In the Directive principles of State Policy – Article 46 of the Constitution of India it has been clearly stated that ‘The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation”. While the constitutional provision clearly and categorically speaks about protection, safeguard and promotion of the interest of the weaker sections, in reality the implementation of this principle in the last 50 years has been dismal. Table 1 clearly and explicitly states that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes instead of being protected by the legal provisions have been treated more like second class citizens. In reality they have even been treated as non-citizens of this country and kept at the periphery. Both these communities were subjected to social exclusion and isolation. Interestingly various programmes and policies that were envisaged for their upliftment over the last five decades have once again ‘untouched’ them.

Tribal Land Alienation in Orissa

At this juncture it is expedient to briefly look at the land alienation to which the Tribals are subjected to over the year. Orissa State has the Protective Regulations in Scheduled Areas to safeguard the interest of the Tribals. But in contrast, the Tribals in Orissa have been made victims of the greed and economic appropriation of the non-Tribals. The Tribals constitute over 22.21 percent in Orissa while the Tribals are just about 8.08 percent at the all India level. Yet, the Tribals have never been in the forefront of economy, politics and social development.

To protect the interests of the Scheduled Tribes and to prevent exploitation perpetrated upon them, the state government has promulgated the following Protective Regulations, which are enforced in the scheduled areas of the state:

1. The Orissa (Schedule Areas) Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 (reg. 2 of 1956).
2. The Orissa (Schedule Areas) Debt Relief Regulation, 1967 (Reg. 1 of 1968)
3. The Orissa (Schedule Areas) Money-Lenders Regulation, 1967 (Reg. 2 of 1968)

This apart the following state laws are also in operation to protect the interests of Tribals and other weaker sections.

1. The Orissa Money Lender’s Act, 1939
2. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
3. The Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960.
4. The Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act 1976
5. The Orissa Debt Relief Act, 1980
6. The Orissa Protection of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (interest in Trees) Act, 1981.

In similar manner, the weaker sections of the State of Bihar were supposed to be protected by the following legislations enacted from 1947 to 1974:

1. The Bihar Abolition of Zamindari Bill 1947, which after five years of legal tangle took the form of The Bihar Land Reforms act 1950 in 1952;
2. The Bihar Privileged Persons Homestead Tenancy Act, 1974;
3. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948;
4. The Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950;
5. The Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1954;
6. The Bihar Consolidation of Holdings and Prevention of Fragmentation Act, 1956;
7. The Chota Nagpur Tenancy Rules, 1959 Allied Acts and Regulations;
8. The Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961;
9. The Bihar Scheduled Areas Regulations, 1969;
10. The Bihar Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Class and Denotified Tribes Debt Relief Act, 1974;
11. The Bihar Money Lenders Act, 1974.

Besides these, many other acts and provisions, many more bills and ordinances have been framed from time to time for the benefit of the ‘downtrodden’.

Women are also considered to be one of the weaker sections of the society. While the slogan that women constitute the complementary wheel in the progress of a society and country, in reality this adhi abadi is still kept at the periphery. Ensuring equal rights in ownership of property and resources is a far cry even in terms of literacy only 54 percent of women are literate today. The following acts indicate the resolve of the political establishment to ensure the integration of women in the mainstream’:

01. The Employees States Insurance Act, 1948
02. The Plantation Labour Act, 1951
03. The Family Courts Act 1954
04. The Special Marriage Act, 1954
05. The Hindu marriage Act, 1955
06. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956
07. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
08. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995)
09. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
10. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
11. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976
12. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
13. The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1979
14. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983
15. The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1986
16. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
17. Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987.

The various legislations and schemes notwithstanding, crimes committed against women are on the increase. Crimes, head-wise incidence of reported crimes during 1995 to 1997 along with percentage variation is presented below [Table 2]. It is observed that Crimes Against Women in 1997 reported an increase of 4.8 percent and 5.9 percent over respective previous years 1996 and 1995. In absolute numbers, an increase of 5,542 cases was reported at country level in 1997 over 1996. It is significant to note that crimes under existing acts are also at the higher side. This goes to establish the fact that by enactment of legislation the weaker sections are not going to be protected.

Continuing in the same vein it needs to be stated that the Indian society and polity has witnessed in the recent past hope amidst despair. Hope if not an all-pervading and all-permeating reality in our society and nation, there are atleast many indications of normalcy returning to some regions of India and better prospects promised in some sectors of India. It is not that everything is going on in the right direction, but many events, which could have destabilized the country, could have driven the citizens to despair and above all could once again imposed immeasurable hardships on the common masses of this country has not happened. This does not mean that the sources of crisis are removed, conflicts at all levels are resolved, development and wellbeing of all is ensured, peace and prosperity is restored and we are moving towards a democratic, egalitarian and pluralistic society and polity. What is highlighted here is the process of struggle and liberation of the weaker sections that goes on unabated in India.

Identity formation leading to collective action resulting in movements for liberation and emancipation has been the hallmark of last five decades in India and at the global level. Jan Nederveen Pieterse argues that the various terms used to describe collective action carry many different inflections. They include attitudinal terms such as dissent, opposition, resistance, protest, defiance; terms emphasizing methods of action such as riot, violence, jacquerie, rebellion, mutiny, revolution, petition, demonstration, consciousness raising; general terms with normative or political overtones such as class struggle, liberation, emancipation, participation, empowerment; and social science terminology such as collective behaviour, collective action, social movement.

Liberation and emancipation are integrally related to social justice. In the earlier writings justice comprised the whole of virtue and complete conformity with the approved pattern of moral conduct. The Bible presents the following general perception of justice: (a) that a general standard of justice or righteousness may become too vague in outline and arbitrary in use without the specification that comes from definite rules; (b) that in order to be considered just, a system of ethical or legal ordinances requires not only a conceived authoritative command but also a conceived popular consent, acceptance or mutual covenant; (c) that justice imposes a duty to perform group and individual acts of social reparation, welfare, and assistance; (d) that justice comprises the functionally related principles of impartiality and probity in rendering judgment, reciprocity in inter-personal transactions and equality of elementary rights not only between members of diverse economic classes but also between nations and races; (e) that the emotional manifestation of justice consists in passionately abhorring all forms of oppression, exploitation, and cruelty, and its behavioural manifestation consists in denouncing and combating them. Pursuance of justice is to establish a democratic, pluralistic and egalitarian social order.

Reconstruction of social order on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity was one way of ensuring the rightful place and role of the marginalized segments of our society. In this regard Dr. Ambedkar maintained that nation building and Constitutional enforcement go hand in hand. On the one hand, Dr. Ambedkar had optimism in the Constitutional provisions for weaker sections and on the other hand he was alarmed by the fact that mere political participation may not lead to social change. On 25th November, 1949, he made a prophetic declaration.

“My mind is full of the future of our country that I feel I ought to take this occasion to give expression to some of my reflection thereon. On 26th January 1950, India will be an independent country. What would happen to her independence? Will she maintain her independence or will she lose it again? It is this thought which fills me with anxiety”.

Going further, Dr. Ambedkar had foretold the deplorable state of affairs due to caste, class and political manipulations. “This anxiety is deepened by the realization of the fact that in addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will the Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above the country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country our independence will be put in jeopardy second time and probably lost forever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood”.

With the given data available to him Dr. Ambedkar made perspicacious and penetrating analysis of the Indian society. He cautioned his fellow citizens “we must begin by acknowledging the fact that there is absence of two things in Indian society. One of these is equality. On the social plane, we have in India a society based on the principle of graded inequality which means elevation for some and degradation for others, on the economic plane, we have society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty”.

Dr. Ambedkar further argued, “The second thing we are wanting in is recognition of the principle of fraternity…a sense of common brotherhood of all Indians…How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life?….we must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this assembly has so laboriously built up”. In all his writings and speeches Ambedkar did not speak of pitting one social group against the other. At times he is accused of not cleansing anger that arose out of caste discrimination but is charged with stoking anger like a fire. But he warned the Indian state and society that if the ruling dispensation thought that by providing political participation they could quell the aspirations of the Dalits and the downtrodden they are in for a historical surprise. One of the avenues for liberation and emancipation of the downtrodden masses was to get converted to other religions to escape from the tyranny and exploitation of the Hindu social order.

A careful reading of Indian history reveals this fact that India has been a cradle of various cultures and religions. From time immemorial, various religions have co-existed here. Due to the existence of multi-religious setting, conversion has been going on at different scale. In the latter stage, the erstwhile outcastes, the untouchables, the oppressed section of the Hindu society as well as the indigenous population converted themselves to other religions. There are historical records that state that in some parts of India, the Dalits chose to become Muslims or Sikhs. In the later part with the arrival of Christian missionaries most of them got converted to Christianity.

It is of utmost sociological importance to recognize this fact that it was the Dalits and the downtrodden but not the missionaries who were making deliberate efforts inspite of all odds against them to foster mass movements. Lack of well-documented studies does not enable one to make generalization about group conversion, which took the form of mass movements among the Dalits and the downtrodden of this country. But given the oppressive and inhuman caste system and its evil consequence of untouchability, getting converted to another religion that promised equality and human treatment appears to be logical. But the heart of the matter is that it is not the missionaries who consciously planned and programmed for mass movement. Webster argues that forced by the situation, the missionaries were challenged to accept the ‘mass movement as work of God’. Since, the missionaries were also identified with the colonial rulers, they did not want to be associated with the struggles of the downtrodden by taking their side. This is not to deny the immense good done by the missionaries to the upliftment of those who were being converted to Christianity. It is also a fact that there were individual missionaries who moved by the plight of the downtrodden associated themselves inspite of opposition from the leadership. At this juncture, it is expedient to look at some of the responses made by concerned citizens, political leaders of India about conversion and the place and role of missionaries in India.

In his reply to some visiting American teachers in 1938 Mahatma Gandhi is reported to have said “Up till now they have come as teachers and preachers with queer notions about India and India’s great religions. We have been described as a nation of superstitious heathens, knowing nothing, denying God’. He went onto add that “If you come as preachers of the true Gospel to a people who are wandering in darkness, so far as I am convinced you can have no place. You may impose yourselves upon us”. Gandhiji was aware of the fact that all the religions have been corrupted by human error. Hence, to claim superiority of one religion with another would destroy the human relatedness and the possibility of working together for a better tomorrow.

A careful reading into the history of conversion in India reveals this fact that the Scottish missionaries critiqued the caste system. ‘The criticism of Brahmans as a social group was, of course, a familiar theme in the social reform literature of the period. However, it is necessary to distinguish between missionary arguments, from which radicals like Jyotirao Phule drew inspiration, and the argument of moderate and high caste social reformers, who complained rather that Brahmans had failed in their natural task of social leadership. Missionary polemic laid a far greater emphasis on the idea of a deliberate Brahmin conspiracy to enjoy social privileges with as little efforts as possible’.

In his perceptive analysis of the Tribal social conditions and the spread of Christianity in the Tribal region, Joseph Bara argues that lower class aspirations and missionary ambition found an interface. The mass movement depicted the aspiration of the lower classes to move out of their lowly position in which they had been suppressed for ages. In the Village Education Commission 1919, A.G. Fraser stated, “The mass movement is a fact. In many cases missionaries have been gradually led from doubt as to the value of the movement to a conviction that it is from God and that its possibilities for India and for the world are unspeakably great. We trust the home church will realise that there can be no going back. Even if we could close our heart of compassion and resolve that no more of these ‘untouchables’ would be encouraged to seek deliverance which of course is an impossible attitude we can not shrink the responsibility already incurred”.

G. Aloysius has argued that, ‘there were several mass conversions to Christianity which could be termed as religious movements of the oppressed. Conversion to another, often well developed, hence powerful religio-meaning systems had always been an aspect of the local caste resistance struggles even in pre-modern times. The presence of large segment of Muslim population in the country bears testimony to this social fact. With the advent of the Europeans, the members of lower caste embraced Christianity. The missionaries’ efforts to provide literacy, health care and material help answered many of the existential dimensions. Mass conversion started in different parts of the country’. Thus a close scrutiny of the process of conversion reveals the fact that conversion addressed to both the material needs as well as the demand for social dignity of the individual and collectivity who got converted to Christianity. Wherever group conversion took place it was to register the protest of those who were marginalized and oppressed in society. It was also a process of spiritual emancipation.

What is argued here is not that conversion has made a sea change in the lives of those who are converted. But it has surely made a lot of difference in their social, economic and cultural milieu. It is also significant to note this fact that conversion is the consummation of various material, social, religious and psychological factors. Hence the consequence of conversion cannot be discerned at the apparent. One has to explore the various facets of the lives of the converted so as to highlight the changes that have taken place in their lives. It is at this level that one can gather that from the time Christianity entered into the individual and community life of these people, life has not been the same for them.

At this juncture it is expedient to locate some of the arguments presented by Dr. Ambedkar, who refused to continue to remain a Hindu and encouraged the lower castes to embrace other religions. Ambedkar argued, ‘To get human treatment, convert yourselves, convert for getting organized, convert for becoming strong, convert for securing equality, convert for getting liberty, convert so that your domestic life may be happy’. From the historical experience of oppression and dehumanization and from years of attempt to work for emancipation of the Dalits he came to the fundamental and unalterable conclusion that the road for social mobility was closed for the Dalits within the Hindu fold. He was also of the opinion that the path of political participation was sealed for the untouchables forever. He was convinced of the fact that the economic opportunities had been snatched from the very beginning of the establishment of caste system. He strongly believed that only the religious root is left open for the downtrodden of Indian society. And hence he advocated and urged the Dalits and the downtrodden to take the path of conversion as a means of emancipation.

Dr. Ambedkar delved deeply into the practical experiences of caste system as well as the doctrines of Hinduism. From these he amply demonstrated that, ‘ You must give a new doctrinal basis to your Religion – a basis that will be in consonance with Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, in short with Democracy. It means a complete change in the values of life. It means a complete change in outlook and in attitude towards men and things. It means conversion… It means new life’. Hence he called for a radical change in the conceptual level of social order. Ambedkar also argued that the upper castes could never embrace Christianity. He stated that socialism does not appeal to the rich and the upper castes since it propagates egalitarian relationship. In extension Ambedkar asserted that Christianity could not appeal to the Brahmins and upper castes since it preaches brotherhood of people. He further presented this insight that the upper castes make use of the Christian schools, colleges and hospitals and run away without ever giving a thought about the religion, which does so much service to the humanity. This note of caution given by Ambedkar has not been seriously taken note of by the Church.

It is also advantageous to unravel the meaning the church itself gives to conversion in particular and missionary activities in general. In the introductory remarks we had indicated some of the derogative terms used and the attitudes maintained by the missionaries. In course of time, a perceptible change has taken place in the understanding and the attitude of the missionaries about conversion. This process was possible due to both internal search and pressure from external forces and the changing socio-political milieu. As late as mid 1960 only awareness was created among the church leadership that there are inbuilt obstacles in their missionary work. One reason cited in the ‘All India Seminar on Church in India Today 1969’ was that ‘the apparent uprooting of our new Christians from their own culture in certain areas. There has been at times too much segregation of our Catholics from the social life of their countrymen. The workshop strongly recommended that there be greater and swifter Indianization in the Liturgy, in our buildings, social life, etc. Another obstacle in the manner in which people of other faiths are sometimes approached, that is, that we have everything to give and nothing to receive. Though this was a welcome sign it needs to be stated that the decisions made by the Church at times swung from one extreme to the other. To cite an example, the early missionaries were not only insistent but were also adamant that the new converts should not have tuft of hair. Since this practice was identified with the Hindu last rites, the children who were in the mission hostels had to remove the tuft the day they come to the hostel. Thus, the child while at home would follow the customs of the village and in hostel it would be governed by the rules of the Church. This creates duality in the child but the missionaries would perceive the dual tendencies but forget the cause.

From 1970 onwards, unscrupulous emphasis was placed on inculturation. Interestingly, this over stress on inculturation ultimately led to brahminization of our liturgies, church buildings, residences of priests and religious. The liturgical worships were swept by bhajans and kirtans but there was no space for folk religious forms of worship and people oriented forms of religious practices. Since, most of the missionaries both foreign and native were ‘foreigners’ to the local customs and traditions, they blindly followed the dominant traditions. Since the cultural and religious objects, expressions and practices of the dominant caste and class had finer aspects they were without examination incorporated into liturgical celebrations. This also exposes the inherent disdain to many aspects that are local, rural and of the common masses.

Interestingly, the All India Consultation on Evangelization held in Patna 1973, highlights the second step taken by the Church in terms of its understanding of evangelization. “The Church has no other mission but to be the sign of Jesus Christ here and now, to make present his liberating action in the frustrating situation of our country, by her involvement in the common struggle of our people for liberation from the unjust structures of our society. Her witness demands that, like Christ, she identify herself with the suffering masses, that she be in solidarity with the concrete situation of the society in which she lives placing herself entirely at its disposal as a servant and embodiment of Christ’s all embracing love”.

In 1980s the Church became aware of the fact that it is often at the opposing camp of change. “Analysing its stand toward society, one finds that the function of the Church has been primarily one of maintenance, adjustment, support, compromise rather than one of confrontation, conflict or radical change. This we see in its Action, its Thinking, its History, its Status”. In concrete terms this revelation led to involvement in the lives and the struggles of the ordinary masses for whom dissent and protest had become a common feature. It is at this time, a major shift was seen in the deliberations where concepts like social change and social action became dominant. Now an attempt is made to read the history of conversion of the Dalits, the Tribals and the downtrodden from this perspective. It is this process of search for meaningful presence in the lives and the struggles of the masses, which has given the Church its credibility today.

The believing community in the recent past is grappling with the hard reality that liberative mission is a political act. It is also dawning on it that faith and ideology go hand in hand. Segundo argues “Having faith makes no sense if it does not lead me to give direction to my life. At the same time, however, the direction that faith gives my life is relativized by that faith itself. My situation in the face of an ideological crisis will change, or at least it should change objectively. When some ideology linked up with my faith proves to be inoperative or grounded on uncertain suppositions, then the objectively absolute value of my faith should logically prompt me to a new and different encounter with the absolute revelation of my faith. It I am a Christian, for example, my ideological crisis should force me back to the gospel message”. Segundo goes on to maintain that liberation theology has a preference and partiality for the Old Testament in general, and for the Exodus in particular. The reason for this he states is clear, that is, the Old Testament, and the Exodus even in particular, show us two central elements completely fused into one, i.e., God the liberator and the political process of liberation.

Voicing similar concern Pedro Arrupe, the former General of the Society of Jesus maintained

“Every Christian, by the mere fact of being one, has in some way or other to contribute to the work of evangelisation, but the religious when he/she consecrates himself to God makes a special profession of following and imitating Christ as Saviour of the world. And by this definitive surrender, total and perpetual, he becomes a full-time collaborator in the saving work of Christ, accepting the Gospel in all its radicalism. Through his/her consecration, the religious, besides being set aside from the world and accepted by God, accepts a type of life, which most closely approaches the ideal of the evangeliser. By his/her poverty he/she divests himself/herself of all personal property and remains altogether free from every personal gain and interest… the family of the one consecrated to God by celibacy for the Kingdom is the entire human family. Finally, through obedience the religious surrenders his/her freedom or rather raises it to a higher level when he commits himself to the following of God’s will, expressed by his superiors. Further, the religious consecration has the dynamic aspects of mission. In as much as he is consecrated to God and accepted by him, the religious is ‘sent’ to be an instrument, a fellow worker, as assistant to Christ in the task of the World’s salvation. Consecration and mission are two essential aspects of every religious life, which from them receives a special depth and height.”

The Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace, which met in 1990, reflected about Liberative Struggles in Violent Society. According to them, “Institutionalised violence often goes unnoticed whereas resistance to violence of the poor is condemned. The church is not averse to mobilizing people to demonstrate when church rights are infringed. But it closes its eyes against the poor being mobilized to fight injustice in society. At bottom, the concern of the church for its institutions, property and privileges makes it a silent spectator, an unprotesting witness to the violation of human rights by those in power”.

The political option of the believing community is also expressed in terms of option for the poor.

“Option for the poor means to look at the world, its reality, through the eyes of the poor, the poor who come to open their eyes to their human dignity and destiny and are prepared to do something about these matters. The point is that the heart of the poor, the deprived and the oppressed who are the dehumanized victims of avarice and greed resound more urgently and sharply for a more just, a more human and fraternal world. To opt for the poor means to hear the Father’s/mother’s call and understand his/her will – like Jesus in the context of the poor’. Option for the poor, of course, has some implications; it means that the Church today is that of the middle class and its perspective is different from that of the poor. So, option for the poor means sharing the perspectives of the poor, their aspirations for justice, truth, freedom, fellowship, love and peace. Secondly, it means opening to the cries of the poor, and listening to them in order to learn from them. Thirdly like Jesus the Evangelist/missionary is to be open to all possibilities and forms of the coming of God’s Kingdom. In the matrix of concrete situations and the ongoing historical process, placing full trust and hope in the God of the Covenant whose dream for his people is frustrated in the actual plight of the poor, the hungry, the afflicted, means adopting a spirit of poverty which manifests itself in a simple lifestyle freely embraced for the sake of the Kingdom”.

The believing community in Latin America held this view, “the situation of pervasive extreme poverty takes on very concrete faces in real life. In these faces we ought to recognize the suffering features of Christ the Lord, who questions and challenges us. They include:

- The faces of young children, struck down by poverty before they are born;
- The faces of young people, who are disoriented because they can not find their place in society, and who are frustrated;
- The faces of the indigenous peoples, living marginalized lives in inhuman situations;
- The faces of the peasants, deprived of land;
- The faces of labourers, who frequently are ill-paid who have difficulty in organizing themselves to defend their rights;
- The faces of the unemployed and the underemployed, who are dismissed because of the harsh exigencies of economic crises;
- The faces of marginalized and overcrowded urban dwellers.

One has to look at the other anxieties and uncertainities of people that stem from a lack of respect for their dignity as human beings, made in the image and the likeness of God, and for their inalienable rights as children of God.

At this juncture it is expedient to juxtapose the above revelations with the objectives of BAMCEF, that is, Backward and Minorities Communities Employees Federation founded in 1976:

> To provide hope and help to one’s own downtrodden society, which has been made to feel as hopeless and helpless through the centuries-old tyrannies committed on it by the exploiters and oppressors in India.
> The build, lay and strengthen the non-political roots of the oppressed and exploited society in the fields of social, economic, educational, cultural, scientific, trade, commerce and industry, which have been completely destroyed by the tyrant class.
> To become a perennial source of inspiration for the oppressed and exploited society, by way of developing moral values for self and by exhibiting those values to the society as a model.
> To create capable, committed and genuine leadership.
> To generate, develop and operate direction centers to guide the oppressed and exploited society.
> To develop and provide resources and skill to the society for its amelioration.

The SVD General Chapter 2000 poignantly states “In committing ourselves to prophetic dialogue with the poor and marginalized, we come to a deeper understanding that our struggle is not only against famine, ignorance and the denial of human rights but especially against the sinfulness of the human heart which is at the root of the oppressive structures and systems that cause these evils”. Thus the liberative action that we as religious want to engage in is political action. If this political action were carried to its logical conclusion we would be the blessed people as stated by Dr. Ambedkar. ‘Blessed are those who experience this fact that we have to liberate those people among whom we are born. Blessed are those who offer everything for the elimination of slavery. Blessed are those who without taking into account pain and pleasure, dignity and indignity, problems and crisis, cyclone and earthquake continue to struggle till then when the untouchables do not attain their human rights and dignity’.

Let us conclude with the prayer recited by the Birsaites in the following words, “You created the earth and heaven, We pray to you with our whole heart, taking in our hands the mango stalk and water in a small earthen pot. You alone can ward off all our troubles and protect us against them, there is none else to save us. On your saving us alone, we can be saved”.