There was an interface of Indigenous Peoples’ Perspectives with Dalit Visions
of the Church. Dr. Wati Longchar, a prominent Asian indigenous theologian
and a facilitator at the meeting highlighted the importance of dialogue in
indigenous theology. He pointed out that “with both its own varied and variant
expressions, and the whole variety of global and theological issues, indigenous
peoples’ reflections are of particular significance”.
Rev. Philip Vinod Peacock, Dalit theologian and a facilitator of the
consultation, called for the theological necessity of “dismantling dominant
perspectives of ecclesiology”. He called attention to the fact that “such
(dominant) perspectives need to be replaced with subaltern agency, as the
church in India
has historically been an emancipatory space for Dalit liberation.”
Theologians who participated in the consultation stressed the need to think of
mission as transformative tool for the cultures of discrimination and
exclusion. The seminar was attended by theologians from Myanmar, Taiwan,
Norway, USA and India.
The sessions exclusively arranged for the discussion of
“Dalit visions of India”
was begun with the paper presented by Rev. Dr. Deenabandhu Manchala. He
suggested that the Dalits should shrug off the fear about the power of
casteism.
Mr. Bezwada Wilson presented a paper on the struggles of the manual scavengers
in India,
who are predominantly Dalits. The narration was autobiographic in character
and hence touched the audience. Mrs. Asha Kowtal in her presentation
highlighted the responsibility of the church in ‘handholding’ the Dalits and
the necessity of reducing the gap between the church’s activities and the
efforts of NGOs regarding the upliftment of the Dalits. Rev. Dr. Evangeline
Rajkumar criticised the failure of the church even to perceive and understand
the victimisation of people. Church should be ready to understand the language
of the victimised. Rev Dr Daniel Premkumar spoke about the Diakonia ministry
from the Dalit perspective. Ms. Angel Merlin and Rev Dr Prabhakar also
presented papers.
The second and third days were kept apart for Group
discussions. The three groups were assigned to discuss different aspects of the
Dalit Visions of the church. The coordination of this group work was done by
Rev. Philip Vinod Peacock.
There was a joint concluding session in which Metropolitan Dr Geevarghese Mor
Coorilos delivered the main talk. A joint Communiqué, articulated by the Dalit
and Indigenous theologians was presented in the concluding meeting.
The organisers are working on the ideas and papers presented in the seminar,
which will eventually come out as a publication.