Remembering Ilavarasan, Interrogating Casteism: Re-imagining Christian Public Witness in India

Lecture delivered by Rev. Raj Bharath Patta, General Secretary of the Student Christian Movement of India at UTC, Bangalore on the 22^nd July 2013

The 4^th of July 2013, was a day stained with blood of the brutal murder of a young Ilavarasan by the unholy alliance of caste & politics, it was a day when Ilavarasan and his love was defeated by the cruel forces of caste & patriarchy and it was a day when caste & power held its head high by murdering Ilavarasan. Ilavarasan, the young icon for love and liberation, is no more alive, but his life, his death and his memory continue to challenge each of us to oust and drive away caste from our vicinities, for caste and its tentacles are deadly and disastrous. Re-memberingIlavarasan is a contextual, sociological and theological necessity for his death happens at a time when each of us are complacent in our journey of faith, and his life & death is a wake-up call to the community at large to interrogate the evil called castesim and try to explore whether our faith has any relevance and implications in our Christian public witness. Here is an attempt trying to analyse the given situation from a young, Dalit, pastoral and ecumenical perspective, and thereby proposing certain directives in this our pilgrimage of faith. This is not an extensive and an exhaustive analysis, but an attempt in searching for meanings to life, justice and peace.

1. 1.       Contextual Analysis:

Here is the reporting of the incident taken from kafila.org, for there have been several reporting done by various journalists on the whole episode of Ilavarasan, each was carried with their own shade and perspective. This reporting, which I found to be objective is brought forth for our analysis.

It was a few weeks after his marriage with Divya, a girl belonging to the caste of Vanniars, a Most Backward Caste in the official description of Tamil Nadu Government,  in October 2012, Divya’s father was found dead allegedly having committed suicide due to the “dishonour” caused by his daughter’s marriage. Making the suicide an excuse, the Vanniyars organized riots in which three Dalit hamlets, about 250 houses, were destroyed. The scale of violent destruction caught the national attention and so did the love story behind the riots. The young couple earned a media profile while trying to live in peace beyond the reach of the raging Vanniyar caste men. It was fated that was not to be. The Vanniar caste leaders used Divya’s mother to temporarily separate Divya from Ilavarasan by using the well-known tactics of emotional blackmail. They then broke the communication link between Ilavarasan and Divya. When Ilavarasan saw Divya in the court on the first of July, Divya told the court that she would live with Ilavarasan after convincing her mother. Divya’s lawyer, however, managed

to make her tell the press that she is separated from Ilavarasan forever. Ilavarasan, on the other hand, told India Today, that he was highly hopeful of re-uniting with Divya. After two days, he was found dead near a railway track in broad daylight. Given this history, the news had some potential to shock people.

The police said it was a case of suicide by throwing oneself in front of a running train since the body with a split head was found near the track. Very soon it was contested by everyone that it was impossible for the body to remain intact except for the split head if it was run over by a train. Nor is it imaginable that a body would only be thrown a few feet off by a speeding train if it had hit the train; it was found just within three feet from the track.  Amidst gathering protests in Dharmapuri and elsewhere, the government typically tried to re-iterate the suicide theory fearing a large scale caste conflict. The clumsy attempts by the police and administration have only incited more passion and the cry for justice is widespread now. The court has ordered a second post-mortem by the medical professionals from the AIIMS, Delhi.[1]

And they too confirm that it was a death caused due to hitting of a running train, whereas the Railways made an internal enquiry, and found that no one died on the 4^th July by a running train.

Ilavarasan’s death on a railway track will remind of the suspicious death of 30-year-old RizwanurRahman in Kolkata in 2007, under similar circumstances, after he married industrialist Ashok Todi’s daughter. What is it then that connects Haryana to Kolkata and Tamil Nadu? Besides the obvious Indian connection, there is the immense social, political and economic pressure brought to bear on young adults in love. For Dalits, the stifling endogamy of the caste system is just one marker of discrimination and oppression[2]. 

Ilavarasan is no more alive today to share his story of discrimination and pressure he and his entire village had to undergo just for the reason of falling in love with a dominant caste girl and then marrying her. The incidents that followed his inter-caste marriage are gruesome and horrendous. Herewith is a brief analysis of the whole Ilavarasan’s incident, all these themes are interwoven and would be difficult to take each in isolation, for the trajectories run across the themes.

• Violence against Dalit communities irrupted as an immediate follow up of an inter-caste marriage, nearly 250 houses burnt by the dominant caste communities, ransacking the whole lives of the Dalit communities.

• There has been an anti-Dalit hate campaign taking its zenith in the aftermath of the inter-caste marriage. The dominant caste groups started to speak against inter-caste marriages, trying to say that the Dalit boys are wooing the caste girls to rob their wealth and even the PMK leader was quoted to say that the ‘Dalit boys now wear jeans and goggles, T-shirts and cell phones’.  Educated Hindu caste boys distributing pamphlets evangelising against the inter-caste marriages is now a follow up of the Ilavarasan’s death, which is taking movement in the Tamil Nadu state.

• There is a political conspiracy in the whole episode, trying to appease a majority community by spitting venom against the Dalit communities, all for the sake of electoral politics, constructing an electoral constituency in the name of dominant caste.

• Because of the social mobility of Dalits in the economic sphere has also become a sore eye for the dominant caste groups. It was also opined that “The recent rise in the socio-economic condition of Dalits, sections of whom are moving from farm labour into various forms of urban or migrant work, has created a situation of conflict with the landowning backward classes. This has occasionally resulted in aggressive violence against Dalits in several parts of Tamil Nadu in the past decade with the Dalits facing attacks largely from the landed backward classes- Vanniyars in the north, kallars in the south.”[1]

• The on-going increase of suicides of Dalit youth, be it due to discrimination in educational institutions, be it in the name of honour killings, be it because of the corporate competitive empire, the saga continues.

• The nexus of caste & politics, caste & patriarchy, caste & power is what is visualised as the common denominator in this whole incident.These themes bring us to some unanswered questions with which we have to struggle and grapple with in our context today.
  1. How do we understand the Dalit politics of ‘making love’? Does not a Dalit youth have freedom of choice in loving a person, and why are they discriminated, ostracised, beaten, killed and even make false accusations to make people believe that they are suicides, when they fall in love with people from other communities?
  2. Can we attempt for a sociological and a theological audit on the given incident, and look for avenues in re-visiting the whole enterprise of inter-caste marriages, for how do they offer in overcoming the casteist mind-sets in our country?
  3. Why have we as a community of faith silent & absent when incidences of injustice prevail right in our own localities? Does not our faith challenge us to address issues of caste and similar other unjust practices prevalent in our communities?

  These are some unending questions that come on to the light, when Ilavarasan’s murder took place.
  
  2. Why should we remember Ilavarasan?

  It has already been two weeks since Ilavarasan left to the eternities, and slowly the memory of him is fading away among the communities about his death and his struggle to overcome castesist forces. With lots of other news making onto the headlines, not much is reported about his death, post-mortem, what has happened to Divya and how is she coping with the reality of his husband being not alive? How is the whole Dalit community in Natham coping with this reality? There has been an attempt by the dominant communities to wipe away the memory of Ilavarasan from the minds and consciousness of the communities.

  RememberingIlavarasanfor the sake of a memorial service is not what the intention is, neither to read out a good tribute for his obituary is what our intention is, rather to be awakened from our slumber of insensitivity towards the practices of caste, which is very subtle and cruel these days.Ilavarasan’s life, love, struggle for justice and death calls for a kairosmoment in our lives to stand up for the cause of justice in the context of venomous caste.

  1. a.      Ilavarasan is remembered as a Rosa Parks of our Times: Most of us would recollect the act of Rosa Parks, the Afro-American Civil Rights Activist, on the 1^st December 1955, who by her act of not giving up her seat to the white folks in the public transportation, caught the attention of the world towards the plights of the Black Americans. Park’s acts of defiance and the Montogomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern civil rights movement.

  Likewise, Ilavarasan’s act of enduring to the domination of casteist forces, his courage to propagate to the world that love transcends all barriers including caste, and that moment in which he could not succumb to the pressures of the denial and discrimination, Ilavarasan’s life has called on to awake the responsible citizenry to contest the demons of our times, the casteism. His life is a testimony of courage, his love is a symbol of resilience and resistance against the caste forces, and his death is a call to all those silent, and insensitive people to overcome the evil of caste which is more deadly and disastrous. Lest many more Ilavarasan’s are murdered, let us wake up to prevent such murders by resisting the forces of caste.

  1. b.      Ilavarasan is remembered as a Nelson Mandela of our Contexts: Recently we celebrated the Nelson Mandela day on the 18^th July, which is a day to promote a culture of peace among people, on his birthday. Mandela’s resolve to end apartheid, his commitment for his own community, his courage in fighting the racist regimes and racist attitudes paved way for an awakening among the world communities, and thereby paved way for an anti-racist, anti-apartheid community with equality and justice.

  Likewise, Ilavarasan’s resolve to overcome casteist forces was witnessed in his courage of marrying a dominant caste girl, knowing the consequences of such a marriage, he was bold to live for his love, bold to live for his commitment, bold in living for his values and has now inspired several young people to be bold in their own belief systems. His life is an example to stand for the commitment of love, not worrying about his own life, he wanted to remain a true lover, and he did remain to be a true lover till the end of his

  breath. Ilavarasan’s life is a witness to the commitment of love, and a wakeup call to several of us to be committed in our values for liberation, which is to be attained by love. Lest many more Ilavarasan’s are murdered, let us wake up to prevent such murders by affirming love in life, which is beyond all boundaries including caste.

  1. a. Ilavarasan is remembered as Archbishop Oscar Romero in our belief systems: Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated on 24^th March 1980, while celebrating a mass in El Salvador, for his vociferous stand against the unjust class system, for his commitment for the cause of human rights, for his gospel to the poor. He is remembered for his outright attacks on the unjust empire and their regime, and was bold in applying faith to the given contexts.

  Likewise, Ilavarasan is remembered as the Archbishop Oscar Romero of our belief systems, who became a martyr for the cause of justice of his times. Ilavarasan’s life speaks for his vociferous stand against caste, for he too became a martyr for the cause of love and liberation. Imagine the kind of stress and trauma he had to undergo when his villages were attacked and houses burnt, just for the sake of standing committed for life and love. Imagine the kind of pressure he would have had when the strong political class and caste took up his issue in order to denounce inter-caste marriages. There would have been no bounds in expressing the kind of suffering and oppression he has to take, and therefore since he withstood all those unjust pains for the cause of life and love, he was assassinated, he became a martyr for the cause of love, for the cause of anti-caste liberation movement.

  I know, it is very hard to draw comparisons with other personalities, for that would under-value the potential and the commitment of Ilavarasan, however my point in remembering him is that, he was murdered and he draws an attention of the world community to wake up to fight against caste in all forms and practices, similar to the other champions of justice.

  1. 1.  Interrogating Casteism:

  In the given context of the brutal murder of Ilavarasan, as a victim of caste politics and caste power, it is high time that we interrogate and analyse the caste intricacies that exist in our society today, for unless we are bold in naming the demon of the particular kind, it would be difficult to become agents of casting away the demon of caste today.

  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 violence such as in the incidence of Ilavarasan and the ransacking that took place on the 250 Dalit houses. 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.

  Though there are varied hydra forms of caste in the 21^st century, given the limitation of space and time, allow me to discuss briefly the dynamics in the inter-caste marriages. Why has there been a lot of opposition to the inter-caste marriages? In a pluralistic society like India, it would be inevitable to witness inter-caste, inter-religious, inter-language etc. marriages, for we live in a country filled with pluralities.

  1. a.      Exposing the perils of Endogamy: The news after Ilavarasan’s murder is that educated caste hindu youth campaign against inter-caste marriages, and those young people speak, “I have known girls (friends and relatives) of our community fall in love with boys from other communities and marry them. It not only affected them but also their families that were pushed to shame from which they were unable to recover even many years after the marriage”, says P. Karthik (22), an engineering professional.[2] They further goes on to say that, “India is known for its rich tradition that is preserved by communities in the country over the years. Inter-caste marriages will put an end to this tradition”, he added. How can these people be educated young people of India today, who want to affirm in the endogamy trying to say that they want to preserve the rich tradition, and they fear that inter-caste marriages would break to the exclusive oppressive traditions.It was further opined that, “Inter-caste marriages have always been resented by casteists all over India –parents, caste bodies and political parties. The recent death of Ilavarasan, a young Dalit man in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district, highlights once again the vice-like grip of caste prejudice.[3]”

  One can notice the expressions of power in keeping up the endogamy. The caste groups tires to remain unaffected and unpolluted by the lower castes coming into their families, and therefore impose several restrictions upon their women particularly, and thereby want to oppose inter-caste marriages.

  1. b.      Inter-caste Marriages as Spaces for Anti-caste Practices:

  Inter-caste marriages have been on practice for more than a century in India, and several social reformers have advocated for the cause of such marriages. These kinds of marriages have become expressions and spaces for anti-caste practices, and have always been a step in overcoming the vicious caste practices. It is worth noting that the first inter-caste marriage was

  proposed and done by JotiroaPhule and SavitribaiPhule, who championed the cause of Dalit liberation and women empowerment.

  The first inter-caste marriage in modern India took place on 4 February 1889. On this date, Yashwant and Radha (alias Laxmi) got married. Yaswant was the adopted son of Jotirao and SavitribaiPhule. Radha was daughter of GyanobaKrishnajiSasane. This marriage was the first ‘Satyashodhaki’ (truth seeker society) marriage. Savitribai herself bore all the expenses on this historic occasion. This method of marriage, similar to a registered marriage, is still prevalent in many parts of India. These marriages were opposed by priests and ‘bhatjis’ (Brahmans) all over the country and they also went to court on this matter. Savitribai and Jotirao had to face severe difficulties but that did not deter them from their path. The Satyashodhak marriage required the bridegroom to take an oath of giving education and equal rights to women. The ‘mangalashtake’ (the Mantras chanted at the time of the wedding) were to be sung by the bride and the bridegroom themselves, and these were in the form of pledges made by the bride and the groom to each other. To ensure that they got better acquainted with each other and with each other’s likes and dislikes, Savitribai had made Radha stay in the Phule household even before the marriage took place. She also made provisions for Radha’s education.

  In India, inter caste marriages were publicly encouraged and supported by politicians such as C. N. Annadurai, the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,and social activists such as Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, RaghupathiVenkataratnam Naiduand ManthenaVenkataRaju.[1]

  JotiroaPhule and SavitribaiPhule, chose the inter-caste marriages as an expression to create spaces for anti-caste practices, and these inter-caste marriages they believed are the steps forward to champion for Dalit liberation.

  1. a.      Ambedkar on Inter-caste Marriages:

  As a social political reformer Dr. Baba SahebAmbedkar ushered in a new era in India’s socio-political history.  At the very front page of his book What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables, Ambedkar quoted the Greek philosopher Thucydides who said, “It may be your interest to be our master, but how can it be ours to be your slaves?”[2]Ambedkar was bold in questioning the validity of Caste system and made Dalits to affirm their rights in their struggle for equality. Ambedkar always opined that inter-dining and inter-caste marriages are ways in eradicating and annihilating caste from our societies.

  Ambedkar in his classic “Annihilation of Caste” explains that

  “The real remedy for breaking Caste is inter-marriage. Nothing else will serve as the solvent of Caste… You are right in holding that Caste will cease to be an operative farce only when inter-dining and inter-marriage have become matters of common course. You have located the source of the disease. But is your prescription the right prescription for the disease ? Ask yourselves this question ; Why is it that a large majority of Hindus do not inter-dine and do not inter-marry ? Why is it that your cause is not popular ? There can be only one answer to this question and it is that inter-dining and inter-marriage are repugnant to the beliefs and dogmas which the Hindus regard as sacred. Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. 

  Caste is a notion, it is a state of the mind. The destruction of Caste does not therefore mean the destruction of a physical barrier. It means a notional change. Caste may be bad. Caste may lead to conduct so gross as to be called man’s inhumanity to man. All the same, it must be recognized that the Hindus observe Caste not because they are inhuman or wrongheaded. They observe Caste because they are deeply religious. People are not wrong in observing Caste. In my view, what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated this notion of Caste. If this is correct, then obviously the enemy, you must grapple with, is not the people who observe Caste, but the Shastras which teach them this religion of Caste. Criticising and ridiculing people for not inter-dining or inter-marrying or occasionally holding inter-caste dinners and celebrating inter-caste marriages, is a futile method of achieving the desired end. The real remedy is to destroy the belief in the sanctity of the Shastras. How do you expect to succeed, if you allow the Shastras to continue to mould the beliefs and opinions of the people ? Not to question the authority of the Shastras , to permit the people to believe in their sanctity and their sanctions and to blame them and to criticise them for their acts as being irrational and inhuman is a incongruous way of carrying on social reform. Reformers working for the removal of untouchability including Mahatma Gandhi, do not seem to realize that the acts of the people are merely the results of their beliefs inculcated upon their minds by the Shastras and that people will not change their conduct until they cease to believe in the sanctity of the Shastras on which their conduct is founded. No wonder that such efforts have not produced any results. You also seem to be erring in the same way as the reformers working in the cause of removing untouchability.

  To agitate for and to organise inter-caste dinners and inter-caste marriages is like forced feeding brought about by artificial means. Make every man and woman free from the thraldom of the Shastras , cleanse their minds of the pernicious notions founded on the Shastras, and he or she will inter-dine and inter-marry, without your telling him or her to do so.”[1] Therefore the dynamics of the inter-caste marriages can be succinctly understood from Ambedkar’s exposition, for inter-caste marriages become an important means in annihilating caste.Inter-caste marriages, breaks down the divisions of caste, and try to affirm in equality of both the spouses. Therefore it is very appropriate to propagate inter-caste marriages among different communities and castes as our response.

  1. 1.       Re-imagining Christian Public Witness in India:

  Christian public witness in the context of the demonic caste is both a challenge and a call for us all that are called to be faith communities. It is high time that we cast out the demon caste and that’s the one point agenda in our Christian witness in the context of violence and violation of human rights. Here are some pointers as we re-read the selected Biblical texts, which give us some impetus in moving forward in our faith journey.

  1. a.      Re-reading Genesis 4: 1-16: The Blood of the Innocent Cries for Justice

  Both Cain and Abel are brothers and are divided by their occupation, one as a tiller of land and the other as keeper of the sheep. The human kind, which were supposed to be living as brothers and sisters had to fall in prey to the mischievous device of Manu, who wanted to classify the communities basing on their occupations, and thus caste system came into force. We have Cain, who represents a certain caste and Abel to another caste. When they both brought in their offerings and Abel’s offering was well accepted, and Cain’s was not accepted, Cain therefore takes on a hate campaign against his brother, and takes him into his field, and kills Abel, just because he couldn’t take his defeat, which was a defeat to his whole community.

  Cain today represents the dominant Vanniyar community, who cannot take that their sibling community, the Dalits emerge victorious by the very act of inter-caste marriage. It is not that Cain’s offering was not accepted, but it was because Abel’s offering was accepted. The same operating system works here today. Cain probably killed his brother Abel in the field and was trying to project that it was either a suicidal death or an accidental death. It was not until God asks ‘where is your brother Abel?’ that Abel’s body was not found. When God asks Cain about Abel, he replies, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ This is the same kind of reply that we see these days, in the context of Ilavarasan’s murder, the dominant communities reply, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ the same voice response comes from several groups.

  In verse 10, we see God replying, ‘what have you done, listen your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.’ The blood of Ilavarasan from the railway track was calling on God and all those faith communities seeking for justice. Ilavarasan like Abel could not speak aloud to tell that he was tortured (for Cain rose against him), that he was oppressed because of the caste prejudices, he had to be murdered by castesist dominant forces, and his blood lay there to speak to God.

  Christian public witness in such a context therefore is

  • To acknowledge that we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers, trying to be conscious of our contexts, trying to analyse the conflicts done in the name of caste. Christian public witness is to be the conscience keepers of our society.
  • To give up falsehood, for if we do not speak at a moment of murder, violence, the stains of blood would speak and challenge the communities. In the case of Ilavarasan, his blood became a testimony challenging the caste prejudices and calling on the attention of the world to address the evils of caste.
  • When several Abel’s are being slaughtered on the altars of caste, God spoke of judgement to Cain, and we as faith communities need to wrestle in being prophetic in speaking justice to the dominant groups.
  1. a.  Re-reading of Ruth: Inter-Tribal Marriage as Building Communities of Justice

  The story of Ruth and Boaz is a well know text that speaks of their inter-tribal, inter-territorial marriage, out of which Jesus Christ took his lineage from. Ruth was a Moabite, a land-less young widow and had to work in the field gleaning for her livelihood. Boaz was from a rich family of Elimelech, and was the owner of the land. Imagining if Boaz denied marrying Ruth, just because she is from a foreign land and from a different culture, trying to be exclusive with his tradition, Ruth would have been left alone all her life time. When love sparked between them, no religion, no territory, no caste or no creed came on their way, the commitment for love for one another paved way to build communities of equality and peace. The Boaz’s dominant community rather than opposing for their wedding stood as witnesses for their union and coming together. From their lineage came in Jesse, then David and then Jesus Christ. I guess this was a conscious choice of God to send Jesus Christ to come from a lineage of inter-tribal marriage, and I am sure Jesus would have been proud of his inter-tribal lineage. A savior had come from an inter-caste marriage. Ilavarasan and Divya, if were allowed to live together, they would have been an exemplary couple overcoming the prejudices of caste and power.

  Therefore Christian public witness in such a context is

  • To consciously encourage inter-caste marriages among the communities of different faiths.
  • To build communities of justice and peace by promoting inter-caste marriages in various places and contexts, the Church to become a hub of inter-caste, inter-creed unions – special wedding liturgies to be written for such contexts.
  1. a. Re-reading of Mathew 20: 1-16: Locating God among those standing still at 5 O’ Clock

  The parable of the labourers in the vineyard as found in Matthew 20: 1-16 narrates about the land owner who hires workers at 6 in the morning, at 9 in the morning, at noon, at 3 in the afternoon and at 5 in the evening. Those that were strongly built, who were well experienced and had a very promising CV were employed in the very first round of interview. Those that were less qualified, but who had some other strengths were later employed at the next hour, those that had even lesser qualifications, but probably had some other skills like communication or so were later employed by the employer to work in his vineyard. In verse 6 we see the studious land owner goes into the market place even at five in the evening to see some people standing around to seek some work for the day. He then asks them, ‘why are standing here idle all day?’ and in verse 7, they replied, ‘because no one has hired us.’

  Why is no one hiring these people? What could have been the reasons for their not being employed? Probably these people standing at 5 pm could not have been able to compete with the competitive world around, for those with higher class and society define merit and thereby determine the norms for merit, describing them as incapable to work or so. Probably these people who are still standing eagerly to employed even at 5pm could have been people with disabilities and people who are mentally challenged, for no one wants to employ them because of their disabilities, for all those abled-bodies were preferred and given work in the earlier hours of the day. Probably these people still standing eagerly to be employed even at 5pm could have been women, for no one wants to employ them because of their being branded by the patriarchical society with their gendered stereo-types and prejudices as incapable to work. Probably these people still standing eagerly to be employed even at 5pm could have been transgender persons, for no one wants to employ them because of their sexuality and discriminate them from all works. Probably these people still standing eagerly to be employed even at 5pm could have been people from Dalits& Tribal communities, for they do not have the same nurture as the others have in their upbringing, and are denied chances of employment in many cases. The writer of the parable in verse 7 even brands these people standing at 5pm as ‘idle’, implying the rest of them who were employed earlier seem to be smart and meritorious. In such a context, the land owner shifts the locale from that of the tradition and exercises justice by not only employing these people who are still standing at 5pm but also by giving equal wages to all of those that have started to work from the first hour till the last hour, making it a matter of eye soar to those that came early. Economic justice is ensured based on equity and equality.

  In our times today, where the mantra of globalisation is sheer profit without any importance to human worth, where forces like patriarchy, caste, class, fundamentalism, etc rule as principalities and powers preferring those with so called capabilities and employing them at early hours, the parable calls us to shift our locales to those that are still standing at 5pm to be employed and recognised. In the changing landscapes of the church and society, the calling for all of us is to shift our focus to those that are standing at the 5pm eager to be employed, for no one hires them because of the stigma and discrimination they face. May this occasion therefore call us all to look and locate God among those that are waiting still at 5pm, and recognise the worth of life that has been equally granted by God to all. Unless we shift our locale to those friends and communities on the margins and make them the epicentre of our missioning, our

  faith may not have its savour and relevance. Shall we therefore raise up to the occasion of affirming life in all its fullness among those that are being pushed to the margins by the forces of class, caste, gender etc. and strive to break down these cruel forces, for God stands among those that are still waiting at 5pm to be employed and to receive equal wages like others.

  People like Ilavarasan is one among those that are still standing at 5 in the evening, because he comes from the Dalit community and therefore when he got married with the so called community from 3pm, there has been violence and bloodshed and eventually had to be murdered by the forces of the evil caste. The call for Christian public witness in such a context is

  • To locate, explore and situate God among those Ilavarasancommunities who keep standing till 5 hoping to be called.
  • To recognise and give a preferential option to those at 5pm and bring them into the mainstream to be on equal footing with the rest of the communities.
  • To mission for the cause of those people who have been standing all through the day with hope against hope, for equity and equality.

  Conclusion:

  Ilavarasan’s death is indeed a wakeup call for all committed and responsible citizens, irrespective of identities of different religious affirmations to join hands in fighting against the demon caste. It was expressed that, “Ilavarasan’s tragic death is an indication that progressive forces need to come out more forcefully against the intermeshing of caste and patriarchy. Whether it is the middle class families of India of growing cities or the Khap panchayats of rural north India or criminal politicians, it is becoming clear that caste cannot be fought without fighting patriarchy[1].” Wish and hope that this kairosmoment shall be captured by us all to stand and speak for justice in all our localities, build networks and partnerships among committed people to carry the flame of this moment and get caste and its various forms eliminated from our land.

  Allow me to conclude with a personal letter that I have written to Ilavarasan, after his death.

  Dear brother Ilavarasan,
  

  I know you are no more with us to receive this letter as I write to you, but I know that you from eternities are listening and looking to us in silence. In the absence and silence from all quarters, it was your innocent blood which drew the attention of God crying for justice, 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. You in the context of violence and violation of rights, stand as an epitome and an inspiration for commitment for love and liberation. Your life has testified to the very fact that, “love is selflessness and self is lovelessness.” Keep talking to us my friend Ilavarasan. As I speak to you, we pledge that we would give up caste practices in our Churches, communities and societies. We commit to prevent many other Ilavarasan’s from being murdered by caste and its cruel manifestations. To us, faith communities, your life has taught us a lesson that, ‘God is not like Doreamon giving gadgets to the needy Nobitha to overcome the strife, but God works through bold & courageous people like you and many others like you who are committed to become martyrs for the cause of love 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.

  Long live Ilavarasan.
  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  Ref.
  [2]http://kafila.org/2013/07/16/ilavarasan-at-a-deadly-new-junction-of-caste-and-electoral-politics/
  [3]http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/1857647/editorial-dna-edit-we-failed-ilavarasan
  [4]‘Fighting Caste Fighting Patriarchy’ Editorial, EPW, Vol.XLVIII No.29, July 20, 2013, Pg. 8
  [5]Felix Wilfred, Asian public Theology critical Concerns in challenging Times, (New Delhi: ISPCK, 2010) Pg 30-32
  [6]http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/educated-caste-hindu-youth-campaign-against-intercaste-marriages/article3644332.ece
  [7]‘Fighting Caste Fighting Patriarchy’ Editorial, EPW, Vol.XLVIII No.29, July 20, 2013, Pg. 8
  [8]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_caste_marriage
  [9]Sanjay Paswan&ParamanshiJaideva (Eds).Encyclopedia of Dalits in India.Vol.I, Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2002, p.221.
  [10](Annihilation of castes.Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches.) from http://ambedkarquotes.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/inter-caste-marriage-detailed/
  [11]‘Fighting Caste Fighting Patriarchy’ Editorial, EPW, Vol.XLVIII No.29, July 20, 2013, Pg. 8