http://www.dawn.com/2001/07/01/int6.htm
NEW DELHI, June 30: Around 1,000 lower-caste Hindus in southern India have converted to Christianity after alleging ill-treatment at the hands of upper castes, a news report said on Saturday.
The group, comprising members of over 200 families from the state of Tamil Nadu, said they had been “humiliated and harassed” by upper caste Hindus for the past 10 years, the Press Trust of India reported.
They were not allowed to participate in temple ceremonies or other functions, despite repeated representations to the local authorities, one of the new converts said.
The conversions took place on Friday at a simple religious function organized by a priest.-AFP