Post conversion, dalits in India have reported to have experienced an emancipation, which gave them a new hope. They could now avail of opportunities to education and self-development. But much transformation is still needed for deliverance from economic and social misery.
When someone asked a dalit Christian, “Have you seen God?”, his answer was, “Sirs you knew me two years ago, I was a drunkard. You know me now. I do not think I should have had all this change, if I had not seen Jesus Christ.”
For the Malas and Madigas of Telangana, the question of social status became a much-discussed subject among the high caste landlords, as well as the missionaries.
Like other dalits, Christian dalits suffered insults and indignities and the stigma of unsociability. Often it became a case of triple alienation; from their erstwhile fellow-outcaste peers who remained unconverted, from non-dalit Christians, and self-alienation caused by disunity among themselves.
There was an element of protection under the British Colonial rulers during the late 19th. and 20th. centuries, and some managed to get semi-official posts in the Government.
Post- independence, the Christian dalits lost their affirmative action benefits from a government which used the "casteless theology" of the Christian faith to deny them reserved seats in education institutes and job opportunities. This led to a case of multiple identities and different names in the church register and government census lists.
This article holds a mirror to the socio-economic and psychological complexities that developed as a result of mass movements in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, creating an exodus from traditional belief-systems.
