The Untouchables

Who are "the least of these" that Jesus calls us to serve? What about "our neighbors" we're supposed to love, who are they? Maybe they are people you don't even know exist.

Spread across South Asia is a group of forgotten people too numerous to count. Despised by their countrymen and viewed as subhuman, even the shadows they cast are believed to be cursed because of their perceived filth. They are the Dalits ("Untouchables") of South Asia, the lowest of the low.

The word Dalit literally means "broken", "crushed" or "oppressed". In Hindu society, Dalits are at the lowest rung of the ladder. The vast majority of them are impoverished, exploited and powerless to change their fate. Considered to be polluted or unclean, they are called "Untouchables". If they were to touch someone of a higher caste, the upper-caste person would supposedly become contaminated. This is why many Dalits are not allowed to drink from community wells and are discouraged from attending schools with other students.

Dalits and the Caste System
More than 3,000 years ago, invaders conquered the Indian subcontinent and set up the beginnings of the caste system.

Facts About the Caste System

• The Hindu caste system was created more than 3,000 years ago by invading Aryan tribes to prevent pollution of their race.The four main castes are:
• Brahmins - priests and teachers
• Kshatriyas - rulers and soldiers
• Vaisyas - merchants and traders
• Sudras - laborers and servants

• The Dalits fall beneath this structure and are considered less than human. Their position in Asian society is justified by ancient Hindu religious texts such as The Laws of Manu. 
• Dalits are expected to perform menial, degrading tasks that include unclogging sewers, disposing of dead bodies and cleaning latrines. 
• Dalits are forced to live in separate settlements, prohibited from worshipping in temples, barred from using the village wells, and their children often denied education or made to sit in the back of the classroom. 
• The Indian constitution outlaws the caste system and reserves nearly 25 percent of government jobs and university spots for Dalits. However, more than a million of these posts remain unfilled, or filled by dishonest non-Dalits. 
• Even simple Dalit assertions of their lawful rights and privileges have touched off hate crimes against them by members of the upper castes. These have included rape, harrassment, violence and murder. 
• The average literacy rate among Dalits is approximately 37 percent. Among some Dalit communities it is a low as 10 percent. 
• Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted, three Dalit women raped, two Dalits murdered and two Dalit houses burned, according to the Human Rights Education Movement of India, yet only one percent of those who commit crimes against Dalits are ever convicted. 
• In India alone, the combined population of Dalits and other low-caste groups equals approximately 700 million people. While Brahmins comprise just 5 to 9 percent of India's 1 billion people, they control 78 percent of India's judicial posts, approximately half of the parliament and 89 percent of the nation's major media outlets.

Information from Gospel For Asia. Used by permission.

The Dalits were created by God and are loved by God  just as much as any other people group on the earth. Unfortunately, like every other place in the world, people judge one another based on position and social status. The Dalits are no exception. Gospel For Asia serves and loves the Dalits in the name of Jesus Christ throughout southern Asia. They have been witness to numerous lives saved and released from the bondage and shame brought upon by being born into the caste system.