June 08, 2017
Greetings from NCCI- Dalit and Tribal/ Adivasi Concerns!
National Council of Churches in India-Dalit and Tribal/Adivasi Concerns appeals to the Churches and Christian organisations to proactively participate in observing ‘Black Day’ on 10th August 2017 to raise our protest regarding the continual negligence of the government to the cry for the rights of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the country.
Migrants form the largest part of India’s vast unorganised work sector. Their entry into the labour markets is marked with several endemic disadvantages. Devoid of critical skills, information and bargaining power, migrant workers often get caught in exploitative labour arrangements that force them to work in low-end, low-value, hazardous work. Lack of identity and legal protection accentuates this problem. The hardships of migrant workers are especially magnified when state boundaries are crossed and the distance between the “source” and “destination” increases. In India, thousands of people including men, women and children mostly Dalits and Adivasis, are forced to migrate from their homes to other places because of poverty, unemployment, limited economic activities, landlessness, global warming, environmental calamities, failure in agriculture due to uncertain monsoon and floods, deforestation, political persecution, poor medical care facilities in their native place, forced displacement due to so-called developmental work, and so on. Keeping these things in mind NCCI-Dalit and Tribal/Adivasi Concerns in partnership with Vidarbha Centre for Labour Concerns and Bahujan Rangbhoomi (street theatre group) celebrated May Day with more than 200 various labour migrants as well as locals from the Butibori and Hingna (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) MIDC area at Samvidhan Chowk (Constitution Square), Near Kasturchand Park, Nagpur on 1st May from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. This celebration was done through sharing of Experiences, Street Theatre performances, singing songs of Liberation and Expressions of social-workers.
TEXT OF APPEAL LETTERS TO
In today’s context where our Dalit brothers and sisters undergo experiences of dehumanization and denial of basic human rights, violence and death, the birth of Jesus gives a wake up call to the oppressing communities, to liberate their minds from the ideologies of discrimination, domination, exploitation and oppression. The member churches of the National Council of Churches in India and Theological Colleges in India observed Dalit Liberation Sunday all across the country on Sunday, the 13th of November 2016 and also on following Sundays. The theme for the Dalit Liberation Sunday (DLS) was ‘Administer Justice Daily! Deliver the Oppressed!’(Jeremiah 21:12).
Observance of DLS-2016 in All Saints Cathedral Church, Nagpur
All Saints Cathedral Nagpur celebrated ‘Thanks Giving Sunday’ on 13th November 2016 and gave an opportunity to Ms. Ngalaton Ningsen- Intern of Commission on Tribals/Adivasis to lead the intercessory prayers giving full freedom to incorporate prayers from the DLS worship order prepared by NCCI.
Dali
t Liberation Sunday-2016 was observed jointly by the UELCI and the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai on 13th November 2016 under the guidance of Rev. Dr. A. G. Augustine Jeyakumar- Executive Secretary of UELCI & LWF National Committee (I) and the Treasurer of the NCCI. Dalits are the opressed and marginalized people in India whom the churches should acknowledge and express solidarity with in their liberation process. The observance of Dalit liberation Sunday paves the way for churches to be more sensitive to the plights and concerns of Dalits.
On the eve of 13th November, the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College premise was customized to the frame of Dalit worship with the fire post and the Parai (the Dalit Drum) at the centre. The worship order was created incorporating Dalit lives and their thirst for liberation. Before commencing the worship, Mr. K. Immanuel Paul Vivekanandh, the Coordinator of Dalits and Adivasi Concerns Desk of UELCI welcomed the gathering and gave an introduction for the need of the Dalit Liberation Sunday and observing it in the present day context. The worship was on the theme “Administer Justice Daily, Deliver the Oppressed”. The Students walked in procession with the Parai singing Dalit songs. The Parai drum was beaten to invoke the presence of the God, as is customary in the worship of the Dalit communities. The worship was led by Mr. K. Immanuel Paul Vivekanandh, and the worship elements were led by the Guru-Sishya fellowship of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, and Dr.Walo Temjen – Professor of Dept. of History of Christianity.
Mainstream media is often found to under-represent the interests of people in the margins of society such as the dalits in India who are outcaste. In this context, the lack of channels and inability to communicate their own concerns and bring to the fore their experiences of discrimination, has led to ignorance, unaddressed issues of inequality, inaccessibility to basic services, neglect, denial of rights and exclusion from the processes of decision-making and policy-making. The emerging consciousness about importance of Information and Communications Technology in the exploration of alternative media to create communication spaces can lead to the creation of pathways to digital frontiers that provide solutions towards affirmation of communication rights and implementation of inclusion concepts.
Respected Ecumenical Colleagues,
In Christ,
Pradip Bansrior
Executive Secretary
Commission on Dalits and Tribals/ Adivasis
National Council of Churches in India
Tribal and Adivasi Sunday was celebrated at MBC Bible College, Hyderabad on 7th of August 2016. It was an enlightening evening, the whole community gathered at the academic centre to participate and celebrate through this worship.
It was a enriching experience to the whole community to know about various tribal and adivasi groups in India. A power point presentation was made to educate the community about the rich culture and tradition of various tribes in India. MBC community remembered the life and living style of the tribal and adivasi people amidst of the discrimination and subjugation they face. An attempt was made not to romanticize the plight of the tribals but to understand the resistive modes they employed for their survival in midst of struggle.
August 10th is observed every year as ‘Black Day’ by the member Churches of National Council of Churches in India, Theological institutions and Christian organisations across India demanding the deletion of the infamous Presidential Order 1950, Paragraph 3, which excludes Christian and Muslim Dalits from the Scheduled Caste list.
The foundation of state discrimination against Christian Dalits was laid in the 1930s when the then British India Government passed the “Scheduled Caste (SC) Act 1936”. This Act made only ‘Hindu’ Dalits eligible for protective discrimination (SC reservation) and deprived Dalits of other religious faiths, including Christian Dalits from it. In post independent India, the “Presidential Order (SC) 1950” was very similar to the Act of 1936, denying again protective discrimination for Dalit converts to Christianity. This clearly violates the principle of equality and religious freedom guaranteed in the Indian Constitution – Articles 14, 15 and 25. The argument of the Government very often has been that since Christianity is an egalitarian religion where caste has no place, the question of granting protective discrimination to Christian Dalits does not arise! This argument is not just simplistic but ill-motivated. It is a universally known truth, a fact even amply proved by several Central and State Government-appointed Commissions that the phenomenon of caste is so pervasive and wide spread that it has made deep inroads in all religious communities in the country, without exception. Subsequent to the Presidential Order of 1950, the Government of India brought in amendments and granted protective discrimination (SC reservation) to Sikh Dalits and Neo Buddhists, but the plea of Christian and Muslim Dalits has remained a cry in the wilderness until now. The Government of India appointed a National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities to investigate the demand of Christian and Muslim Dalits on 29 October, 2004. Ranganath Mishra, Head of Commission submitted the Commission Statement on 21 May, 2007. According to the Commission Report, paragraph 3 of the Constitution’s Order 1950 should be deleted from the Constitution in order to bring Equality and Justice for Christian and Muslim Dalits. However the Central Government kept silent when 12 state governments along with Union Territories and several political parties had endorsed the proposal to delete Paragraph 3 from the Constitution of India.
The lives of Tribals and Adivasis in India are always an intertwining of struggles and celebrations. Over the years Tribal and Adivasi Sunday has been observed in many parts of our country to sensitize the Indian churches to break down barriers that separate indigenous people from other communities and to express solidarity with the struggles of our Tribal and Adivasi brothers and sisters. The member churches of the National Council of Churches in India and Theological Colleges in India celebrated Tribal and Adivasi Sunday all across the country on Sunday, the 7th of August 2016 and also on following Sundays. The theme for the celebration was, “Towards Just and inclusive Communities: Visions and Voices of Tribals and Adivasis”.
Celebration in All Saints Cathedral, St. Thomas Church and AHM 1840 Church, CNI, Nagpur:
Rev. Dr. Hmingthansanga, General Secretary of All India Sunday School Association preached at All Saints Cathedral CNI Church on Luke 10. In his sermon he emphatically asked “Who is my neighbour?’’ and highlighted the problems faced by Tribal, Adivasis and Dalits in today’s context.
Categorizing Tribals and Adivasis as inferior or backward, marginalising and discriminating on any ground is a sin before the creator God as God has created all human beings in God’s own image, said Mr. Pradip Bansrior, Executive Secretary-Commission on Dalits, Tribals and Adivasis during the Tribal and Adivasi Sunday worship at St. Thomas CNI Church, Nagpur on 7th August 2016.
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