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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
After 'Hindu Dalits', now it is the turn of 'Dalit Christians' in Tamil Nadu to convert to Islam.
Protesting against the 'upper caste Udayar Christians' to deny them access to the irrigation tank, 'Dalit Christians' in S Kavanur village in backward southern district of Ramanathapuram have decided to embrace Islam in the company of 'Hindu Dalits'.
They have chosen Republic Day falling on January 26 for the conversion, but expect the district administration to interfere on their behalf and set right the anomaly.
S Kavanur accounts for over three-fourths of the arable lands, but the Dalit residents, many of them Christian converts with a local church of their own, have to count on the irrigation water let off by the Mela Kavanur (upper Kavanur) residents.
Many of the residents of Mela Kavanur are Christian converts, but the fact they were higher in the caste hierarchy in comparison to S Kavanur residents, seems to have prompted them to deny access to irrigation water, notwithstanding that Christianity doesn't have a caste system.
As a S Kavanur resident pointed out, "It is more as a mark of protest, that we have decided to embrace Islam, and not because of any religious conviction."
Incidentally, this is the first time since the much-publicised Meenakshipuram conversions of 1982 in southern Tirunelveli district that 'Dalit Christians' have openly joined their Hindu brethren in planning to embrace Islam.
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