Page 15 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes as well. It is, therefore, not surprising that some do not hesitate to reconvert to Hinduism in order
to be put back on the scheduled castes lists. The faith of the majority, however, is too deeply
rooted for them to change religions. The Protestant church was particularly active in Punjab. The
Churhas, perhaps the largest untouchable caste in Punjab, were particularly attracted towards
Christianity. But these conversions did not fundamentally affect the material life and social status
of these converted dalits while their counterparts as scheduled castes often improved their
socio-economic position.
The maintenance of social inequalities even after conversion has been a matter of curiosity to
many. As Rowena Robinson (2001) rightly points out: “In contradiction to the popular
understanding which is unable to come to terms with how an egalitarian condones inequalities, it
may be pointed out that the Christian missionaries have not always and everywhere unequivocally
opposed castes or all its implicated distinctions..... Converts themselves often resisted any missionary
efforts to establish egalitarian relations, the higher castes defending the maintenance of status
distinctions. Groups that converted in the mass movements may have hoped to gain a measure of
freedom from the oppressive structures of caste. Whether due to lack of serious missionary initiative
or due to high caste opposition within the community, this hope was not fully realised”. In Kerala,
the converts from untouchable groups such as the Pulayas and Parayas are largley landless labour
and work for Syrian Christians and other landed castes. There is no question of interdining or
intermarriage between the Syrians and the untouchable converts. In many cases, the latter worship
in their own churches. In rural Tamil Nadu, untouchable converts often remain residently segregated
from the higher castes. Idea of purity and impurity persists.
Conversion of dalits into Islam has become a thing of the past. Historically speaking, most of the
conversion of the dalits to Islam occurred during medieval and colonial periods and that is why
we find that the overwhelming majority of the Muslim population in India comes from the lower
Hindu castes including untouchable castes. Conversions to Islam not only gave them emancipation
from a number of social and economic disabilities but also empowered them politically. Significantly,
most of the Muslim rulers were not interested in conversion of lower castes and Indian Islam did
not have missionary like agencies for organized conversion yet the ranks of the Muslim society
were swelled by the lower Hindu castes who found Islam, socially and politically, an emancipatory
ideology. Like Christianity, even Islam did not or could not, eliminate caste/status distinctions.
After independence the first mass conversion to Islam was reported from Ramnad and Tirunelveli
districts in Tamil Nadu in the early 1980s. The local caste clashes between Thevars and Pallars
played a major role in these conversions and Meenakshipuram became the boiling point. It was
strongly political in nature and can be seen as the ‘protest’ of the local untouchables against the
tyranny of the local dominant caste. These conversions to Islam provoked a strong outcry among
many Hindus. Several ministers, politicians, gurus, persons from various walks of life were sent in
not only to stop this trend but also to bring the ‘stray sheep’ back to the fold. Thus, conversion to
Islam became a strong emotive issue among the vast segments of Hindus. The local Muslim
community seems to have accepted the converts, but it is too early to assess the true impact of
conversion on the Pallar’s lives. The prevailing socio-political conditions in post-independence
India makes it highly unlikely that there will be any more mass movements of dalits to Islam and
in all probability Meenakshipuram will remain an isolated case. Moreover, Meenakshipuram is
largley a symbol of the dalits’ quests for equality and emancipation, not a Muslim challenge to
Hindu India. Hinduism has, through the ages, shown tremendous capacity for regeneration and
there is no reason to assume that it will fail to rise to the occasion this time. Let the reform
movement in the Hindu society assert itself and allow more socio-political space to the dalits.
Religion is such a high value in the life of Indian people that nobody changes it on flimsy grounds.
If we take a close look at the Indian society today it is not a very serious sociological problem. The
process of modernization and secularization are having an impact on Indian society structurally
and culturally. Moreover, with the adoption of the policy of’ protective discrimination’ for the
backward segments viz. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes,
conversion as a means of gaining social mobility has lost it’s appeal. Conversion to Buddhism is

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