Ecumenical conference to highlight Dalits plight

Bringing comfort to millions of Dalit people in India of whom 16 million are Christians, a historic ecumenical conference affirmed solidarity and global justice for Dalits.

"The suffering and injustice experienced by millions of Dalit people and communities is a challenge to the credibility of the churches' affirmations of faith in India and worldwide," said Rev. Deenabandhu Manchala who heads the World Council of Churches (WCC) Just and Inclusive Communities Program.

Manchala was speaking on the eve of the 'Global Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits' which will take place from 21 to 24 March 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand, at the joint initiative of the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

The conference, which will be attended by representatives of churches worldwide, will solicitously study the challenges facing by the Dalits as well as outline the course of action for securing justice. It will apparently render a platform for "ethical responses to the struggles of Dalits for survival and identity."

Approximately 250 million Indians (a full 25% of the population), are Dalits. 70% of India's 25 million Christians come from the "untouchable" background.

They are often assigned to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being isolated, publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped. Several such cases of human rights abuses still occur in various parts of the country.

"Untouchability and discrimination based on caste affect a significant proportion of the world's people, and are a direct contradiction of the God-given dignity of every human being," noted LWF deputy general secretary Rev. Chandran Paul Martin.

The Christian Conference of Asia hosted meet urges churches of the world to take up the Dalits challenge which the governments of world have failed to confront.

"The entire international community turned a blind eye to the plight of the world's Dalits when they met in Durban, and they are set to do so again in Geneva in April," said Mr Peter Prove of the LWF Office for International Affairs and Human Rights, referring to the upcoming United Nations 'Durban Review Conference' in Geneva, 20 to 24 April 2009.