they represent Christians and Dalits, respectively.

In the last few days, aicc leaders released two fact finding reports on the anti-Christian violence after visits to rural Orissa. Newly confirmed cases of arson, murder, and assault make this violence qualify as the largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India. Both reports show that the Dalits – formerly known as untouchables – were the main group affected by the violence. Reports are at:

http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1826/45/ and

http://groups.google.com/group/JohnDayal/browse_thread/thread/17aef1aebe4f1e70

According to media reports, three investigators appointed by India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) are currently in Orissa. A Christian delegation, including an aicc leader, met with the NHRC chairman on Dec. 31, 2007 in New Delhi to request the visit.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in Bamunigaon village in Kandhamal district of Orissa began to celebrate Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, 2007. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a quarrel ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—he alleged they were Christians. The next day a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-affiliated group called for a strike and VHP members began attacking Christians across the state.

For more information, contact:
Benjamin Marsh
bmarsh@dalitnetwork.org
(919) 841-8280

Posted on: January 10, 2008

Facts Emerge on Christmas Violence in Orissa: 730 Homes, 95 Churches Destroyed, 4 Dead, More Missing

For immediate release:

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India – All India Christian Council (aicc) leaders released two reports on the anti-Christian violence in Orissa which began on Christmas Eve. Newly confirmed cases of arson, murder, and assault make this violence qualify as the largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India. Both reports show that the Dalits – formerly known as untouchables – were the main group affected by the violence.
Four leaders from aicc chapters in Orissa visited the affected villages from January 3-5 and released their report on Jan. 7, 2008. The report says 95 churches were vandalized or destroyed, 730 Christian homes burnt, and four Christians killed with many still missing and presumed dead. To view the entire Fact Finding Report, see:http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1826/45/

On Jan. 5, 2008, aicc Secretary-General John Dayal released a white paper after visiting the area. Advocate Nicholas Barla, a lawyer and human rights expert, and Mr. Hemant Nayak, a social scientist and human rights and development activist, were also part of the fact finding team. They concluded that the attacks on Christians included simultaneous, planned violence by extremist Hindutva supporters and complicity and consistent incompetence by police and local authorities. To view the entire white paper, see:http://groups.google.com/group/JohnDayal/browse_thread/thread/17aef1aebe4f1e70

According to media reports, two members from India’s National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Dileep Padgaonkar and Zoya Hasan, are currently in Orissa to investigate the violence. Aicc leaders met with the NCM chairman on Dec. 27, 2007 in New Delhi.

“We are saddened to acknowledge the violence in Orissa will go into the history books as an unprecedented attack on Christians in India. The tragedy is deepened by proof that the violence was avoidable if the authorities had enforced the rule of law,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, aicc President.

Together with the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations led by Dr. Udit Raj, the aicc will hold a “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, on January 10, 2008. Protestors will meet at 10am at Master Canteen Chowk and march to the Orissa State Assembly for a public meeting. Confirmed speakers include Dr. Udit Raj, Dr. Joseph D’souza, Bishop Joab Lohara of the Free Methodist Church, and victims from Orissa.

“Many have expressed outrage with the authorities and Hindutva extremists whose actions hurt innocent people during Christmas – a season of peace across the world. But we must express our anger and frustration in a peaceful manner. I invite all Indian citizens of good will to join the “Stop Violence Against Christians Rally” on Thursday,” said D’souza.

The violence allegedly began when Christians in Bamunigaon village in Kandhamal district of Orissa began to celebrate Christmas Eve. Local Hindu fundamentalists opposed the event and a quarrel ensued. Also, a Hindutva leader, Swami Saraswati, was attacked by unknown assailants—he alleged they were Christians. The next day a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-affiliated group called for a strike and VHP members began attacking Christians across the state.

The All India Christian Council (www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

The Dalit Freedom Network’s mission is to partner with the Dalits (India’s Untouchables) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational, and financial resources. Their website is: www.dalitnetwork.org

Posted on: January 8, 2008

Fact Finding Report by aicc Orissa Chapter

Posted on: January 7, 2008

Educating India's Untouchables

On the outskirts of Secunderabad, Pipe Village is home to a community of Dalits, India’s ‘untouchable’ caste. Here, behind the factory in which many of them are forced to work as bonded labourers, concrete drainage pipes and bushes form the structural basis of one of the world’s poorest villages. Peter Hodge went to visit the community and talk to members of Operation Mercy, an organisation dedicated to bringing hope and enlightment to India’s most underprivileged class

Original story at The Guardian
Wednesday January 2nd 2008
By Peter Hodge

The village is mostly empty when I arrive, escorted by Binu Varghese and Bright Ericherla who work for Operation Mercy Charitable Company, created to address the need for Dalit education. A few women and toddlers emerge to greet the strangers. The industrial clatter in the background indicates that the men are hard at work, most of them virtual slaves until their debts are repaid. If any of them run away a family member will be forced to take their place.

Most of the “untouchables” who live in this village accept their fate; their status in the Indian social system, sanctioned by the Hindu religion, has been drummed into them their whole life.

“They are exposed to everything here,” says Binu, who is the Human Resource Officer for the 67 schools run by OMCC, as he leads me through the tidy village. The Dalits here live in pipes. Most of the pipes are about 1.5 metres in diameter; a number have mud-brick extensions and doorways fashioned from scrap wood and metal. The smaller pipes are only 75cm in diameter and the tenants must crawl on their hands and knees to enter. On a corrugated iron sheet that forms the side of one of the houses, letters of the English alphabet are scrawled. A young boy, using a stick as his pointer, runs through the list for us from start to finish.

There are no toilets in the Pipe Village, only bushes populated by snakes and wild dogs. The factory allows the villagers to draw water from its tap, and once provided electricity – until it was discovered that the villagers were “abusing” it to watch television and listen to radios.

Bright, a Dalit himself, is the community development organiser for families and villages connected with the local school. Unlike many Indians – even those who have converted to other religions – Binu doesn’t know what caste he is.

Operation Mercy has earned the trust of the villagers, and so I feel welcome in the Pipe Village. The factory owners, however, would have been less than pleased to learn of our visit. Moses Vattipalli, who compiles records of abuses against Dalits for the All India Christian Council, tells me that the rate of abuses is often higher in regions where Dalits are making the most progress.

“These people don’t know how to read or write,” says Jose MD, of OMCC. “They never read a newspaper, and they don’t know what programmes exist.” Illiteracy and the prejudice of other castes have meant that Dailts were never able to lean on the Indian legal system. “Many people don’t know how to file a case,” Jose MD explains. “Even if they go to the police they wouldn’t know how to fill out a form.” OMCC sends lawyers into communities like the Pipe Village to educate residents about how the justice system can work for them.

I am taken to the stonecutter’s village on the edge of a quarry. Here, also, most of the men are bonded labourers. Stone shards shower down on the village when blasting is taking place. As this village is situated on government land, Operation Mercy has been able to install several sanitation blocks with septic tanks. They are kept in immaculate condition by the villagers.

OMCC has set up a tailoring school in the village for the young girls. Skills-training is vitally important for Dalits, Jose asserts. “If an investor comes from Australia, where are they going to put their money? My people are not skilled. How are they going to produce anything?” Without an employable skill, Dalits can’t even hope to find work in a big city. It is hoped that these girls, proudly displaying their portfolios of garments to me, will soon be in a position to sell their products.

Successes such as these have encouraged OMCC to embark on many different skills-training projects. One unit assembles solar panels; another trade is carpentry; along with marketing skills to help villagers sell their finished products. Many of the projects are for women, who are easy to reach in the villages and, after they are trained, are able to provide a second income stream for their families.

The organisation tries not to impose too many rules and regulations. “Many people have seasonal jobs,” says Jose. “They say: ‘When the next season comes we’ll pay.’” It is the responsibility of the whole community to repay loans, and almost 87% of the funds borrowed are repaid, according to Jose. “Once you become a boss and start telling them what to do, it doesn’t work in any community,” he says. “Each village has its own culture, its own nature. We ask them what they think and what they want us to do. They come and say: ‘No, this will not work, this is the way…’”

Later I visit the Good Shepherd School in Logos Bhavan, the centre where OMCC and its partner, the Dalit Freedom Network, have their offices. Bright takes me from class to class, where I see neatly attired students, happy, just a little cheeky, and almost completely engaged with their learning tasks. Here, children from the Pipe Village are learning about new possibilities. They are granted “the power to dream”, as Binu puts it, that their parents were denied. This generation of young Dalits, particularly those reached by organisations like OMCC, will not be so submissive to their fate.

Donate to the Pipe Village Toilet Project by clicking here.

Posted on: January 4, 2008

National Association of Evangelicals Puts Forth a Statement of Conscience Concerning the Dalits

Written in Conjunction with the Dalit Freedom Network, Historic Statement Calls for Action on Behalf of Dalits in South Asia

Washington, DC – The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) Board of Directors on Thursday, October 11, 2007 unanimously agreed to put forth a Statement of Conscience Concerning the Dalits. This Statement is the third Statement of Conscience from the NAE and the first dealing with the crisis of Caste abuse and Untouchability in India.

The Statement was written in conjunction with the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) and was presented to the Board by DFN International President Joseph D’Souza. Dr. D’Souza introduced the Statement with a broad overview of the present challenges facing Dalits and encouraged the leaders around the room to rise to the challenge of facing the world’s largest and oldest form of mental and spiritual slavery.

The response was overwhelming, said Dr. D’Souza. NAE’s leadership understands the critical nature of anti-Dalit persecution and has risen to face it with this strong statement.

There are those who suggest that to judge the practices of another culture is unsuitable, and a violation of tolerance. But moral absolutes do exist, there is justice and injustice and evangelicals intend to stand up and demonstrate Christ’s own love for the poor and the oppressed around the world, said Richard Cizik, NAE Vice President for Governmental Affairs.

The Statement of Conscience Concerning the Dalits begins with a broad overview of Caste and the abuse that follows from its hierarchical mindset, including physical violence against Dalits, economic discrimination, social discrimination, and religious persecution. The Statement then contains a moving “Call to Action” for all Christian leaders to publicly acknowledge the discrimination facing the Dalits and to call on the Government of the United States to work with Indian leadership to end Caste discrimination. Significantly, the Statement calls on the Government Accounting Office to prepare a report detailing the effects of foreign aid on the Dalits and calls on the State Department to produce a report dealing solely with the issue of Caste discrimination in South Asia

The Statement of Conscience Concerning the Dalits is available from the NAE’s website (http://www.nae.net) and from DFN’s website at the bottom of this article.

The mission of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is to extend the kingdom of God through a fellowship of member denominations, churches, organizations, and individuals, demonstrating the unity of the body of Christ by standing for biblical truth, speaking with a representative voice, and serving the evangelical community through united action, cooperative ministry, and strategic planning. Founded in 1942, the Association is currently led by president Leith Anderson, senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, MN. NAE represents more than 45,000 local churches from 61 different denominations and serves a constituency of millions.

NAE 2007 Statement of Conscience Concerning Dalits-Adopted 10-11-2007.pdf

Posted on: October 25, 2007

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee and DFN'S Kumar Swamy Travels to India

NEW YORK, October 10, 2007 – With one billion people, India is the world’s largest democracy, often cited as an example to developing nations. India, however, has a dirty little secret—a caste system that still excludes more than 150 million people, known as Dalits. What’s it like to be a Dalit kid?

Award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee travels to India to give American kids a first-hand look into the world of the Dalits on Nick News’ The Untouchable Kids of India, premiering Sunday, October 21, at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

In India, if you’re born Hindu, which 80% of the population is, you’re automatically assigned a place in India’s 3000-year-old caste system. But then there are the Dalits, the outcasts, or as they had been more commonly known, the untouchables – people deemed so far below the rest they’re considered to be sub-human. And although it has been illegal in India to practice “untouch-ability” since 1950, inequality and segregation still occur.

“We’ve seen kids here in America fight racism. Now we’re watching kids in India do the same,” said Ellerbee. “It’s inspiring.”

Viewers meet Sangeeta, a 12-year-old girl who lives in a village where Dalit and non-Dalit are strictly segregated. As Sangeeta explains, “The upper caste people would not want me drinking water from their well. The children are telling me don’t come over here. I am ashamed about my caste. I am getting angry.”

Next, viewers are introduced to 15-year-old Jagdeesh who lives in a Dalit village totally isolated from the main village. Jagdeesh has had trouble with people in the main village. “They are threatening that if I pass through their village they will definitely make sure that I am beaten up very badly.” He hopes the government will help correct the injustices Dalits face.

Many Dalits are now refusing to be victims. Neeru is a young girl who makes films about her experiences, hoping to educate both Dalits and non-Dalits. Neeru’s controversial films have been banned in the past; however, that doesn’t stop her from continuing to make movies. Neeru says, “When I see the work which is being done, I am proud about it. Even I can do something. I am worth something.”

Lastly, we meet Jayesh and Ashish, two 14-year-old boys who became friends before they knew they weren’t supposed to. Jayesh is Dalit. Ashish is a member of an upper caste. Ashish says, “I want to tell every one of them to please stop all of this, we are all one, we should remain one.”

Says Ellerbee, “Can they change their world? As Gandhi said, ‘you may never know what result may come from your action, but if you do nothing, there will be no result.’

Nick News, which last year celebrated its 15th year anniversary, is the longest-running kids’ news show in television history, and has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about the important issues of the day. Over the years, Nick News has received more than 20 Emmy nominations and numerous Emmy wins. Most recently, in 2007, “Private Worlds: Kids and Autism” won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming. In 1994, the entire series, Nick News, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming. In 1998, “What Are You Staring At?” a program about kids with physical disabilities, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming. In 2002, “Faces of Hope: The Kids of Afghanistan,” won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming. In 2004, two Nick News Specials, “The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS” and “There’s No Place Like Home,” a special about homeless kids in America, were both nominated for the Outstanding Children’s Programming Emmy. In 2005, it won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming for its show, “From the Holocaust to the Sudan.” Nick News, produced by Lucky Duck Productions, is also the recipient of three Peabody Awards, including a personal award given to Ellerbee for her coverage for kids of the President Clinton investigation. The series has also received two Columbia duPont Awards and more than a dozen Parents’ Choice Awards.

Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in almost 94 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

Posted on: October 18, 2007

Wall Street Journal - Dalit Converts face Discrimination

From the Dalit Freedom Network

DFN International President Joseph D’Souza is quoted in this front-page article from The Wall Street Journal on September 19, 2007. The article contains insightful coverage of the discrimination that Dalit Christians and Muslims face on a daily basis. The Dalit Freedom Network has been advocating on their behalf in the US before the Congress, at the White House, and with the State Department through our advocates in Washington, DC. Additionally, DFN’s partner, the All India Christian Council (aicc) works tirelessly in New Delhi to change state and local Indian laws to better reflect India’s commitment to religious freedom and democracy.

One of the main forms of discrimination against Dalit Christians and Muslims comes from the Reservation system, which the Journal article calls an affirmative action program. The Indian government reserves a percentage of government jobs and university openings for members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Christians and Muslims, however, are strictly excluded from the program. If a Dalit has earned one of these jobs or student positions and then becomes a Christian or Muslim, that person will lose his/her job or position. Thus, many Christian and Muslim Dalits feel compelled to hide their religious identity.

As the article says: “India’s Supreme Court is currently reviewing several challenges filed by Christian and Muslim Dalits that could result in an overturning of the affirmative-action exclusion.” The Supreme Court is supposed to rule on a case on November 28th dealing with Christian Dalits receiving their federal benefits. This judgment has been postponed several times for several different reasons given by the government.

At the core, however, the government has been extremely reluctant to see Reservation benefits extended to Christians and Muslims for fear of losing Hindu support and thus losing their parliamentary majority. DFN and the aicc work closely with Christian and Muslim leaders across India to see Reservation extended to people of all faiths in India.

Joseph D’Souza is quoted near the end of the article in a section discussing the partnership between Muslims and Christians in fighting discrimination. He has gained the attention of international media for his willingness to work with people of all faiths to see religious freedom protected and Untouchability defeated. Dr. D’souza has stood on a platform with Islamic, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and secular leaders and spoken on how to fight Dalit discrimination for people of all faiths.

One powerful way in which Dr. D’souza leads joint efforts to address caste is through huge community gatherings in which people from all castes and creeds eat from a common plate of rice and curry; traditionally, Dalits and non-Dalits will not eat together.

“This is a real physical demonstration against caste discrimination,’ says Joseph D’souza, the president of the All-India Christian Council, who has organized many of these gatherings.

There is a related picture set here from The Wall Street Journal.
This media coverage is a confirmation of the importance of the work of the DFN and her partners. We are proud to highlight this article for you with the hope that you will share with others.

For more information or to contact Dr. D’souza, please email to or call 1-866-921-1333

Posted on: October 5, 2007

World Vision Report: Interview with Nanci Ricks

When Nanci Ricks went on a church mission trip to India she was stunned by the treatment of the Dalits. They are the so-called “untouchables”—people born to a life of dehumanizing jobs and substandard living conditions as dictated by the Hindu caste system. Many are routinely abused. Ricks tells host Peggy Wehmeyer she came home to Colorado and formed the Dalit Freedom Network. It’s a non-profit organization that works to provide healthcare, economic development, and public advocacy to free the Dalits from a life of modern slavery. Listen to the 6 minute interview by clicking here.

Posted on: September 6, 2007

US House of Representatives Passes Historic Resolution on Untouchability

by Ben Marsh, Social Justice Coordinator, Dalit Freedom network

July 23, 2007

House Concurrent Resolution 139 (see downloadable file below) is the First Official Statement on Untouchability by US Congress

Washington, DC – The House of Representatives today passed HCR 139, “expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India,” by voice vote this afternoon.

The resolution is the first of its kind from the United States Congress. Sponsored by Congressman Trent Franks and Co-Sponsored by thirty-three leading human rights advocates in Congress including Congressman Tom Lantos, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the bill contains historic language on untouchability in India, including a lengthy findings section detailing the effects of untouchability and caste abuse on outcastes in India.

The resolution calls on the United States government to work with India to address the problem of untouchability by raising the issue of caste discrimination through diplomatic channels and encouraging US businesses, USAID, the State Department, and other US programs and organizations working in India to take every possible measure to ensure Dalits are included and are not discriminated against in their programming.

“We have seen history made in this resolution,” said Nanci Ricks, Executive Director of the Dalit Freedom Network. “This resolution should encourage all Dalits suffering under caste discrimination in India. The United State Congress has heard of the atrocities of caste and has responded. We hope that the United States Government and US businesses working in India will heed this statement by the House and will join with the Dalit Freedom Network in fighting the effects of caste across India.”

Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the Dalit Freedom Network, praised the leadership of Congressman Franks and the many others whose active support of the Dalit cause made HCR 139 possible: “without the leadership of Members of Congress like Congressmen Franks, Wolf, Smith, Sali, Tancredo, Pitts, and Congresswoman Kilpatrick in sponsoring Dalit events, film screenings, and hearings and directing their staff to advocate on this issue with vigilance, this historic moment would have never happened. They and the many others who have worked to make this resolution a reality have earned the gratitude of millions of Dalits across India.”

The resolution will face a concurring vote from the Senate soon.

Download House Concurrent Resolution 139

HCR_139.pdf

Posted on: July 23, 2007

Thousands of Christians "Arrested" in Peaceful Protest Against Growing Anti-Christian Violence

For immediate release

May 29, 2007

NEW DELHI, INDIA – May 29, 2007: More than 4,000 protesters marched through the streets of India’s capital today to call for the Union Government of India to break its silence on violence against Christians across the country. The rally, called “Stop Violence On Christians”, was organized after two recently televised attacks on Christians and an increase of anti-Christian incidents in the first few months of 2007.

The rally started at 10am at Jantar Mantar near the Parliament in New Delhi. Rally organizers had expected 2,000 people, but attendance was estimated at 5,000. Speeches demanded human dignity and constitutional rights for the Christian community and other repressed minorities. Minorities are facing harassment from Hindutva fundamentalists and, in many cases, local government officials.

The Station House Officer, Parliament Street Police Station, said he had “arrested” approximately 4,000 people at 1:05pm and released them at 2:10pm. It is standard practice for protesters who obstruct traffic to be detoured into the police station yard. They are temporarily detained for their own protection and allowed to state their demands to police authorities.

“This was the first time since November 1997 that such large numbers of Christians have been arrested in the Parliament Street Police Station. It was incredible to see Catholic nuns, Protestant pastors, civil society activists and more singing Christian songs of liberation within the police station,” said John Dayal, Secretary General, All India Christian Council (aicc).

Large numbers of Catholics and Evangelicals were joined by Muslims, Buddhists and progressive Hindus, leaders of various women’s organizations, students groups from several universities, and Christian lawyers, teachers, and professors. Rally organizers reported attendees from at least seven states in India.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council, said, “The diversity of protesters, from several religious communities, different Christian denominations, and even civil society groups, show that India’s citizens want a truly secular India. People should be able to practice their faith without violent attacks. The government’s silence in the face of recent anti-Christian incidents is not only an injustice, it is dangerous.”

Christian leaders fear copycat attacks could come in the future due to silence by government authorities after recently televised beatings of pastors. Throughout the morning crowds chanted, “Prime Minister, your silence kills”.

At 12:15pm, crowds began a march to present a memorandum of demands to the Prime Minister of India. However, a majority of the attendees were detained at the Parliament Street Police Station. Organizers said that they decided not to submit the memorandum as originally planned. Instead, it will be released as an open letter to the government.

Recent victims of anti-Christian violence spoke, such as Rev. Walter Masih from Jaipur, Rajasthan, whose beating by masked attackers on April 29, 2007 was broadcast nationally. Rev. Masih walks with a limp due to the attack and shared his experience with the crowd inside the police station with the help of a police PA system.

Throughout the day, other speakers protested the recent wave of violence, demanded immediate implementation of the Misra Commission recommendations, and even proposed new legislation.

Bishop Karam Masih, Bishop of Delhi, Church of North India (CNI), said, “Today I don’t come as a CNI leader. I come as a Christian. All denominations should unite until all the anti-Christian atrocities stop.”

Dr. Ms. Begum Fatima Shahmaz, India Peace Organization, said, “Those parties and groups who are persecuting Christians should be treated as terrorists. It is unacceptable to attack others based on a difference in spiritual beliefs.”

Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman, All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Organizations, said, “Today there is a special unity of Christians and Dalits around the country. We, Dalits, have been attacked for thousands of years and you have been recently attacked. Christians have given much to this country so I want to teach you how to be united, and, if you are united, we can stop the attacks.”

Mr. Mudra Rakshas, noted Hindi writer and theatre artist, said, “Because of the increasing attacks, we need a new law that tells police how they should handle people who are mistreating Christians. We should agitate until the new law comes.”

The Misra Commission, officially called the National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities, recommended last week that the Union Government change a 1950 law which restricts government benefits to Scheduled Castes who are Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Scheduled caste is the official term for the Dalit or, formerly “untouchable”, community. Millions of poor Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians would benefit from the change and the recommendations will likely affect pending cases before the Supreme Court of India.

The All India Christian Council (aicc) was a co-sponsor of the rally. Other organizers included several Christian groups and the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations.

The aicc said meetings similar to the Delhi gathering were planned for today in Mumbai and smaller cities like Nagpur and Pune. They also confirmed that yesterday, in 23 of 25 districts in Andhra Pradesh, protest marches were held under the leadership of local aicc chapters.

In 2006, there was an incident of harassment or violence against Christians approximately once every three days. In the first four months of 2007, there has been an attack every other day on average, according to records kept by the aicc. In addition to the televised attack on Rev. Masih, an attack by Hindutva activists on two pastors in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, was televised on May 9, 2007.

For more information, contact:

Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network

(703) 974-1243

Posted on: May 30, 2007

India's Bishops Praise U.S. Proposal on Castes

Resolution Decries Plight of Untouchables

MUMBAI, India, Read full article in Zenit News Agency – The World seen from Rome archives for MAY 15, 2007 – The bishops of India welcomed a resolution placed before the U.S. Congress that asked the lawmaking body to encourage an end to India’s caste system.

Republican Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona introduced the resolution May 2. In his presentation he called on “the Indian government and the world community to look with compassion upon India’s untouchables and reach out to one of the most oppressed peoples on earth.’’

In his address to the members of Congress, Franks called the caste system an “abhorrent form of persecution and segregation” that is particularly harsh on India’s Dalits—members of the “untouchable” caste—especially Dalit women.

“This Congress,” Franks argued, “must urge an end to the social discrimination and injustice faced by the nearly 250 million people known as Dalits in India.”

Franks told ZENIT why he brought this issue to light now: “The plight of the ‘untouchables’ in India is truly one of the most critical human rights issues of our time.

“Millions of these individuals are regarded as less than human and live in some of the most wretched conditions known to humanity.

“We are compelled by the unalienable truth that all men are created equal to contend for the rights of the poor and the oppressed, and it is to that end that I have and will continue to stress the urgency of the Dalits’ cause to Congress and to the world.”

Indian response

Although the resolution has not been adopted, AsiaNews reported that the Catholic bishops’ conference of India expressed its gratitude that the issue was brought to public attention.

Father Arokiaraj Cosmon, the executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Dalits, explained the tragic nature of the caste system, highlighted in the resolution.

“Dalits’ conditions are well-known both at home and abroad,” the priest said. “They are economically and socially ostracized, denied equal access to education and political life.

“Out of 250 million of them, there are 16 million who are twice as penalized because they are Christian.”

“Most violence visited upon Dalits affects women,” Father Cosmon continued. “They cannot report crimes, especially sex crimes, or ask for police assistance because what they say is not taken into consideration.

“Most lawyers and police officers come from the upper castes and are not well disposed towards victims.”

Still, Father Cosmon insisted that education could aid the plight of the untouchables: “While Dalit women are the most vulnerable group in society, if they can get an education and become aware of their rights, they will be better placed to educate their entire family and contribute to the necessary social and economic empowerment of all Dalits.”

Posted on: May 23, 2007

Indian News Captures Violent Attacks on Christians

For immediate release

May 14, 2007

Indian News Captures Violent Attacks on Christians

Attacks Prompt National Appeal to Congress Party for Protection and Justice

Two recent attacks on Christian leaders were captured by television film crews and have appeared on national news in the past week. The attacks have prompted a letter from Dr. Joseph D’Souza, president of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council, and other prominent Christian leaders to appeal to the Congress party for protection for Christians and justice for those who have been attacked.

In the first attack, Pastor Walter Masih was beaten in his small house in Jaipur, Rajasthan following his Sunday morning service. He was hit repeatedly by Hindu youth as his daughter cowered behind a door on April 29, 2007. Video of this attack is available here: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/39465/pastor-attack-media-under-scanner.html

In the second attack, two priests were beaten by a mob of Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu nationalist organization, on May 8, 2007. Claiming that the priests were trying to convert local Hindus, the mob beat the priests and then carried them to a local police station to register charges against them under anti-conversion legislation. The police detained the priest but took not action against the mob who had beaten them. Video of the attack is available here: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/39994/vhp-activists-beat-up-two-priests.html

Dr. D’Souza commented on these attacks in his letter:

“These images should have seared the conscience of the nation, but they have invited nothing more than a smug silence from all governments—the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra to the BJP chief minister in Rajasthan…. There is little doubt now that Hindutva extremists are running a series of planned attacks against the Christian community for over a year now.

The intensity of these attacks is increasing.”

The attacks are seemingly part of a push by Hinduthva (nationalist Hindu) organizations to use violence and oppression as a means of growing support for the BJP party in coming elections. After losing six seats in the recent election, many BJP supporters have called on the party to again focus solely on a Hinduthva agenda of anti-conversion and anti-Christian and Muslim violence.

Dr. D’Souza’s letter openly criticizes the Congress-rules government for not doing enough to protect Christian who supported the party in national elections. He writes:

“The fault indeed squarely lies with the Central Government which was voted to power by Dalits, minorities and the majority poor who hoped that the new UPA Government would at least insist upon the rule of the law and protect the minorities and Dalits. The lack of protection is all the more painful as the vast majority of Christian workers and communities in north India are Dalits, tribals or from the most backward castes. These are the communities which are bearing the brunt of the attacks.”

The full text of the letter is reprinted below.

Letter text:

Hon’ble Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

PMO, South Block

Central Secretariat, New Delhi

And

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

President, Indian National Congress / Chairperson, UPA

10, Janpath, New Delhi

May 14, 2007

Dear leaders of the Indian Nation:

You must have been busy in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, but surely you would have seen television images of large mobs brutalising Christian pastors in various parts of the country this last fortnight. I wonder if you noticed the glee with which people in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, smashed their fists into the stomach of a helpless Tamil pastor on May 8. Others in the same mob proudly told the camera they were from Hindutva groups even as they rained blows at the head of the second pastor. Did you notice Pastor Walter Masih in his small house in Jaipur, Rajasthan, being hit repeatedly by lathi-bearing youth as his wide-eyed daughter cowered behind a door on April 29? The child is still traumatised. As, indeed, is the Christian community in India.

These images should have seared the conscience of the nation, but they have invited nothing more than a smug silence from all governments—the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra to the BJP chief minister in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the women raped for being Christians on May 28, 2006, have wept in silence, even the police and TV refusing to listen to them.

There is little doubt now that Hindutva extremists are running a series of planned attacks against the Christian community for over a year now.

The intensity of these attacks is increasing.

Their own leaders have encouraged them to further violence by word, statement and support. Sadly, there has been no voice in authority which would discourage them; much less to caution them of punishment under the law of the land.

The deafening silence of the UPA Government in New Delhi when anti-conversion laws were passed in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and more recently by the Congress run Government in Himachal Pradesh, has in fact served as a tonic to the killer gangs and their hate-mongering leaders.

These anti-conversion laws demonise the Christian community as much as Muslims are elsewhere identified as ‘anti-national’ in the Hindutva propaganda. The present violence against Christian community in general, and pastors and priests in particular, takes us back to the dark days of 1998-2000 of the mass violence against Gujarat Christians and the brutal Orissa murder of Graham Stuart Staines and his young sons Philip and Timothy.

There is not a day but my colleagues in the All India Christian Council report anti-Christian violence from Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka and sadly, also from Andhra, Maharashtra and Himachal, the last three in control of the Congress. The most heinous of them all is sexual violence against Christian women, particularly in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

We fear this overwhelming cloud of hate and violence has in it the seeds of a much tragedy in the future. I hope and pray it will not lead to a massacre of my community possibly in some distant village area or in a Christian compound.

It is not enough for the Central Government to say that law and order is a State subject, while remaining a mute spectator of the violence against the micro minority Christian community. In all this violence, the community has never retaliated or taken recourse to any form of violence. There never has been a communal riot involving Christians anywhere in the country.

Chief Ministers of the concerned states, whatever be their political identity, cannot absolve themselves of responsibility in this tragic environment of hate and violence. The blame for the state of affairs lies squarely also on the Union Home Ministry in New Delhi which time and again has received complaints from bodies like the All India Christian Council and the All India Catholic Union.

What has the Union Home Ministry done about the violence against tribal Christians in Madhya Pradesh, in Chhattisgarh, in Rajasthan, and in Gujarat in the last six months? What has the Home Ministry done about the recent attack on Pastor Masih in Rajasthan or the workers in Kolhapur? What is it doing about the consistent attacks against the tribal Christians in Orissa?

The fault indeed squarely lies with the Central Government which was voted to power by Dalits, minorities and the majority poor who hoped that the new UPA Government would at least insist upon the rule of the law and protect the minorities and Dalits. The lack of protection is all the more painful as the vast majority of Christian workers and communities in north India are Dalits, tribals or from the most backward castes. These are the communities which are bearing the brunt of the attacks.

It is not too late. We feel the situation can be retrieved, the marauding mobs contained, and tragedy averted, if the Union government were to:

1. Repeal the anti-conversion law in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh just as Chief Minister Karunanidhi revoked the anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu as these laws legitimise demonising of the Christian community.

2. Issue statutory notices to State Governments, and especially the Governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to give protection to Christian places of worship and Christian priests.

3. Book the perpetrators of hate crimes and violence against the Christians under the Indian Penal Code and deal strictly with them.

We are proud of India’s democratic traditions, and the Freedom of Faith it has nurtured since Siddhartha became Gautama Buddha. Independent India has codified the same tradition in its Constitution.

It is not too much that we seek as Citizens of India. Let there be rule of law, and let the Constitution prevail in every state of the Country.

God bless you

Sd/-

Dr Joseph D’souza
President
All India Christian Council

For more information, contact:

Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network

(703) 974-1243

Posted on: May 14, 2007

Congressman Trent Franks Introduces Resolution on Untouchability

Washington, DC – Congressman Trent Franks today introduced an historic resolution on Untouchability in the United States House of Representatives. The resolution, when passed, will be the first official statement of Congress that Untouchability is an unacceptable practice in any modern democracy and that the United States Congress should do all within its power to ensure American Business and the United States Government are not discriminating against Dalits in their programs, hiring, and funding. The resolution was introduced on the 200th anniversary of the enactment of William Wilberforce-sponsored bill abolition the cross-Atlantic slave trade in the United Kingdom.

The resolution was introduced shortly after a briefing with the Congressional Human Rights Caucus entitled Untouchables: The Plight of Dalit Women with testimony from DFN Executive Director Nanci Ricks; Joseph D’Souza, International President of the DFN; Kumar Swamy, South India Director of the All India Christian Council; Smita Narula, Executive Director of the Center for Global Human Rights and Global Justice at the New York University School of Law; and T. Kumar, Advocacy Director Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International.

The testimonies were both moving and informative, as Mrs. Ricks highlighted the dehumanization facing Dalit women from before birth into their adult lives, Ms. Narula covered the systematic discrimination facing Dalit women at the national, state, and local levels in all areas of life, Mr. Kumar delved into the root causes of Untouchability and potential solutions, Dr. D’Souza spoke of Dalit girl sex trafficking and recent examples of violence against Dalit girls, and Mr. Swamy spoke of his experience as a Dalit in India and the violence he has personally seen perpetrated on Dalit women.

The speakers were unanimous in calling for a swift response from the Unites States Government. In particular, each called on the United State Congress to pass the resolution dealing with Untouchability introduced by Congressman Franks. Moreover, they called on US businesses to allocate jobs and training to Dalits, especially Dalit women, and to ensure that Dalits and low-caste people do not face discrimination in the workplace or in hiring. The panelists also highlighted the need for education for Dalit girls across India to afford them greater economic opportunity.

Following the briefing, Rep. Franks introduced the resolution with thirteen original cosponsors from across the political spectrum. In a moving speech, he called on his fellow Members of Congress to focus on “an ancient and particularly abhorrent form of persecution and segregation in one of America’s closest allies.” Echoing the December 27th, 2006 words of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he likened the Caste system in India to Apartheid in South Africa and called on the United States Congress to join with him in raising the issue with the Indian Government.

The resolution and briefing arrive following a flurry of action in the United Kingdom and in the European Union on the issue of Untouchability. Last month, the UK House of Lord and House of Commons took up the issue in a public debate while the Conservative Human Rights Commission held a groundbreaking hearing on Untouchability. In February, the European Union passed a resolution on Untouchability which called on the government of India to drastically improve its response to the egregious human rights violations caused by Caste and Untouchability.

“We are in the midst of a worldwide movement,” commented Dr. D’Souza following the briefing. “The world is just now awakening to the oldest and largest human rights atrocity. Now is the time for action, and we call on others to join with leaders like Congressman Franks in calling for movement by the United States Government and other world governments.”

For more information, contact:

Ben Marsh, Washington D.C. Coordinator, Dalit Freedom Network

(703) 974-1243

For immediate release

May 1, 2007

Posted on: May 2, 2007

1000 American High School Students Learn About Caste Discrimination and the Dalits

For Immediate Release from the Dalit Freedom Network.

In American public high schools, the caste system is India is briefly studied and given only cursory attention. However, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, over 1000 high school students at ThunderRidge High School (TRHS) attended a Dalit Awareness Day Assembly where speakers from the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) gave a detailed report on the horrors of modern day apartheid. The 1st annual Dalit Awareness Day was instrumented by Elle Sweeney, a senior at ThunderRidge, as her Senior Project.

Elle, 18 years old, came up with the idea after visiting India with her mother, a physician, in 2002. They had traveled to Orissa to put on a medical camp sponsored by the Operation Mobilization India. There she first noticed the inequalities that were part of the Indian culture and it remained ingrained in her memories. Her mother has gone back every year since then and her father is one of the founding board members and current Director of Operations of the US-based Dalit Freedom Network. When it came time to come up with an idea for her required senior project at ThunderRidge High School, it was a not hard for her to decide.

“I knew about the Dalits firsthand and the suffering that they encounter in their everyday lives in India”, said Elle. “I also knew that 99% of my fellow students had not even heard the word ‘Dalit’ and most of the teachers also were not informed of the plight of the Dalits. I knew I wanted to do something to raise awareness at TRHS. No one had any idea that there are over 250 million Dalits being oppressed on a daily basis” She lobbied and got permission from the school administration to hold a Dalit Awareness Day with an all-school assembly.

The all-school assembly was optional for students and teachers to attend and Elle worked hard to promote and advertise the event. “I began three weeks before the assembly date and sent all the teachers a ‘Save the Date’ postcard with the photos of Dalit children on it. Two weeks before the assembly, I gave all 135 teachers a clay cup, the symbol that DFN uses as reminder of the discrimination in India. The week of the assembly, I emailed every teacher with the recent article from India about the upper-caste teacher sprinkling ‘gomutra’ or cow’s urine on 20 Dalit children. That really hit home for the teachers at TRHS.’ She also placed three photo-exhibits on the walls of the hallways of the school.

Still Elle was worried that no one might come.

When the time for the assembly came around, to Elle’s relief and amazement, almost the entire student body of TRHS came to the gymnasium for the assembly. “I almost cried”, said Elle. She fought back the tears to introduce the two speakers, Nanci Ricks, the Executive Director of DFN, and Moses Parmar, a leading Dalit activist from India. The students and teachers listened intently to a detailed explaination of the caste system given by Mrs. Ricks followed by first-hand stories of Dalit atrocities given by Mr. Parmar.

“I had never even heard of the Dalits,” said Kristin Gundy, 18 years old and a senior student, “And I can’t believe the world is letting this happen today.”

“I’m going to sponsor a Dalit child to go to school,” promised Anna Bird, 14 years old and a 9th grader.

Many teachers remarked how this would influence their teaching of the Hindu caste system and Indian society. They were grateful to have the speakers come and most importantly, were amazed at how intently the students at the assembly listened. “We went back to our classroom and had a discussion for the next 45 minutes on the Dalits”, said Mr. Jim Dollaghan, a social studies teacher.

Elle closed the assembly by saying, “We live in Highlands Ranch and take for granted that we can eat where ever we want, drink out of any cup that we want, go to school without discrimination, and get any kind of job that we can dream about. It is good for us to know that there are millions in this world who don’t have these rights. I hope that you all don’t forget what you heard here today and choose to do something about it.” Elle hopes to pursue a career working in Human Rights issues, perhaps in law.

For information about having a Dalit Awareness Day at your school or work, please contact the Dalit Freedom Network at or calling 866-221-1333

Posted on: April 29, 2007

Hearing on Caste Discrimination in India before British Parliament

Press release from the office of Stephen Crabb, British MP
Read the transcript of the hearing.

The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission held a hearing in Parliament yesterday on the plight of the Dalits or “untouchables” in India, in the week that Britain marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Four leading Indian campaigners presented detailed evidence of serious human rights abuses as a result of the caste system.

The Commission heard extensive accounts of bonded labour, discrimination, rape, sexual slavery, beatings and killings of India’s 250 million Dalits and “backward castes”.

Dr Joseph D’souza, International President of the Dalit Freedom Network, reminded the Commission that William Wilberforce, who led the Parliamentary campaign to end the slave trade, described the caste system in India as “a system at war with truth and nature”. The Dalits, said Dr D’souza, are facing a modern day slavery.

Indira Athawale, a women’s activist, said that Dalit women face sexual violence in a “culture of impunity”. She told of how two Dalit women were dragged from their homes in their village in Maharashtra on 29 September, 2006 and paraded naked through the streets to the village square, where they were reportedly gang-raped and murdered.

“If the social exclusion, dehumanisation, degradation, exploitation and oppression of Dalits is abhorrent and appalling, that faced by Dalit women is the worst of all,” Ms Athawale said.

India’s Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has himself said that “untouchability is not just social discrimination, it is a blot on humanity”.

Stephen Crabb MP, the Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, said: “We held this hearing in order to get first-hand knowledge about the real problems of caste-based discrimination that continue in that country today. We conducted the hearing very much in a spirit of friendship with India, recognising the long-standing and special relationship between our two countries. But we would not be a true friend to India and its people if we did not raise these very serious issues.

“We wish to encourage the Indian Government to act to end caste discrimination and give Dalits equal opportunities in employment, education and society. We urge the British Government to ensure that British aid is directed at empowering Dalits.

“We encourage British businesses investing in India to consider seriously ways in which their investments could be used to alleviate the poverty and discrimination which Dalits face, and to seek opportunities, working with groups in India, to bring an end to this injustice.

“We believe support is also needed to help establish Dalit media groups, to give a voice to these 250 million people who have been downtrodden for far too long.

“As India’s friends, we wish to say to India that bonded labour, sexual slavery, rape, beatings and killings of Dalits carried out with impunity is not acceptable in our modern, global age. We will do all we can to continue to highlight these concerns, and to encourage India to end this gross injustice.”

Posted on: March 30, 2007

DFN Delegation to Visit Europe during Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Press Release from the Dalit Freedom Network

Visit Coincides with Release of New Documentary on Dalits

Greenwood Village, CO – A delegation from the Dalit Freedom Network will travel throughout Europe during the commemorations of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in England. The delegation will participate in a historic hearing in Parliament in London and will visit Brussels and Norway during the three week tour. The trip coincides with the UK release of the film “Amazing Grace,” about the efforts by William Wilberforce to abolish slavery and with the premiere of a new documentary-film, entitled ‘India’s Hidden Slavery: Caste, Apartheid and Exploitation in the World’s Largest Democracy’, at the Vue West End Cinema, Leicester Square on Tuesday 27 March 2007.

The delegation includes Dr. Joseph D’Souza, International President of the Dalit Freedom Network; Indira Athwale, the Maharastra State President of the All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe Organizations; Dr. Kancha Ilaiah, Professor of Political Science and Head of Department at Osmania University, Hyderabad and an expert on caste issues in India; and Moses Parmar, the North India Director of Operation Mercy Charitable Company.

Though slavery has been abolished, Caste slavery is still alive and well in India,” said Dr. D’Souza. “We hope that the Wilberforce film and the new documentary will inspire a new generation of abolitionists to join us in fighting Caste and Untouchability. As Wilberforce himself said, ‘the institution of caste is a system at war with truth and nature.’

The trip follows the February passage by the European Union Parliament of a resolution dealing with Untouchability.

Dr. Ilaiah, Ms. Athwale, and Dr. D’Souza have previously testified before the United States Congress in October, 2005 as part of a hearing on Untouchability in the House Subcommittee on Human Rights.

Posted on: March 22, 2007

Indian Delegation Visits Europe to Highlight Slavery Amid Abolition Celebrations

by Daniel Blake.

Full article by clicking here in Christian Today, March 19, 2007

A delegation of Indian activists on behalf of the Dalit, formerly ‘untouchable’, community will visit London, Brussels, Edinburgh and Oslo during the UK commemorations of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade.

During their visit, the activists will highlight the plight of the 250 million-strong Dalit and tribal communities in India, who are the main victims of modern forms of slavery there.

Members of the delegation include Dr Joseph D’souza, the International President of the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) and President of the All India Christian Council (AICC).

Dr Kancha Ilaiah will also be part of the delegation. Dr Ilaiah is Professor of Political Science and Head of Department at Osmania University, Hyderabad, and is a well-known and well-respected campaigner against caste-based discrimination and the oppression and exploitation of Dalits and ‘low’ castes.

Also Ms Indira Athawale, a prominent activist for Dalit women’s rights, will join the team. She has presented evidence to the US Congress on the oppression of Dalit women. She is the Maharastra State President of the All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Organisations, a tutor in two colleges affiliated to the University of Pune and the National President of the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar Students’ Association, a college and university level organisation that brings together ‘low’ caste students.

Moses Parmar, the North India Director of Operation Mercy Charitable Company, will take his part among the delegation. Mr Parmar is a Dalit from Gujarat state, he leads a team of over 1000 people engaged in humanitarian and charitable work across north India, including 23 schools which primarily serve Dalit children, seminars for women on empowerment and legal rights, and dozens of micro-enterprise initiatives.

The delegation will be in Brussels from 19-20 March, the UK from 20-28 March and Norway on 29-30 March. While in the UK, they will be meeting with MPs, peers, religious leaders, the India All Party Parliamentary Group, advisors at the Foreign Office and the Conservative Human Rights Commission.

Members of the delegation will speak at the launch of a new documentary-film, entitled ‘India’s Hidden Slavery: Caste, Apartheid and Exploitation in the World’s Largest Democracy’, at the Vue West End Cinema, Leicester Square on Tuesday 27 March 2007. They will also attend the parliamentary launch of the film on Tuesday 20 March 2007.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, says: “As we reflect on events 200 years ago in the UK, this is a critical time to re-examine modern forms of slavery and the slave trade. It is unrealistic to do this without looking at India, where millions are enslaved or suffer brutal labour exploitation. Perhaps there is more slavery in India than anywhere else in the world today. The victims of these horrific abuses are, overwhelmingly, the outcast Dalits, whose pleas we can ignore no longer.”

Posted on: March 21, 2007

Let my people go

The abolitionists’ lament is older than William Wilberforce—whose anti-slavery campaign brought transatlantic slavery to an end 200 years ago this month—but today 27 million people live on in captivity, their lives worth far less than any colonial era slave.

By Priya Abraham. Originally published as cover article for Feb. 24, 2007 issue.

Premila’s parents sold their daughter for $18 on her 18th birthday. The buyer, from hundreds of miles away, said his Indian village had no good women to marry so he had to buy a wife. He took Premila as a concubine, then sold her into 10 grinding years of prostitution in two cities before rescuers returned the shattered woman to her home.

Premila is a modern slave, one of 27 million in the world today. Two hundred years ago, slaves were relatively scarce, expensive, and publicly owned by men holding title deeds to them. Today, they are plentiful and cheap like Premila—and much harder to spot.

This week Western countries celebrate the life of William Wilberforce, the pioneering abolitionist who labored 20 years to end the British slave trade, a fight he won on Feb. 23, 1807. Today’s abolitionists are no less tenacious but find their work is different: Unlike in Wilberforce’s time, slavery is illegal almost everywhere. Yet modern slavery flourishes because corrupt governments and law enforcers do not enforce the law.

The type of slavery Wilberforce and his American contemporaries knew was chattel slavery, in which one man owned another human being. According to the abolitionist group Free the Slaves, a slave in the American South in 1850 cost $40,000 in today’s dollars. Today, the average cost of a slave is $90. A growing world population with millions of poor means an ample supply of potential slaves that has driven down the price.

That means slaveholders may not need to keep slaves as a long-term, generational investment: If a slave falls ill or otherwise cannot work, he or she is easy to replace.

What does slavery in 2007 look like? Chattel slavery is now relatively rare, largely limited to parts of Africa. Most of today’s slaves—about 20 million—are in debt bondage, and mostly in the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Others in places such as Southeast Asia and Brazil are contract laborers, lured by promises of well-paying jobs but forced to remain in harsh, menial conditions. Forced marriages enslave women and girls. Human trafficking, which ensnares 600,000 to 800,000 people a year, is the newest slave trade and the world’s third-largest criminal business after drugs and arms dealing.

Bonded slavery works this way: A poor man takes a loan to pay for an emergency such as a funeral or family illness. He repays it with his labor, although unscrupulous lenders will not say for how long. Soon, as the original debt does not diminish, he realizes the lender has trapped him—and often his family—into working years or generations without pay.

Nagaraj was such a man. Desperate for work, he took a loan from a brick kiln owner who also bonded his wife and children. Nagaraj was devastated: At 12, he had worked with his parents for three years to pay off a debt, and now his family was in the same predicament.

Like his fellow slaves, Nagaraj and his family lived in a concrete cell at the brick factory. Six days a week, his family began work at 1 a.m., slogging 16 hours and working under the hot sun. He said he hated seeing his children work as hard as the adults and fall ill, growing up as another man’s property. If workers complained or bolted, the kiln owner beat them savagely.

In 2004, the Virginia-based International Justice Mission (IJM) worked with local authorities to raid the kiln, freeing 138 people, including Nagaraj and his family. The kiln owner faces prosecution, while Nagaraj and his wife now run their own brick-making business and send their children to school.

Nagaraj’s case is the kind IJM’s workers see often in South Asia. As modern-day abolitionists, IJM hires lawyers and human-rights advocates to fill a crucial if ironic niche in fighting slavery: They work to ensure local officials enforce laws.

Despite ample laws at the local, national, and international level against bonded labor and other forms of slavery, each case involves a long and hard fight. Where police and authorities are corrupt, they let the powerful prey on the poor, says IJM senior vice president of interventions, Sharon Cohn: “If a young girl in a poor community is a victim of sexual assault, the rapist often has better connections with the police than the family will,” she told WORLD.

In slave terms, if people come cheap, she says, then slaveholders should pay dearly in other ways—with jail time. Cohn says it takes grit and tenacity to pursue such prosecutions, where bonded labor easily blurs into sex trafficking. In IJM’s biggest success, staff and Cambodian police raided brothels in Svay Pak. They rescued little girls between the ages of 5 and 10. The pedophiles caught running the brothels have received prison sentences.

Freeing slaves is one hurdle abolitionists have to clear, but keeping them free is another. Sivakasi is a city in India’s southeastern state of Tamil Nadu, dubbed “Little Japan” for its matchstick, fireworks, and printing industries. Behind factory doors, however, are thousands of bonded child workers, making the city one of India’s worst slavery hubs.

Most of India’s bonded slaves are “untouchables”—Hinduism’s outcasts now more charitably known as Dalits, or the “downtrodden.” Dalits are desperately poor, and so most at risk for becoming enslaved.

The Dalit Freedom Network (DFN), an advocacy and charitable group, helps run a network of schools for Dalit children and, in Sivakasi, the students come from surrounding cottage factories.

They come, but not always regularly. Twelve-year-old Manjula is one such student. At first, her parents often pulled her from school to work in the factory, desperate for the extra cents a day she earned. Manjula began working with her parents at their local matchstick factory when she was 4.

The adults usually prepare the dangerous chemicals for the match heads—chlorates, phosphorus, and sulphur—and cut the sticks to size. The children work separately, typically in a 300-square-foot workroom lit dimly by a small, high window. The only ventilation is a concrete grille in the wall.

Though owners bribe local police to look away, the window’s strategic placement prevents passersby from looking in, since India bans children under 14 from working. The children sit in rows, peering at their matchsticks. They dip each in sulfur, lay it to dry—often on a newspaper—then place it in a match box. Dip, dry, dip, dry, goes the work, for 12 hours or more at a stretch. If the children meet the quota, they get less than $1. More reliably, they get chronic bronchitis and allergic skin rashes.

Manjula worked seven years in a matchstick factory and now labors to breathe sometimes. The school’s teachers cajoled her parents to let her stay in school, though her younger sister still has to work. Manjula had to start at kindergarten level, having never learned the alphabet or how to count.

When students like her miss class, teachers visit their parents and coax them into returning. More students skip school during the seasonal Hindu festivals, when demand for fireworks and matches is high. Sivakasi supplies three-quarters of India’s matches and almost all its fireworks.

Persuasion on the benefits of education doesn’t always work, said Albert Lael, national director of Dalit education for Operation Mercy Charitable Company, a partner with DFN. “The problem is [families] want their immediate needs met,” he said. ”[There’s] a long way to go because they don’t see the benefit they get in the long run.” Many Dalits have been slaves so long, they think only like slaves. Ask them what they want to do with their future, and they often name menial jobs.

Lael has loftier hopes. A Dalit himself, he sees the children and remembers his grandfather’s plight “was exactly like the kids in Sivakasi.” Canadian missionaries educated his family, and Lael now holds an MBA. But pulling other Dalits alongside him can be hard labor with few compensations, too.

DFN schools know to compromise. The parents of one student, 11-year-old Shiva, let him attend for seven years only because he also continues to work. So when school is out at 3 p.m., he dips and packs matches for another 12 hours. Exhausted, he struggles to do his homework and keep up. But school is a haven: fresh air and playtime, sports and lessons.

For years Afghan women have suffered under a slave system actually sanctioned in customary law called baad. Under baad, a family offers a daughter in marriage as a debt payment or as restitution for a crime. Womankind, a British nonprofit, reported last year that between 60 percent and 80 percent of Afghan marriages are forced. More than half of Afghan women marry before age 16, and some as young as 6.

Two seasons of drought and a bad winter mean Afghan families have turned more desperate in the last two years, with reports of some selling their daughters to feed their other children. In Helmand Province, which produces most of Afghanistan’s opium crop, some farmers cannot repay drug smugglers for loans to plant opium. So they turn to trading in women instead. Last November, the UN reports, a 25-year-old woman who had been traded for an opium debt turned an AK-47 on herself after suffering daily beatings from her husband.

Other bonded women who commit suicide, however, set themselves on fire. Medica Mondiale, a German group that helps women in conflict zones, found hundreds of cases of self-immolation in Afghanistan. Among some survivors, the group’s workers found women lying in hospital scarred and screaming with pain.

Medica Mondiale project manager Ancil Adrian-Paul lived in Afghanistan for the last year and recounted one case: A 17-year-old girl survived self-immolation after her father married her to a man in Iran who beat her. Once a girl marries, she leaves her family. The saying goes, “The only way you come back is in a white coffin.”

Desperate, the girl said a voice repeated to her, “Burn yourself, burn yourself.” When she awoke, she could not remember if the burning had been deliberate or accidental. The girl needs six more operations to repair her ravaged body, but she was speaking publicly about her experience.

Modern-day abolitionists admit they can free only so many slaves at a time from such conditions. Groups like IJM asked WORLD that specific locations of their work not be disclosed, lest the reports jeopardize their workers. And slave victims, including those in this story, use aliases to protect their families and their own lives from retribution at the hands of contemporary slave traders.

Twenty-first-century slavery may stretch in directions Wilberforce never imagined, but its crucial trait has not changed: One person still controls another completely using coercion, force, and restrictions on all movement. Like Wilberforce, abolitionists today have a keen eye for freedom—and they see plenty of work left to do.

For more information:

International Justice Mission: http://www.ijm.org
Free the Slaves: http://www.freetheslaves.net
Dalit Freedom Network: http://www.dalitnetwork.org
The Amazing Change: http://www.amazingchange.com

Posted on: February 26, 2007

Christians and Dalits Mount Legal Challenge to Himachal Pradesh Anti Conversion Law

Dalit Freedom Network partner All India Christian Council to lead fight against unconstitutional law
For Immediate Release:

Greenwood Village, CO – Christians and Dalits decided to challenge the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2006 in the High Court at a state-wide meeting organized by the All India Christian Council at Shimla on February 22, 2007.

The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Justice Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, signed the state law on February 19, 2007. The Bill was passed the state legislature on December 19, 2006. The law is unique as it was generated and passed by the secular Congress party while most other anti-conversion laws have been passed in states ruled by the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Dr. John Dayal, member of National Integration Council and General Secretary of the All India Christian Council, spoke to the media at Shimla, “Fraternal Christian, Dalit and mass movement organizations have decided to take the issue as far as the Supreme Court if we do not get a favorable decision at the state level.”

“The Governor, Chief Minister, as well as the Congress leadership in New Delhi including Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, should rescind the Act which was given Governor’s assent two days ago in a surreptious manner without the matter being discussed at public forum, or even in the state assembly at any length,” continued Dr. Dayal. “It is a matter of shame and concern to Democratic India that a Congress-ruled state such a Himachal Pradesh has enforced this act to target Christians, Buddhists and other religions in the same way law have done in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.”

Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council, said, “This law is unacceptable and betrays the promises of the Congress party to address the needs of minority faiths across India. This law severely undercuts the fundamental right to freedom of religion, particularly for exploited Dalits and tribals. The assent of the governor amounts to an endorsement of the discrimination and persecution against religious minorities in Himachal Pradesh state.”

Mr. Rakesh Bahadur, North India Convener of the National Conference of Dalit Organizations, said, “The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2006 is targeted to those Dalits who want to get out of caste oppression by choosing the faith they like. This bill violates the fundamental rights of every Indian citizen provided in article 25 of Indian Constitution as well as article 18 of the UN’s Universal Declaration.”

The bill punishes anyone found involved in conversion by any fraudulent means with imprisonment up to two years and/or a fine of twenty five thousand Rupees. If Dalits or minors are involved, five years imprisonment and/or a fifty thousand Rupee fine is the penalty. Any members of religion wishing to change his/her faith is required to give 30 days prior information to district authorities or otherwise face punishment of one month imprisonment and/or a one thousand Rupee fine. However, any member returning back to previous religion is not considered violating this law.

Himachal Pradesh is the eighth state in India to pass an anti-conversion law. However, Tamil Nadu repealed its law in June 2006 and several states have not framed rules that outline the penalties if the bill’s provisions are violated.

The All India Christian Council (http://www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The AICC is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

For more information, contact:

Ben Marsh
Washington D.C. Coordinator
Dalit Freedom Network

(703) 974-1243

Posted on: February 24, 2007

Himachal Pradesh Governor Signs Anti-Conversion Legislation. DFN condemns draconian legislation

Press Statement from the Dalit Freedom Network.

For Immediate Release.

Denver, CO – The Governor of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Justice Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, signed into law on Monday legislation that severely limits the fundamental rights of religious people across the state. The “Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2006” was passed by the Himachal Pradesh legislature on December 19, 2006. The law was unique as it was generated and passed by the secular Congress party while most other state-level anti-conversion laws were passed by the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“This law is unacceptable and betrays the promises of the Congress party to address the needs of minority believers across India,” said Dr Joseph D’souza, President of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council. “This law severely undercuts the fundamental right to freedom of religion, particularly for exploited Dalits and tribals. The assent of the governor amounts to an endorsement of the discrimination and persecution against religious minorities in that state.”

Anti-conversion laws have been used in other states to justify vigilante violence against Christians and Muslims. Such laws require fees and legal paperwork for religious conversions but exempt conversions to Hinduism.

The Dalit Freedom Network is working closely with Christian Solidarity Worldwide UK and the All India Christian Council to mount a legal challenge to this and other anti-conversion laws.

For more information, contact:

Ben Marsh
Washington D.C. Coordinator
Dalit Freedom Network

Posted on: February 22, 2007

Thinking about others: Norfolk wrestler sponsoring children in India

Thursday, January 25, 2007

JEREMY BUSS/CORRESPONDENT, Norfolk Daily News

Norfolk High Wrestler Caleb Baber has spent the past year sponsoring four children in India. Through support from his relatives, Baber returned to the wrestling mat this season.
For Christians, their faith in Jesus Christ can lead them in different directions while still seeking common ground.

For Caleb Baber, his faith has led him on a journey with a goal of helping to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate children across the globe.

Baber, a Norfolk High senior, has spent the past year sponsoring children in India through the Dalit Freedom Network. It’s an aspect of his life that perhaps isn’t as well known as his accomplishments on the high school wrestling mat.

The 160-pound wrestler is currently 19-7 on the season and ranked No. 2 in Class A by the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association.

Baber returned to the mat this season after abruptly quitting wrestling during a 27-3 season last year. Why? Ostensibly it was because he began work part time after school as a waiter at The Meadows.

But there’s more to the story.

The money he earned wasn’t spent on himself. Baber needed the money as part of his quest to help make life better for some of India’s Dalit children – who are considered among that country’s outcasts.

“It didn’t make sense to me the whole time when I quit wrestling,” he said. “I was more successful last year than I am right now. I beat mostly everyone in the top six. I was headed toward the state championship when God spoke quietly for me to do something else. It sounded crazy to me. But I listened to Him and walked in obedience.”

Last July, Baber had the opportunity to visit India and the children he supports financially as part of mission trip sponsored by Christ Is King Community Church in Norfolk.

While in India, Baber and his friend, Jason Thomas, taught classes to first- and second- graders at a Good Shepherd school located in one of the villages.

“When I went to the village, it was obvious what side of town was Dalits and which side wasn’t,” Baber said.

It wasn’t until his arrival back to the United States when Baber realized one of the children who made an impression on him during his trip – named Bhargav – also was one of the Dalits he supports.

“Bhargav had a peaceful smile,” he said. “I recognized the name but wasn’t sure if he was one of the kids I support. He stood out from all the other kids during the week.

“It was really awesome to see the way God was with me. To go over there and see the kind of kids, especially Bhargov . . . it was amazing. Not one of the kids there took it for granted that they were receiving an education. They all love to learn. It made my decision to step away from wrestling last year worth it.”

After receiving encouragement from his family and friends during the offseason, Baber decided to make a return to the mat this year.

During the three-month wrestling season, Baber’s family has offered to help him assist with the support of the children. Baber, the second of three children of Marc Baber and Tami Tucker, missed wrestling.

He also wanted to spend his final Panther season wrestling with his younger brother, Levi, who transferred from Pierce.

Levi Baber, a Class B state qualifier last year, is a 135-pound wrestler on the Norfolk roster.

“I had that responsibility that I wasn’t just going to give up,” Baber said. “After talking with my family, they all wanted me to wrestle again. They decided to support those kids during wrestling season so I could wrestle and not have to worry about that.”

One can witness Baber’s spiritual side on and off the mat.

A two-time Class A state qualifier, Baber acknowledges that he once enjoyed dominating the competition. But his return to the mat this year now brings with it a desire by Baber to know Christ even more fully.

“I do want to wrestle to the best of my ability and I’ve been disappointed this year because I know I’m not yet (because of injuries),” he said. “But it’s not about me getting all the glory, it’s about Christ and doing everything for Him.”

When the wrestling season concludes in three weeks, Baber is looking to resume his duties of supporting the children in India.

Baber also is looking ahead to the future and spending time with his family in Northeast Nebraska before heading off to college.

He plans to attend Lee University, a Christian liberal arts school located in Cleveland, Tenn., in the fall. Once there, he plans to study theology. He wants to learn more about the Bible and what it says about God.

“When wrestling’s over, I’d rather start working again and start supporting the children on my own and save what little I can for college,” he said.

Posted on: February 6, 2007

DFN Needs Your Help

September 2006

As the summer draws to a close in the USA, I am writing to you from New Delhi, India, where I have just had a strategic meeting with Dalit leaders… and where we are experiencing some heavy monsoon rains. While we are concerned about some widespread flooding, we are thankful for the rain which should get us through the summer next year without a drought. As I reflect over the last few months, I am thrilled with the positive progress toward Dalit Emancipation we have seen. God gives us grace and strength as we seek to end Dalit slavery and strive for ‘Dalit Freedom – Now and Forever’™ to begin in the lives and communities among whom we work. My colleagues in Denver and I feel that 2006 has thus far been a banner year for the Dalit Movement and we are excited about the wonderful things that have been happening.

Despite our excitement about DFN’s significant steps forward, we, like so many other non-profit organizations, are experiencing the financially lean months of the summer. While the child sponsorship program attracts many people to sponsor a Dalit child, our other three programs, Social Justice, Economic Development, and Healthcare are suffering financially. It is rare that we get a donation directed for these programs, even though they are crucial to the complete transformation and freedom of the Dalits. Over the last few years, we have funded these programs through our ‘unrestricted budget’. However, even that fund is now depleted. As we gear up for our autumn programming, we must be strong financially to make it all happen. Therefore, here’s just a few of the things that we’ve been doing to transform lives one community at a time.

•DFN now has 54 schools for Dalit children up and running. Nearly 8,000 children are enrolled and DFN’s child sponsorship program is well on its way to seeing all of these children’s education financed.

These schools are making a positive impact in the lives of children like Sanjay, a 12-year old Dalit boy from North India. His mother works as an agricultural worker picking wheat, and his father herds water buffaloes. His father is paid less than $2.00 a month and to make extra cash, he works part time skinning dead animals, a typical Dalit occupation. Despite an unstable home life, Sanjay attends the local DEC, studies hard, and tries to do his best. The teachers report that he has no time to enjoy life or play. After school, he takes his turn herding the water buffaloes so his father can get some rest. Sanjay has four siblings, two of which are also in the DEC.

•DFN’s medical work in India is making positive strides. Our biggest-ever medical trip is planned for October 2006. We expect to see up to 10,000 patients and continue our work towards implementing the Village Health Worker program.

• A few months ago, while at the White House, we were amazed to see that the receptionist not only recognized our Clay Cup™, but had one on her desk. A Clay Cup™ has been delivered to every member of Congress and can be found in many of their offices. We have sent them all over the world and get dozens more requests everyday.

•Also in October 2006, DFN will host a series of women’s empowerment conferences in South India. The movement toward Dalit (and other) women’s empowerment is making a transformational impact on thousands of women – Dalit and upper caste – across the nation.

DFN’s women’s empowerment work is transforming women like Pinky. Pinky lives in North India and was plagued by domestic violence for years. She felt alone and abandoned and had no hope for a better future. Under threat of death, she fled her husband and returned to her home in the slums. While there, she attended one of our women’s empowerment meetings. She met an attorney who became her advocate and avenue of safety. DFN’s women’s empowerment programs are helping these marginalized women realize their value and develop self-esteem.

•DFN is experiencing explosive growth in its Self-Help Group program. Our original estimates anticipated less than 100 new groups in the whole of 2006. However, there are now nearly 300 groups only halfway through the year. The economic impact is touching tens of thousands of Dalit families.

Even though the Self-Help Group program is growing, it is still making an impact in the lives of individuals. A Self-Help Group member, Kusum, heard from other ladies in her community that the group would help them escape the trap of local moneylenders. After hearing this good news, she told the group leader, “I have borrowed smaller amounts of money, and paid more interest for that small amount of money. I do not want to go again to that fellow to borrow money. I want to join your group.” This was the beginning of a renewed cycle of financial security for Kusum. The Self-Help Group was the key to transformation in Kusum’s life.

•October 14, 2006, will see a huge gathering of Dalits, Christians and other minorities to commemorate the anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s leading one million Dalits out of the Hindu caste system and into Buddhism. DFN is planning to be at the celebration in India on that day, and has invited several high profile guests from around the world to stand in solidarity with the Dalits and with the movement.

We are grateful that you have been a supporter of the Dalits in the past and we ask that you consider a special summer donation of any size ($25, $50, $100, $250, $1,000, etc.) toward our ‘unrestricted budget’. Our goal is to raise $75,000. To participate you can send your check made payable to “Dalit Freedom Network” or donate online to our Current Greatest Need. Additionally, if you aren’t already making a regular contribution to DFN, you may want to consider becoming a regular donor to our general fund. If you have never donated to help the Dalits, this is your invitation to jump on board one of the most worthly causes of our day. You can make a true difference!

The Dalits of India are grateful for the response and compassion of the western world – people just like you. If you would like to talk more about the progress of the Dalit movement, as well as the great needs we are experiencing, please feel free to give me a call toll free at the DFN office (866-921-1333) and I will gladly return your call.

Sincerely,

Joseph D’souza
International President

Posted on: September 9, 2006

Dalit Freedom Network: Abolish Caste, Now and Forever!

DFN Involvement

Wall Street Journal on DFN schools and recent graduation

Yes, we can!

BBC Interview of Dr. Joseph D'souza

The oppression of untouchables is modern India's shame

India's Anti-Christian Violence Unparalleled Among World Democracies

India"s Civil Society Defends Christians in New Delhi Rally

United States Legislators Concerned about Violence Targeting Christians in Orissa

Citizen's Delegation meets President of India; Demands Central Government Action on Orissa

Massive rally in India's capitol and nation-wide closure of Christian schools

Unprecedented Anti-Christian Violence Spirals Out of Control in India

Indian state erupts in violence after Hindu shot

Updated List of Violence Against Dalit Christians in Orissa

DFN Statement on Bombings in Bangalore (Bengaluru)

Dalit woman manual scavenger Film

Spring 08 Newsletter

A 6 year old girl thrown on fire for being 'lowest class'

Created Equal?

Rally taken out against Kandhamal violence

Speakers at Historic Rally Demand Orissa Government Tell Truth about Christmas Attacks on Christians

Facts Emerge on Christmas Violence in Orissa: 730 Homes, 95 Churches Destroyed, 4 Dead, More Missing

Fact Finding Report by aicc Orissa Chapter

Educating India's Untouchables

National Association of Evangelicals Puts Forth a Statement of Conscience Concerning the Dalits

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee and DFN'S Kumar Swamy Travels to India

Wall Street Journal - Dalit Converts face Discrimination

World Vision Report: Interview with Nanci Ricks

US House of Representatives Passes Historic Resolution on Untouchability

Thousands of Christians "Arrested" in Peaceful Protest Against Growing Anti-Christian Violence

India's Bishops Praise U.S. Proposal on Castes

Indian response

Indian News Captures Violent Attacks on Christians

Congressman Trent Franks Introduces Resolution on Untouchability

1000 American High School Students Learn About Caste Discrimination and the Dalits

Hearing on Caste Discrimination in India before British Parliament

DFN Delegation to Visit Europe during Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Indian Delegation Visits Europe to Highlight Slavery Amid Abolition Celebrations

Let my people go

Christians and Dalits Mount Legal Challenge to Himachal Pradesh Anti Conversion Law

Himachal Pradesh Governor Signs Anti-Conversion Legislation. DFN condemns draconian legislation

Thinking about others: Norfolk wrestler sponsoring children in India

DFN Needs Your Help