1. Introduction:

In his latest novel ‘The Winner Stands Alone’ Paul Coelho states: “The planet is, was, and always will be stronger than us. We can’t destroy it; if we overstep the mark, the planet will simply erase us from its surface and carry on existing”[i] – Replacing the word ‘planet’ by ‘Dalit’ everyone should be able to repeat the words of power and reassurance even though the Dalits are multiply discriminated – the economically impoverished, religiously neglected, socially exploited, culturally humiliated and politically ignored. From this level of subjugation and downtroddenness of slavery, the Dalits should rise to prominence of leadership. For this to happen the Dalits should be able to understand the exclusion and exploitation they and their community are at present subjected; and they should become courageous to assert their strength and power that arise out of liberation. In this process of empowering, the Dalit priests/religious should be effective instruments in the liberation as well as empowerment of the Dalits. For, it is in the liberation and empowerment of the Dalit community, the liberation and empowerment of the Dalit priests/religious is inbuilt. In the power of the Dalits people do the Dalit priests/religious find their meaning of existence and mission of leadership.

For the above mentioned have to happen, the Dalit priests/religious need to subject themselves to the following process and outcome – Starting from self-examination, they should come to the realistic comprehension of ground reality, so that they could come up with the solidarity of determination and power to shatter the shackles of suppression and exploitation and discrimination of the Dalits. Thus they should become today’s Moses leading the people from the insignificance of suppression to the prominence of decision-making leadership in the society and in the Church. The strategy is to start with awareness of Dalit reality as well as consciousness, leading to assessment of reality, and culminating in assertion of leadership.

We start from the people’s perspective: any reality is easily understood by narrative – People’s perception of the present reality and dreams for the future prosperity. This narrative is divided into two, namely analyst narrative and public narrative. An attempt is made in this paper to understand the Dalit reality in order to work on a strategy-building for Dalit liberation and empowerment.

2. Awareness:

In the analyst narrative we consider the present situation of the Dalit-reality. One sees the contrast between a Dalit and a non-Dalit. A non-Dalit, due to support and influence from his fellow non-Dalits, is able to ascend the ladder of power even though he/she might be mediocre. On the contrary a Dalit finds it handicapped to ascend the social, religious, political ladder of recognition and power, even though he/she might be far superior to his non-Dalit fellow citizens. So the Dalit becomes aware of his/her excellence ignored amidst mediocrity and he/she becomes conscious of the actual situation – He/she should move on to the next phase of critical reflection of his/her inability leading to the determination how he/she would become enabled to achieve his/her valid and rightful dream to come up in life and society. The Dalit priests/religious need to work through this process of awareness, that leads to realistic assessment in order to effect effective assertion by the people.

2.1. Model – Philosophy of Operation: The Buddhist ‘The Three Jewels’ model could be inspiring in this context. The self-awareness blossoms to encompass collective consciousness culminating in institutional power. The Buddhist monk empowers himself by the mantra of: Buddham saranam gacchami, Dhamman saranam gacchami, and Sangham saranam gacchami.

2.1.1. Buddham saranam gacchami: It is the process of self-awareness of asking myself: What I am and what I am capable of and how I can become empowered. It dawns on oneself, especially the Dalit priests/religious, that one can become ever better and ever greater (magis) through excelling in education, administration, and leadership.

2.1.2. Dhammam saranam gacchami: Becoming conscious of oneself becomes a collective consciousness – Becoming aware of the present despicable status of living as untouchables and their legitimate dream of becoming liberated and powerful, makes one look for strategies to achieve the inner dictate that ‘I am also great’ and ‘I am second to none’.

2.1.3. Sangham saranam gacchami: As the individual consciousness evolves into collective consciousness, the next phase is institutionalized power. The suppressed become enarmoured through job-guaranteeing educational institutions and creating opportunities of dignified labour for the uneducated and unorganized sector. The effective result should be career centres in order to counsel and guide the educated as well as uneducated, skilled as well as unskilled labourers. The modality of operation is, from the periphery to the centre, that is from receiving end to command-centre:

education → employment → empowerment → leadership.

2.2. Contradictions:

Dr Ambedkar, the Father of Indian Constitutions and the liberating-force of the Dalits, indicated to the fact of ‘ascending order of reverence and descending order of contempt’, implying that when a Dalit, after all struggles and hardships, reaches a position of power, he/she would not be acknowledged but would draw contempt and all efforts would be made to derail him/her and he/she would be toppled from power. As it is said that blood is thicker than water, the feeling is stronger than thinking – Thus feeling ‘contempt’ is stronger than intellectually recognizing the merit of a Dalit. In this mindset a non-Dalit will not and cannot accept a Dalit as his/her leader – Even the circumstance forces it would be only temporary tolerance, till he/she is toppled.

We could see a number of structural and cultural contractions in day-to-day life: The non-Dalits are well-knit and stay together as a solid and unified power, at least against the Dalits, and the lay people support their priests/religious with their money and power to pull strings either to put up their people or to put down the Dalits (who are their common enemies). But the Dalits are sub-divided, partly due to divide-and-rule strategy of the non-Dalits, and the lay Dalit people expecting the support and guidance from the Dalit priests/religious. There is need for change of tides for the Dalits: There is need for making the Dalits take initiatives without fear of failure and there is necessity of infusing a spirit of struggle. The Dalit priests/religious should work on formation of people-movement and let them take the lead (while the Dalit priests/religious remain back-seat drivers functioning as the propelling dynamic force for the people). They should imbibe the spirit of generosity to:

Give themselves, heart and soul, without counting the cost;

Fight without heeding the wounds;

Toil day and night without seeking for rest;

Labour tirelessly without seeking for rest[ii],

except knowing that the people should be empowered.

2.3. Challenges:

There are internal as well as external challenges. To become aware of the challenges, helps in assessing the ground reality and also to see the various types of opportunities as response to the challenges posed are needed. A few of the challenges are indicated below:

2.3.1: External Challenges: These are challenges posed from non-Dalits mainly that discredit, handicap and obstruct the functioning of the Dalits and to rob them of their credibility and creativity and competence.

2.3.1.1. Stigma: There is direct as well as indirect untouchability practiced at all levels and sectors. In some villages still two-tumbler system is used (The non-Dalits would be served tea/coffee in glass while the Dalits would be served in aluminum tumbler which they should wash themselves). As Nathanael said: What good could come out of Nazareth (Jn 1:46), people assume that the Dalits are not capable of doing well. Even if they do well or when they succeed in life the comment would be: ‘After all, he/she is a Dalit’. In the society out there, there is discrimination of the living, but in the Catholic Church there is discrimination beyond life – There are separate burial grounds for the Dalits and non-Dalits. (Recently one was murdered for burying a Dalit in the common cemetery used by the high-caste people).

2.3.1.2. Dalit Brand: Normally the Dalits are branded as ‘bundles of emotions’ – This is only a switch-off mechanism, implying that the Dalits would only make noise but they are not capable of any action. This is because the Dalit priests/religious cry foul when any injustice or discrimination takes place and at the end they are branded as trouble makers and are eventually victimized. Dalit agony and suffering are simply taken for granted as historical and cultural routine but the suffering of the non-Dalits are normally blown out of proportion.

2.3.1.3. Dalit Servitude: There is an inbuilt or gene-induced bent-over attitude due to millennium of bonded-labour which breeds both inferiority complex as well as loyalty to the feudal and land lords of high caste. This induces a natural fear for the high caste who are not only well off but also they threaten with dire consequence if there is uprising among the Dalits.

2.3.1.4. Impression belying Facts: When the Dalit priests/religious come out with flying colours in their academic accomplishments or when they do successfully well as able administrators, their reputation is spoiled by spreading false rumours and accusations. The purpose is to discredit their capability as well as leadership. When the rumours are put to question, the standard response is: There is no smoke without fire. When a gorilla war starts in the form of anonymous letters to tarnish the Dalit leadership, another justification tended forward is: Anonymous letter is a forum to express one’s views. But this would be applicable only in cases of the Dalits – With regard to non-Dalits they would be atrocious falsehood!

2.3.1.5. Public Script vs private Script: One should beware of those who have a public script and also a private script. The public script would be: Dalit option, while the private script would be: Anti-Dalit attitude and atrocity. There are non-Dalit leaders, in the Church as well as religious circles, who are international Dalit proponents while they are locally or in private Dalit opponents. Such hypocrisy and double standard should be taken to task and to be exposed.

2.3.1.6. Dividing the Dalits: Everyone knows that unity is strength and ‘every kingdomdivided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand’ (Mt 12:25). The destructive forces try to divide the Dalit unity, inducing and incensing the sub-group attitude. Another stunt is, non-Dalits help a few Dalits who would be loyal them and show that they are doing the best for the Dalits. This is nothing but the ‘bribed’ façade of their Dalit-option.

2.3.2. Internal Challenges: We might be aware of external challenges but we need to be aware of internal challenges as well.

2.3.2.1. Questionable Relationship: There is need for clarity of relationship with those we work and for those we serve, especially with women. As priests and religious there are so many opportunities to mingle as well as work with people of complementary sex.  Personal relationship and administrative/professional relationship should be clearly understood and personal relationship should not become exclusive relationship (which is reserved for marriage). For Dalit priests/religious, as for others, there is need for constant guidance in one’s personal life of service and mission.

2.3.2.2. Criticism or Betrayal from within: Sometimes it is painful to see how the non-Dalits are working against the Dalit priests/religious to bring down those in position, by spoiling their good name and discrediting their administrative and academic capabilities. But at the same time, it is heart-breaking to see how our own people criticize the Dalit priests/religious and sometimes among the ranks of Dalit priests/religious dissenting voice echoes. It might be due to a feeling of insecurity or to get the favour of the ‘powerful’ which is considered as windfall in life.

2.3.2.3. Temptation of Money, Position, and Power: The prevailing temptations of the Dalit leaders including the priests/religious to imitate the other leaders in cheap popularity, immediate incentives, glamorous positions, or undeserved gains corrode their credibility is reducing them to be less effective in walking together with our Mission People. This could be encountered with the growing culture of self-critique strengthened by the spiritual capital of personal and collective discernment. This could stop providing fodder to the anti-Dalit people who thrive on demonizing Dalits and help us build for ourselves brick by brick with the growing trends of self-dependence at all levels.

2.4. Formation of the Dalit Priests/Religious:

The Dalit priests/religious have the privilege as well as priority to form themselves in order to form and empower the Dalit laity. Hence, it is not only the formation or training given in the seminaries or religious congregations but over and above, what the individual forms oneself in order to prepare the people. There is a need not only to think out of box but also to live out of the box of conventional way of thinking and living. First and foremost, making use of the facilities and infra-structure available, the Dalit priests/religious should do their best to get the best benefit out of the milieu in the formation and even later, in order to excel not only in studies but in whatever mission one is sent to.

One should always remember the common mindset that is prevailing in the minds of the anti-Dalits: Mosaic law (Ex 20:17) dictates, ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife and properties’ (since women are counted among properties); and in the time of Jesus also they were not counted as equals to men, since in the multiplication of loaves (Mt 14:21), there were five thousand men, ‘not counting women and children’ (since they were considered not worth counting!). In the same way, the Dalits are considered not as human beings but objects and hence objects have no rights to claim and no dignity to enjoy. In the present scenario, the shift from slavery to untouchablity is not much – The Dalits could work in the farms and houses of the high caste people; they could cultivate the land and gather the grains but once the food is cooked they should not partake of it nor should they touch it, since they are untouchables! The Dalits are tolerable so far they are at the receiving end but the aspiration of the Dalits to come up to the commanding centre, for the non-Dalits, is unacceptable, since the non-Dalits cannot think of taking orders from the Dalits. This is the main challenge today both in the society and in the Holy Catholic Church, especially in Tamilnadu.

An awareness of ground reality should lead one to critical assessment of how one is affected (individually as well as collectively), culminating in concrete and time-bound action plan starting from a mindset to assert one’s rights and equality combined with conviction and solidarity, through effective networking.

3. Assessment:

Analytic narrative and public narrative[iii] are intertwined. If analytical narrative helps one become aware of the hard reality, public narrative gives one impetus to go forward. It is a leadership art, that is, translating values into action through engaging heart, clear head, and effective
hands. At all levels there is need for synchronizing leading to empowering and liberation. Narrative is built from the experience of challenge, choice and outcome. As public narrative it is woven from three elements: a story of self, a story of us (implying movement), and a story of now leading to a meaningful future. The combination of effective self-efforts and meaningful action-plan for the present leads to a relevant movement as indicated below. The overlapping area(s) would be the focus of consideration and action as shown below:

It is the interaction between self and the other, that is, Dalits and dominant castes as well as Dalit priests/religious and dominant caste priests/religious which leads to movement building. It is the nucleus where the interaction leads to interpretation, resulting in questioning the very social order that needs rethinking and revamping and restructuring.

3.1. Heart Level: Let me ask myself: Who am I? Asking questions about myself  (my origin, my strength and weakness, my course of action, my destination) would put me in proper perspective. At times there is feeling that I am a Dalit (and feel how others lowly look at me). Let me ask myself the supplementary question: I am a Dalit – so what? Even the baptismal waters could not cleanse me from my Dalitness, what is there to be afraid? Much depends on how I feel about something – In life, it is not events but how we perceive them that matter most, since what we see depends on what we desire to see!

The reality for the Dalit priests/religious is related to a conflict identity: Dalit or Priest or both. This often leads to confusion within and clash with others. But the outcome should be one should discover oneself and feel that each one is unique since each one has been created by God for a specific mission, in His redemptive plan, and only that person should be able to fulfill that mission. God tells each one as he said about Jesus when he was baptized: ‘You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased’ (Lk 3:21). And hence it is up to each one to emerge as the winner in order to do the specific mission, within the common mission of liberation and empowering the marginalized.  3.2. Mind level: We have to ask, in the next phase, ‘who are we?’ We should be able to feel Dalit solidarity emerging from Dalit consciousness seeking liberation and empowerment. We have to reflect on how much there is resemblance or contradiction between one’s personal life and the life of the common and how much the social clash (of discrimination, untouchability etc) affect me and what lessons I have learnt from atrocities against Dalit dignity and human right violations – The question should arise within: Am I a conformist (ignoring the rape of the Dalit dignity) or do I emerge as a rebel to mow down the rising atrocities. The impact of social downtroddeness as well as political/religious ignorance should evoke the inner dynamics, energizing the sense of justice addressing the suppression structures as well as practices of social/ ecclesiastical/ political structures. The outcome is the clear mindset, conscious not as statistics but propelling to action, arising from the inner conviction leading to courage to set right the inequalities and injustice.  3.3. Hand level: We need to take stock of things here and now at the action level in the Church. This is the analysis of problems in the church and in the society. At the personal level we have to realize that knowledge is power which makes us command respect instead of demanding respect from others as we very often, as intellectuals, would have edge over others. We need to come out of insecure feeling and should become ready for self-sacrifice in the process of liberating the marginalized – We should become models for the fellow Dalits to break the shell of fear and move towards freedom and liberation.  Here the Dalit priests/religious should be able to place the common interest above personal interest (especially of reaching levels of power and authority), that is, to be ready to sacrifice personal interest in the interest of the people. We have to often ask ourselves the question: Who am I? And Whose am I? This would give us a sense of clear direction – Thus, as Ignatius of Loyola states in his Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises, the Dalit priests/religious find their fullness in the fullness of others. With regard to others, we have to make the people think: Who are they? And whose are they? They should realize that they have the same potential as others – They breathe in the same oxygen as others and breathe out the same carbon-di-oxide as others. Why, then, are others considered better, braver, powerful than the Dalits? The suppressed Dalits should realize that they are second to none. And they should have the boldness to walk straight with their head held high.

The world and the events in time are interpreted in two ways – both as narrative and as analysis. Narratives articulates how one feels about reality (affect) and analysis articulated how one thinks about events (cognition) – And both should lead to concrete, relevant, effective and meaningful action. The end point is designing strategies for course correction. In the public narrative often emotional aspects play a major role. For example, ‘caste’ is an emotional-construct (since the concept is based on purity-impurity feeling). And hence this ‘emotional-construct’ needs strategy to break barriers between the oppressor and the oppressed and to build up power for the suppressed.

In this context one has to understand the Dalit phobia: Every anti-Dalit group conveniently thinks that Dalits are the dividing forces fragmenting the human communities and they try to bury the idea that the Dalits are fragmented and shattered by social suppression and marginalization – Hence there is need to become conscious of reality surrounding us and the need to pick up courage to look fearlessly into the eye of discrimination in order to wake up the sleeping lion of liberation and rights as human beings.

4. Assertion: Strategies and Action Plan

What we see depends on what we look for – How we feel about something influences what we think and how we do. However, the way we feel about some things often has little to do with the present, but rather it is a legacy of the emotional lessons we learned long ago. The exodus has to be from Dalitness to leading dominance. The reality of exclusion and exploitation, both within the Church and outside in the society, should be accepted as the naked fact as well as stark reality. And at the same time, we should accept that these can be and should be changed – This is the beginning of changes.

4.1. Time-based Action Plan: We need to think outside the box – That is, we need to come out of confusion of social discrimination and negligence and should get clarity to confront it. The effective way is emergence of leadership – It needs concerted efforts and clarity of operation starting with affirmative action. The goal is: The marginalized should become empowered; the downtrodden should become the leader; and those who have been so far at the receiving end should emerge as the command-centre both in the society as well as in the Church. The first-step is assertion of one’s rights and the second step is power-sharing; and the third step is leadership of decision-making.

First, make appeal to the logic of the people: All the Dalits should think that we are full human beings, recognized as equals by the law of justice and law of creation, and hence when this equality is upset we need to resort to legal process. At this point the Dalit priests/religious as well as people should learn and be ready to assert, even if one has to resort to upsurge of pressure to press the demands. The talk of ‘reservation’ should not be a comic solution but effective modality of empowering-operation. The Tamilnadu Church comprises of 65% plus Dalits and hence there should be fair sharing at all levels (decision-making process, administration etc). If the percentage is not accepted by the official Church, then the Tamilnadu Church should initiate the process of a scientific census conducted by a neutral scientific institute.

Ultimately the common people should be the solution to the common problem – Whether it was the French Revolution or the revolution in Iraq against the Shah family or the recent demonstration in Egypt against Hosni Mubarak, the people would take up to violence, if there is no fair way of addressing their legitimate needs and demands. Hence, there is need to build up people’s movements such as DCLM, youth association, intellectual forum etc in order to strengthen solidarity among the Dalits. The time to act is now and the place to act is here.

4.2. Education as Power-building: Today the Dalit priests/religious should be able to excel in academic studies and should specialize in areas that would be essential for the liberation and empowering of the Dalits – They should go in for legal studies (both civil as well as cannon laws) and should become professors of theology in order to rethink and reinterpret Catholic theology from the perspective of the Biblical ‘option for the marginalized’. They could go in for social work studies which would be very meaningful in pastoral ministry and much good can be done through counseling since the upcoming youth find it difficult to digest and accept the feeling of rejection from fellow human beings, fellow-priests, and fellow-religious. This choice of studies and specialization would very much help realize the dream of Dr Ambedkar, namely bring in the organization through education leading to assertion of dignity, rights and equality.

For the people, guidance could be given regarding job-oriented academic studies especially professional studies (such as medical, engineering, industrial technological). Choosing youngsters with signs and aptitude of leadership, studies of economics and history could be encouraged so that they could become trade-union leaders, ward-members and eventually presidents in panchayat/municipal/corporation administration. Their leadership in Church administration, starting from Parish Council should be encouraged and they should be suitably trained and motivated. For the school/college dropouts there could be alternate education programmes such as community college, polytechnic institutes, lab-technician courses. And there should be a career training and guidance centre if possible every district. The more number of people get involved in administrative positions, the better. It is after all, a number game that tilts the power-level in any organization.

4.3. Movement within the Church: When Jesus said that the kingdom of God was like leaven (Lk 13:21), he meant it to be a change from within. In fact, what he started was a movement within in order to transform the society and religion. The same movement is very much needed today – not only to expose the discrimination and subtle to obvious untouchability in the Church, but also to assert the legitimate rights of the Dalits. One could read in the novel entitled ‘Eppadium’ by Mark (Vaigarai Pub, Dindigul 2010) which depicts how the Dalits are not tolerated in the Choir, how Dalits cannot get married at the main-altar, how Dalits are not considered for Parish Council etc. People should become aware of this and they should become conscious of discrimination and then they should be able to confront the suppression structure in order establish the rights and equality of the Dalits. The consciousness of suppression would evolve as uprising against injustice leading to surgical operation as the process of emergence of empowerment.

4.3.1. Church Level: The Dalit priests/religious should become vocation promoters, seminary professors, formators, seminary rectors, and administrators so that they could lead the fellow Dalits as role models and source of impetus. And the Dalit people should have ample representation at all levels of diocesan administration, starting from parish council, diocesan commissions especially financial commission – They should have their part in the decision-making process.

4.3.2. Societal Level: There should be social analysis and social consciousness with the focus on social discrimination. People, especially in the rural areas, should become aware of their human rights and they should be taught how to fight for their dignity and equality. They should be guided to go in for professional education such as technical and legal – We need a many human rights lawyers to fight effectively for the human rights of the Dalits. The Dalits should have entry point into the world of business and entrepreneurship starting with the Self-Help Groups for the rural women-folk. A few educated and leadership-capable people should be trained for role in international bodies such as Amnesty International, UNESCO etc. Leadership is what is needed for the Dalits at all levels: local, regional, national, and international.

4.4. Mindset to face Challenges: In order to overcome our own inbuilt inhibition and inferiority complex we have to build up an effective mindset. First, the feeling of ‘Dalit’ – Instead of feeling: ‘Oh, what a pity, I am a Dalit’, ask yourself: ‘Yes, I am a Dalit – So what?’We should also see the irony in the caste-system: for the high caste the caste-designation would end in a respectable syllable (such as: Vellalar, Udayar, Nadar, Vanniar etc) but for the Dalits it would be lower-form of address (such as: Pallan, Parayan, Sakylian, Vannan etc). In establishing the mindset we need to pay attention to both intra and extra challenges.

4.4.1. Intra-Challenges: First we have to put our house in order. We need to address the conflict, disunity, negative forces due to leaders with vested interest etc. United we stand and we stand up to the challenge. And each one, interested in Dalit liberation, should not be afraid of taking a stand for the same. We need to educate ourselves that we make a formidable strength and we need to educate ourselves to stand on our own leg: We need to pick up skills in order to excel in our intellectual capacity, administrative capability, and leadership charism.  We need to educate ourselves.

4.4.2. Inter-Challenges: Once the individual is convinced of one’s worth and potential, then we should work on strengthening inter-solidarity. The sub-group rivalry induced by outside elements and self-vested leaders should be erased. The class-strata among the Dalits should be effectively addresses: Right now one could see that the high class (based on income and employment) seek technical and medical profession and the middle class look for school/college teaching, whereas the illiterate and rural Dalits grope in the dark of helpless to stand up. We need to organize these lowest strata through effective education.

4.4.3. Trans-Challenge: This is yet another area to be addressed – It is assertion of Dalit-rights with the non-Dalits. In general, there is a tendency of not recognizing the talents of the Dalits, even if they are outstanding. The usual comment is: He/she is good (excellent, capable) but he/she is a Dalit! The initial problem of inertia to get into action, the fear of the unknown failure, the absence of confidence regarding solidarity and cooperation from fellow Dalits and Dalit organizations, the lack of financial and political backing are to be effectively addressed. This is the phase of agitation for liberation and freedom.

4.4.4. Moving on in Action: The mantra of Dr Ambedkar, namely educate, organize, and agitate, should be realized through facing the intra-, inter-, and trans-challenges in the establishing Dalit dignity and rights and liberation. It is a compact movement as shown below:

Hence start working at the feeling level (‘I am a Dalit, so what?’), move on to face the challenges leading to success stories (‘I am proud to be a Dalit’) and culminating in dominance at power level through solidarity. Move on from inertia to urgency; from fear to hope; from apathy to anger; from self-doubt to you-can-make-it attitude; from local isolation to universal solidarity. In this mission, there is need for courage to go forward and patience in meeting the challenges and endurance in climbing up the ladder of power and decision-making-leadership.

4.4.5. Global Awareness about Dalit-Plights: The pathetic situation of the Dalits, whether in the society or in the Church or in the religious life should be made known all over the world especially the funding agencies and Church organization. This can be done through writing and interviews to local, national, and international press, journals, agencies – YouTube, Blogs etc would be very helpful in exposing the Dalit discrimination at all levels. This is understood as three-pronged strategy as shown below:

5. Conclusion:

Empowering and power-building are the two axes which the Dalit priestsd/religious have to do for themselves and for the Dalit fellow human being. In this process meaningful plan with timeline has to be workout. The following are some of the suggestions, which are neither exhaustive nor comprehensive:

5.1. The Dalit priests/religious have to address the loneliness and stress in their ministries. Living alone should not be confused with feeling lonely. There is need for interpersonal relationship. In order to serve the ‘People of God’ as priests, there is need for “ongoing formation, in ensuring the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral maturity of priests, is doing good to the People of God itself.”[iv] Keep going, come what may, should be the dynamism but at the same time making oneself being prepared adds to effectiveness. Being alone should not give way to amassing money and discretion is needed in making friendship, especially how one goes about with women in ministry.

5.2. The Game to be played: Systematic approach to ascend the ladder of power and position, for effective ministry, should be worked out.

1. It starts with the number game (increasing vocations both for dioceses and for religious congregations);
2. Ascending game of training oneself through picking up potential skills as aptitude coupled with attitude leads to altitude;

iii.        Power game of gaining access to administrative position (which needs academic as well as managerial formation);

1. Liberation mission of bold action in solidarity with Dalit-liberation groups; and
2. Excellence to reach as culmination to establish the dignity of the Dalits.

In taking efforts to excel in every way, the Dalit priests/religious should work for promotion of talents, starting with the ability to think for oneself and capacity to express what one feels about an issue. Thus, one should be able to stand on one’s own. In the same way the Dalit people should be made to think for themselves (not to be led by others including the Dalit priests/religious). One should be able to stand for one’s inner conviction. The model is none other than Jesus himself: He stood his grounds, whether it is Sabbath issues or facing the hypocritical religious authorities, even when it came to sacrifice his life on the Cross of humiliation.

5.3. In order to empower the Dalit people, there is need for leadership training and unity building. There should be legal centres and the availability of Dalit priests/religious as lawyers would be very much in demand in the future. There is need to join hands with like-minded groups of priests and NGOs to empower the Dalits. This would open up new vistas of collaboration. In legal matters, the admonition of Jesus, namely to be prudent and tactful like snakes but gentle as dove (Mt 10:16), is to be followed.

5.4. The role of media in building power equation should not be ignored. Media is very effective today: writing articles, organizing seminars, bringing out publications of proceedings on Dalit discriminations and atrocities should be widely done – Dalit youth should be trained in investigative journalism. Websites, blogs, YouTube, Ucan News etc should be effectively made use of on Dalit issues so that international eyes are open to the Dalit reality. Hence, networking with news papers, magazines, journals, TVs, leading lawyers (especially constitutional as well as criminal) etc should be should be established in order to make Dalit liberation effective.

Publication of success stories (story of self, story of us, story of people) should be taken on a priority basis. Jesus said: Your light should not rot hidden but should shed light to all (Mt 5:5). The spirit of ‘ever to excel’ should be realized as ‘let your light shine’. This would not only give impetus to people but also pave the way for new beginning of excellence.

5.5. Jesus clearly made it: new thinking needs new system just like old wine cannot be held in old wine-skin and new cloth cannot be patched onto old cloak (Mt 9:16f), we need to think anew. We profess one, holy, Catholic, apostolic Church but the Church is caste-ridden and power-torn. In the One-Holy Church, Dalits are considered as outcastes and are neglected and are discriminated. On the other hand, we need to believe in the apocalyptic vision of ‘new heaven and new earth’ (Rev 21:1). The solution could be founding the Dalit Church – Again Jesus stands out as the model. He was an integrated Jew and followed all the Judaic customs but eventually he was rejected but his movement took the form of i. Disciples of Jesus; ii. then, followers of Jesus; and iii. finally, Christians (in Antioch Acts – 11:26). There is need to establish the Dalit Church but within the Catholic Church – We could have Malabar Church, Malankara Church etc, then why not Dalit Church. In the event the Dalit Church is realized, perhaps the properties of the Church need to be divided as per the percentage of the Dalits  (Right now 65% of the Tamilnadu Church is made of the Dalits).

We need to win the game. And the winner does not stand alone – He/she stands in solidarity with the people to be empowered. Ultimately we realize that we cannot afford to expect the Messiah from outside. Our own history of suffering has to be duly deployed by us as the spring board for our salvation (Negativities of our suffering to be transformed as the opportunities for our upliftment – Crisis in our struggle is to transformed into opportunities of power). As Mandela says: ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.’ And we need to realize from the narrative struggle as shown below[v]:

We need a paradigm shift and we need a new beginning: You have heard, ‘Listen to your head, but follow your heart’, but I tell you, ‘Listen to your heart and work with your head’.

Francis P Xavier SJ

Email: francisx@vsnl.com

(1630210211)

[i] Paolo Coelho, The Winner Stands Alone, Harper Collins, NY, 2008.

[ii] Prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556).

[iii] Marshall Ganz, What is Public Narrative?, Kennedy School, 2007 (Cf Diagrams – modified).

[iv] Pope John Paul II, In: Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1992.

[v] Marshall Ganz, What is Public Narrative?, Kennedy School, 2007 (Cf Diagram).