Christhavathil Jaathi

Millions of Dalits in Tamil Nadu embraced Christianity in search of dignity. Through rigorous fieldwork across a wide swathe of northern Tamil Nadu, this book asks what they found. It documents how caste, and a Hindu social order, survived inside the Church: Dalits refused entry, separate cemeteries for Dalit and non-Dalit dead, exclusion from festivals by the simple device of refusing their dues, and no fair share in the daily life of the parish.

Nivedita Louis lets both sides speak: the oppressed, and those who uphold the hierarchy. The second part of the book gives extended interviews with five leading Dalit activists on the long struggle to unite their community and win Dalit Christian rights.

Unsparing and constructive at once, it addresses the Church, the State and society as stakeholders, and asks each of them to answer. An English sample, translated by Rhoda Alex, is available.