'Dalit Christians exploited by high caste Christians'

New Delhi, Mar 23: Poor Christian Liberation Movement has alleged ''exploitation'' of 'Dalit' Christians, who accounted for 70 per cent of the country's Christian population, by 'high caste' Christians.

The church leadership wanted to exploit poverty and unemployment among 'Dalit' Christians to demand reservation of government jobs for them by getting them classified as scheduled castes, PCLM President R L Francis said in a statement here today.

''It is worth mentioning that when they (Dalit Christians) were in Hindu society, they were victims of caste system. Hence, the foremost reason for their coming to the fold of Christianity was that there would be no discrimination and they would be treated as equals,'' he said.

''But despite a wide network of (Christian) missionary schools and colleges, most children of Dalit Christians have not been able to rise above the literacy level because these convent schools are busy catering to the educational needs of upper and high caste people,'' he further stated.

The neglect of 'Dalit' Christian children by these institutions was at the root of the problem, he added.

UNI