Dalits into Dalit Christians; Antagonism of Purity versus Pollution and Caste Dynamics in Kerala

Abstract

This paper attempts to expose the caste dynamics in 19th-century Kerala on the grounds of the missionary movement and religious conversion. With available literature on this field, the paper unravels the lacuna in representing the caste issues involved in religious conversion in colonial India, especially concerning the conversion of Dalits into Dalit Christians and the unchanged social positionality of Dalit Christians. Suppose the conversion was a real escape from the caste discrimination experienced by the Dalits from the caste Hindus; in that case, Christianity should have treated them differently and equally among other church communities within the religion. Nonetheless, the social position of converted Dalit Christians remains at the bottom of the hierarchy within Christianity, with the underlying ideas of purity and pollution in both caste and religion.