Joseph D'souza

Career

Joseph D'souza was born into a Christian home in a family with an upper-caste origin, living in what he calls "Christian ghettos" surrounded by low caste and Dalit people. He attended Karnataka University where he obtained a B.S. in Chemistry, and the Asian Theological Seminary in the Philippines where he gained an M.A. in Communications. He also studied at the Gospel for Asia Biblical Seminary, an affiliate of Serampore University, where he received a Doctor in Divinity degree. D'souza proposed marriage to his future wife Mariam "despite" her being from an Adivasi tribal group. His family and some of his friends were against the marriage, but they went ahead anyway.

One of the factors in D'souza's decision to take up the cause of Christians and Dalits was the start of attacks on Christians in the mid-1990s, including the burning to death of the missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in Orissa in 1999. D'souza joined the Indian branch of George Verwer's evangelist Operation Mobilisation, and is now an international vice-president. He has set up 107 Dalit Education Centers serving nearly 25,000 Dalit children working with Operation Mobilisation.

In 1998, he founded the All India Christian Council (AICC). The AICC is one of the largest interdenominational Christian alliances, formed to deal with human rights issues and national concerns common to Christians in India.

D'souza founded the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) in 2002, first in the United States and, later, expanding to other countries. The DFN now has offices in several other countries. D'souza travels widely in campaigning for the human rights of the marginalized and oppressed in society, particularly the backward castes in India. D'souza has discussed human rights issues with politicians in Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and at Human rights commission meetings. His views on Dalit freedom concerns have been reported by the BBC, Indo-Asian News Service, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. D'souza's daughter Beryl is the Dalit Freedom Network's medical director and anti-human trafficking director.

Dalit Rights

Speaking in October 2006 before a US Congressional hearing, D'souza said that "India's tragedy is that society continues the practice of the caste system, with the rule of law not being applied when Dalits are being discriminated against, even though the practice of untouchability stands abolished by the Constitution". He also noted that "Christian Dalits continue to suffer for their allegiance to the Christian faith. They are discriminated against both within the Church and outside of the Church. Their rights are trampled upon. Their very existence is one of misery and suffering". However, Dalits continue to convert to Islam, Christianity or Buddhism to escape from the stigma of "untouchability".

Talking of a mass conversion ceremony in October 2006, D'souza was reported by the BBC as saying "I think it's important to understand that this is a cry for human dignity, it's a cry for human worth". On 4 November 2001 thousands of Dalits left Hinduism en masse. Most chose to become Buddhist, but D'souza sees this a stage towards accepting Christianity.

D'souza has given many examples of cases where Dalits have been attacked when they resisted oppression. He has written that "Efforts by Dalits such as Surekha Bhotmange to demand their rights have provoked a brutal backlash from higher caste groups. In fact, incidents such as these, where witnesses, or those that seek judicial remedy, are brutally savaged, have become depressingly common".

Christian Rights

As chair of the All India Christian Council, D'souza has asked Christian leaders to stop publishing incendiary rhetoric, which was being used as fuel for anti-Christian propaganda.

He asked them to refrain from "bombastic slogans, militant language and a general demeaning of Indian culture". D'souza has said some Christians define "Hinduism" too broadly, attacking elements of classical Brahminism and Hinduism such as the caste system and the belief that God is impersonal.

He said "However, there are other [Hindu] systems that allow for a personalized, incarnated God ... [These] have become a great bridge builder to millions of people who are favorable and responsive to the gospel".

Writing in 2002, D'souza said "If the Christian Church in India closes its doors to the Dalits because of the pressure of the Brahminical dominated RSS and its fundamentalist affiliates, the Dalits will turn to whoever offers them human dignity, equality and the right to spiritual salvation... The time has come for the Indian Church to openly offer and give the Dalits an equal place as the children of God in Jesus Christ. The time has come for the Dalits to appropriate the full spiritual rights available in Jesus Christ. The time has come to turn away from the Brahminical Social Order and to create a new humanity. The Gospel of Jesus has the solution to the caste problem because the Gospel deals with issues of the heart and soul and body and relationships".

In January 2002, the AICC issued a statement signed by Joseph D'souza as President and John Dayal as Secretary General, asking the national and state governments to prevent efforts by the Sangh Parivar to stir up communal violence in the Adivasi tribal belt in Northern India. It talked of "vicious Hindutva communal rhetoric .. targeting Christians in the region". It said RSS cadres were running schools that "follow a curricula and textual material, which is outside the pale of any academic and public scrutiny, blatantly rewrites history, and poisons young minds". The AICC has helped Muslims as well as Christians. The AICC set up camps and provided food and shelter to displaced Muslims for six weeks. Later, D'souza was invited to speak to Muslim audiences.