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       International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet 
    Panaji, Goa, September 2-5, 2007  -  http://www.indologygoa.in
              Online Media Partner:  http://www.goanet.org
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The 'Untouchables': The Human Face of India's Caste System

by Benedict Rogers


It was a scene that could have come straight from the pages of the New 
Testament-and one almost unimaginable in today's caste-ridden India. Around 
long tables under a large marquee in Hyderabad sat hundreds of people 
cross-legged on the floor. Clustered in groups of five or six, they ate 
curry and rice from a shared plate. It was what our hosts at the All India 
Christian Council called a "community meal."

But what was so significant was not simply that people were eating in 
community, for that is nothing unusual in India. Rather, the evening brought 
together people who would never normally sit together, and would certainly 
never eat from the same plate. In my group, not only were Indians and 
Westerners seated together on an equal footing, but so too were Hindus and 
Buddhists, Muslims and Christians-in itself, great progress. Even more 
remarkable, however, was that at the table were representatives of India's 
"Dalit" people, sitting alongside high-caste Hindus.

India's Dalits are otherwise known as "untouchables," and they account for 
25 percent of India's population. In the Hindu caste system, they are 
regarded as subhuman-lower even than animals. Numbering at least 160 
million, they are fighting a largely unknown struggle for emancipation. If 
you add the 70 million-strong tribal population that faces similar bias and 
social stigma, the number of people facing caste discrimination in India 
reaches 250 million-and many more beyond India.

Read the entire article at:

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/benedictrogers/untouchables.asp


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