If Rohit Vemula was alive today, he would have
celebrated his 27th birthday on 30th January, 2016, but he
joined ‘the stars from shadows’ becoming a martyr, sowing his life as a seed
for an uprising of a ‘Student Spring’ to defeat forces of casteism and institutional
violence. Yet, Rohit today is alive even in his death, for his life in death is
awakening the conscience of global communities in making institutions of higher
learning as zero-tolerant zones for discrimination. If I had to send a birthday
card to Rohit, I would have written on it, “Brother Rohit, Your life in death
challenges us to confess our hypocritical silence on caste and such forms of discrimination.”
Rohit, a young Dalit PhD scholar in Science &
Technology from Hyderabad Central University (HCU) along with his four other
friends were expelled from the University after a complaint given by a student
leader belonging to the student wing organisation of the ruling party at the
Centre. Rohit and his friends experienced social exclusion from the University
officials, where their scholarships have been discontinued and they were not
allowed to enter into the hostels and the administrative buildings of the University.
Rohit and his friends lived in a tent
outside the gate of the University calling it “Velivada” (Dalit Ghetto). Rohit
killed himself on 17th January, 2016 in one of his friend’s rooms in
the University, leaving a powerful letter behind in which he mentions, “The
value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility.
To a number. To a vote. To a thing… My birth is my fatal accident.” Following
this incidents, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) at the HCU has been demanding
justice for Rohit, and there are several student protests across India and
elsewhere demanding justice for Rohit. There is a ‘Student Spring’ which is
taking its ripple effect, challenging several students to fight the evil of
caste and other forms of discrimination. It was unfortunate to see dominant
groups suspecting Rohit’s Dalit identity and stretching forth discussions on
his identity rather than the reasons that led to his death.
At this point one has to be also reminded about the ‘saffronization’
project, which has been at its zenith under the present ruling government in
India, for in May 2015 the Ministry of Human Resource Development has
derecognized the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle at the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Chennai. Later from June 2015 there have been strikes by the
students at the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) for appointing
saffron activist as its Chairperson. In October 2015, there has been an Occupy
University Grants Commission (UGC) protesting against the government’s
decisions. In January 2016, we now have the death of Rohit, a Dalit scholar at
HCU, which has to be observed in light of the saffronization project. One of
the demands of the JAC at HCU is to get the two ministers of the Central
cabinet involved to be sacked and arrested for their involvement in Rohit’s
death.
Rohit’s martyrdom has raised several challenges within
me, and provoked me with anger to voice out all the more for justice and
liberation in our societies. Two important questions came across me during
these days, for one is How does the death of Rohit in Hyderabad affect us in UK?
or Does Rohit’s death has any call for us in the West? And the second is, What
is the Christian response to Rohit’s death? Allow me to briefly elaborate on
these.
I.
Does Rohit’s Death have any Message for
those in the West?
As I shared about Rohit’s death to friends here in
Manchester and in UK, several friends kept asking me ‘so what?’ there are so
many deaths happening across the globe and if a single soul died in Hyderabad,
what is it for us? In trying to answer these questions, we have organised a ‘Solidarity
Vigil for Rohit’ at Manchester and there has been a mixed response to it. Here
are three answers in that direction.
a. Recognise
the Systemic Oppressive Caste Practices as Discriminatory:
Dear friends in the West, Rohit’s death was not an
ordinary death, but when he dreamt to become a science writer like Carl Sagan,
exclusion, marginalization, discrimination in the name of caste and
institutional violence has killed him, shattering his dreams and taking away
his life. Many of you would not know the complexities of a systemic oppression
called caste, where human beings are divided and discriminated based on their
descent and occupation, Rohit’s death is a wakeup call to recognise that there
is a monster called caste, at whose altar several people are slaughtered under
its evil claws, just because they are born out-side of their system. Caste is
practised across all religions, and has permeated into all structures and
functions of Indian societies. Some have asked is caste practised in West? The
answer is an affirmative yes, look at the associations of South Asian Diaspora
in the West, most of them are named and based on their caste identities. Recognise
the systemic oppressive practice of caste as discriminatory and as inhuman.
b. Recognise
Other Forms of Discrimination & Institutional Violence in your Contexts:
Are global institutions of higher learning safe
spaces, free from discriminations? Rohit’s death in Hyderabad calls for a
social audit of all institutions of higher learning to check how safe are these
spaces for students? What are the forms of discriminations that exist? Discrimination
in the name of class, race, gender, sexuality, disability etc. have been
rampant, and it is time to address and defeat these forms of oppression from
all academic institutions.
c. Participate
in the Transnational Student Spring for Justice:
The Joint Action Committee at HCU is demanding for
justice to Rohit. Our student societies are called to join with the students at
HCU in making a global solidarity for student justice. The call is to create a
transnational solidarity for justice, so that student issues can be addressed
and networked globally and nationally cutting across territorial and other boundaries.
Students are encouraged in the West to call on Indian Embassies in their
respective countries and demand accountability for Rohit’s death and engage in
international advocacy for justice to Rohit. Rohit’s death is a call for active
student activism of students in their respective Universities. Impress upon
your local MP’s on the death of Rohit so that they can see Foreign Office to demand
justice for Rohit.
II.
What is the Christian Response to Rohit’s
Martyrdom?
The recent suicides
of young Dalit men and women due to the unbearable torture of discrimination on
the basis of caste continue to be a reality of our times. Rohit’s voice was unheard,
his cry for justice went unheard and his tryst for destiny had to come to an
end abruptly. Rohit’s road to death started with the day he joined these
institutions, for the institutions of higher learning have become fertile
crescents for caste perpetrations. The voices of the dominant continue to
amplitude their power by suppressing the cries of the oppressed communities.
They bring in the argument, as those that have ‘merit’ will be rewarded, and
lets do away with the reservation systems. And students, who enter these
educational institutions through reservations and quotas, undergo a hell lot of
discrimination and humiliations. Thankfully Rohit joined the University not on
reservations. Where is the space for the voices of our young Dalits to speak out
and articulate? Where is the space for dialogue and mutual understanding in
situations like that of this? Is the society open enough to listen to the cries
of the Dalit communities? Questions concerning this go on and on, but the fact
of the matter is, are the voices of Dalit youth heard or muted?
Time has now come
to listen to the voices of the youth from across our Churches and societies,
and more certainly the voices of our Dalit young people, whose voices have been
marginalized, for being Dalit and for being young. Jesus Christ as a young man,
voiced out against the injustices done in his days, and has given space for
those voices that were marginalized in the society to be heard. As a Church, we
need to confess that not enough space was given to the voices of young people,
for always their voice was sidelined under the guise that these voices are from
inexperienced and so on. On reading Rohit’s final letter, where he mentioned ‘my
birth is a fatal accident,’ I was reminded of Job in Bible, who complains that ‘it
was better for him to have born.’ However, in light of Rohit’s death, I wanted
to read Jesus’ encounter with a Woman whose voice was finally heard, for Rohit’s
voice was unheard and unattended to.
The Biblical
Context
In Matthew 15:
21-28, we see a Canaanite woman, who cried to Jesus for healing her daughter
who was demon possessed. Here is a voice of a woman, a Canaanite, and more over
who had a daughter who was demon possessed. I assume that this woman would have
been a young woman probably a single parent, who took all the courage to voice
out the need of her daughter. It was at
a region of Tyre & Sidon, a geography little alien, which was outside of
the so-called chosen places like Jerusalem, where they believed that God
dwelled. This was also the place where Elijah was fed by a widow of Zeraphat in
(I kings 17:9). Here comes a woman to Jesus shouting for the healing of her
daughter. Her little one’s life is threatened by forces of evil and she on her
behalf cries out to Jesus Christ. Peace at home and peace to her daughter is at
stake, she came in search of life and peace to Jesus Christ, recognising that
Jesus affirms in life, and no matter what may come, Jesus shall stand for life
and deliver peace and justice. Her prayer was a paraphrased version of our
theme ‘God of life lead us into justice & peace’, “have mercy on me, Lord,
Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Her life context projects
lifelessness, peace-lessness and unjust-ness. Her shout was a prayer for life,
prayer for peace and prayer for justice.
Jesus’
Silence: Unheeding the Cry
At that very
instant, when the woman made her prayer, verse 23 says, ‘Jesus did not answer
her a word’. Did Jesus become deaf at that point to listen to the voice of that
woman? Jesus till then spoke to Pharisees who came and asked about tradition,
and gave an eloquent speech on things that defile etc. Why did Jesus not answer
her a word. Was Jesus closed in making a
conversation with a woman, who was from a different community? Was Jesus
worried that his Jewish male identity would be maligned if he spoke to a woman
in need? Was there not a space at Jesus for the voices that are in deep distress
and pain? Jesus who helped at giving answers to people, is not without a word
to reply. Jesus could have answered, with an yes or a no, but he was silent.
Was Jesus contemplating what to answer to that woman who came in a context when
her daughter’s life and subsequently her life was at risk? Whatever be the
reason, Jesus’ silence and his reluctance to answer to her voice probably would
have pained that woman at that moment.
Disciples
Grievance: Silencing the Cry
Now enters the
disciples, to add fuel to the fire and not just asked or requested Jesus, but
were begging Jesus ‘to send her away, for she is crying after us.’(23b). The
cry of that woman whose life and peace was at stake, was jarring to the ears of
the disciples, was a disturbance to their following Jesus and the disciples
were even prejudiced, thinking that the woman was crying after them. This act
of the disciples is yet again to suppress the voice of that depressed woman. The
yearning for life, justice and peace was a matter of no value to these
disciples, who were interested in hearing to Jesus on various aspects of
healing. At the behest of the disciples, Jesus gives a political answer with
some shades of theology and philosophy, telling that his jurisdiction is within
the house of Israel and was destined for the lost sheep within that fold. By
this answer, probably Jesus thought that this woman would leave that vicinity,
for his intellectual propositions cannot be challenged. The woman did not give
up, until her voice was heard, and in all desperation, probably in a louder
tone, she knelt and asked Jesus to help her in 25 verse. Now for the second
time she makes a prayer, ‘Lord help me’. Jesus now took the occasion to
interpret his theological answer from a day-to-day affair and said how just it
is to take the bread from the child and throw it to the dogs? Jesus probably
again would have thought, with this kind of analogy, this woman would shut up
and leave.
Woman’s
Resilience: Affirming her Cry
All the more the
woman was more challenged and replied in all boldness to the analogy with yet
another analogy, that ‘even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the masters
table.’ That day she made it a point to make her voice be heard at any cost
with any kind of theology. Her strong voice for healing, her cry for justice
and her tongues for liberation challenged a person like Jesus and brought in a
change in him. No doubt the disciple would have been dumb at the response of
Jesus when he said, ‘ O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you
desire.’ The woman’s voice was finally heard. Jesus who was silent, Jesus who
was diplomatic in his answers, Jesus who was philosophical in his responses,
was now challenged and amazed at the faith of this woman, was impressed by her
longing for life, peace and justice and was impelled to pronounce healing on
the woman and her daughter. By her resilience, she made the silent Jesus speak
and lead her into justice and peace. By her faith, she saw to it that there was
healing that day in her house. She overcame Jesus’ silence, she overcame
disciples grievance, and she overcame the torments for life that day. God of
life, cannot be silent to the cries of the groaning world for peace and
justice. God was accompanying her in her resilience and helped her by granting
her healing through Jesus Christ.
a. Let us as Churches Listen to the Voices and Cries of Rohits:
As Church we have
most times been reluctant to listen to the voices of youth like Rohit and all
the more like Jesus and the disciples, our adults and elders in the Churches
gave reasons to let down the voices of youth. This woman, challenged Jesus,
challenged the disciples and I believe even the Church today for we need a
change from within, where we can move from speaking and being a noisy church to
a church where we allow the voices of youth and those in distress speak out,
where we can move from preaching mode to listening mode, and where our Churches
become the platforms for the varied and diverse voices of youth to be heard and
attended to. The silence of Jesus, the grievance of disciples was challenged by
the resilience of this woman, who spoke in all courage to voice out for her
daughter’s need. The voices of youth are always kept in a mute mode, and let us
give them a voice. Wake up Church to voice out the voices of young Dalit people
in our contexts. Rohit is challenging our silence and is calling us to act, voice
out for justice.
b.
Let us Confess as Christians for
Discriminating Scheduled Caste Christians in Our Churches:
Rohit’s death is a call for repentance to Christians
for discriminating Scheduled Caste Christians in our Churches blaming them that
they have compromised on their faith for the sake of reservations in education.
We have consciously and unconsciously practiced discrimination in our Churches
in the name of caste and it is high time we confess our superiority complex and
seek God’s forgiveness.
c. Let
us as Churches Confess our Hypocritical Silence on Caste:
Felix Wilfred in one his essays on ‘Subalterns and
Ethical Auditing’ explains about the ‘hypocritical silence on caste’, where he
expresses that caste though is observed scrupulously by the elite upper class
and caste groups, they still do not want to speak about or do want to be seen
talking about caste. He goes on to explain, that, ‘like the proverbial cat that
has nine lives, caste takes on ever new avatars which makes it difficult to
censure and bring under ethical auditing.’ He further goes to say that, ‘the
Dalits speak about caste without inhibition, because they want to exorcize this
demon. On the other hand, upper castes want to be silent on caste in public and
derive all the benefits and power through it.’[1]
Therefore the dominant castes only enjoy the benefits of and from the caste and
remain to be silent even in times of deaths of Rohit’s that continue to happen.
It is a convenient choice by all people
to remain silent and thereby see that caste and its ramifications are alive
igniting and inviting violence and oppression on Dalits. Bonhoeffer says, “Silence
on the face of evil is sin.” Rohit’s death is a call to confess our
hypocritical silence on the face of an evil practice called caste.
d. Let
us as Churches Join with Student Movements in Demanding Justice for Rohit:
Let us acknowledge that we are our brother’s and
sister’s keepers, trying to be conscious of our contexts, trying to analyse and
address the conflicts done in the name of caste. Christian public witness is to
be the conscience keepers of our society. Our prophetic calling is to join with
other student movements in demanding justice for Rohit, and see to it that we
can prevent several other Rohits in not becoming victims of caste
discrimination.
Allow me to conclude with a personal letter that I
have written to Rohit, after his death.
Dear
brother Rohit,
I
know you are no more with us to receive this letter as I write to you, but I
know that you from eternities, where stars reside are listening and looking to
us in silence. You have been alive in your death and thereby now calling us all
to awake and speak for justice. I write to you confessing my and our
insensitive attitudes towards the evil forces of caste & institutional
violence. You in the context of violence and violation of rights, stand as an
epitome and an inspiration for commitment for justice and liberation. Your life
has testified to the very fact that, “Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter.” Keep talking to us my friend Rohit. As I
speak to you, we pledge that we would give up caste practices and other forms
of discriminations in our Churches, institutions, communities and societies. We
commit to prevent many other Rohit’s from being murdered by caste and its cruel
manifestations. To us, faith communities, your life has taught us a lesson
that, ‘God works through bold & courageous people like you and many others
like you who are committed to become martyrs for the cause of justice and
liberation.’ You live in our hearts, for your love for equality and justice
will keep inspiring and influencing many generations of young people of now to
the ones that are to come in future. I will become your unfinished dream for I am
Rohit. You are 27 today and as you grow old, may our commitment to fight
discriminations be strengthened. We shall overcome…
Raj Bharath Patta
29th January 2016
[1] Felix Wilfred, Asian public Theology critical Concerns in
challenging Times, (New Delhi: ISPCK, 2010) Pg 30-32
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