At least 400 members of the low caste (Dalit) community in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, say they are planning to convert to Islam, because of what they describe as persistent unfair treatment by their higher caste Hindu neighbours.
In the latest incident, the Dalit leaders are angry that higher caste Hindus in their village, near Kanchipuram have refused to allow a religious procession to pass through the streets where they live.
There is a ban on forced religious conversions in Tamil Nadu, which human rights groups say is open to interpretation by the authorities.
The Dalit community says they are not being coerced into converting to Islam, but they want to because in Islam everyone is treated equally.
The Dalits, also known as the untouchables, are at the bottom of the Hindu caste system.
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*Originally posted by Adnan Ahmed: *
I was just gonna post this, but you got to it first..
I wonder what made them choose Islam and not Christianity or whatever else...?
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recently there was a lot of hue and cry among the indian intellensia when president musharraff in un had accused india of killing not just muslims and sikhs but also dalits. there were many who said it was not true esp people like shekhar gupta of indian express. but i think the ground reality is and esp if you go to rural india the dalits or harijans are treated worse than animals by the upper caste hindus.
few days back 5 dalits were killed by a mob because they were skinning a dead cow in haryana.
belive it a not a saw a report on ndtv about the dalits in gujrat! infact during the riots the dalits were in forefront in attacking muslims and i heard a boy say" during the riots the upper caste provacated us by saying you are hindus you must fight the muslims but when it came to celebrating navratri and dandia the harijans were not allowed in upper caste functions and the harijans had to dance dandia in thier own ghettos not only this but the upper caste musicans refused to play in harijan localities
so accepting islam or christianity gives these people a sense of respect.
and its also a form of getting back at the upper caste.
religions like christianity and islam give a sense of respect to the converts who are other wise oscastrated.
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The Dalit community says they are not being coerced into converting to Islam, but they want to because in Islam everyone is treated equally
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The people who indians call lower caste very racist terminology. these same people where coming to islam in droves some years ago before the BJP came to the forefront with a very nationalistic and racist view.
And in india i know how difficult it is if a person who chooses to become muslim they usually hounded out and beaten.
ak-47n on the other hand dalits converted to christianity in pakistan.
most of the christians are from dalit community. so it tells about the local prejudices. i never seen one pakistani leader look like dalit muslim.
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*Originally posted by rvikz: *
ak-47n on the other hand dalits converted to christianity in pakistan.
most of the christians are from dalit community. so it tells about the local prejudices. i never seen one pakistani leader look like dalit muslim.
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well, these prejusices exist every where , even in an equal oppertunity country like USA no non white or non christian has held high leadership roles.