Dalits’ Encounter with Christianity: A Case Study of Mahars in Maharashtra

Even after sixty years of independence, the situation of the ex-untouchables, today popularly known as “Dalits”, remains pathetic. Their representation in various government and private institutions is inadequate. Their social and cultural discrimination continues. All the same, there is persistent and all pervading daily struggle among them to leave behind a life tainted and broken by others, and to seize the chance of a better life for a future. A call for change and an assertion of self-respect appear to be emerging from among them, and it is important to trace this highly significant struggle of the suffering humanity. This book studies the situation of the Dalit Christians and their struggle for equality and human dignity. This study also provides new insight into the complex problems of the religious conversion and the process of inculturation in the Indian Church.