world Wednesday, October 26, to "pray without ceasing" after the Indian Supreme Court again delayed its decision on whether millions of Dalit Christians will receive the same rights as Dalits of Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths.
However "this delay until [late] November is a positive development because it means that the Court is not rushing to judgment," said K.P. Yohannan, the founder and president of US-based Gospel for Asia (GFA), which claims to support over 14,500 native missionaries in India and throughout the region.
He made the announcement after the Supreme Court announced Tuesday, October 25, it had "further adjourned" a hearing on the issue. It also urged parties involved in the landmark court case to appear before the Justice Mishra Commission, which was set up by the Government of India to investigate the economic and social difficulties of religious minorities, including Christians.
INDIA’S "UNTOUCHABLES"
The term Dalit is used for the so-called "untouchables" of India, up to 300-million people, who occupy the lowest place in the country’s ancient caste system of Hinduism.
In a statement to BosNewsLife News Center, Yohannan said the court "is taking seriously this case of discrimination against Dalit Christians," but he warned that "it also means that Christians…have more time to intercede with prayer, asking God to guide the thoughts and decisions of the judges."
He stressed that based on government estimates "some 20-million million Dalits have become Christians, and it is on their behalf that we pray for a just ruling." Others estimated the figure to be around 18-million.
"DALITS’ HESITATION"
"There are many Dalits whose only hesitation to becoming Christians is fear of this legalized discrimination. Just think of what a difference this court decision could make for them," Yohannan said.
The court case has been watched throughout the world, including in the United States, where
lawmakers recently urged the Indian government to change the situation and grant more rights to Christians and other religious minorities.
Among those fighting for the Dalit Christians are the National Forum of Dalit Christian Rights as well as the Christian Dalits of Tamil Nadu, the All India Catholic Union, the All India Christian Council, Voice of Dalit International, and other Christian church and pro-Dalit organizations across the country. (With: BosNewsLife Research and BosNewsLife’s Vishal Arora in New Delhi and Stefan J. Bos at BosNewsLife News Center).
