Pilgrim Theological College faculty member Monica Melanchthon had the opportunity recently to catch up with an old friend and respected colleague from India.
Rt Rev Vedanayagam Devasahayam and Monica were both on the faculty at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College before he became Bishop for the Madras (now Chennai) Diocese of the Church of South India, with which the UCA has a long association.
“Bishop Devasahayam is a theological educator, a faithful minister of the church, a critical reader of the Bible, articulate, witty, humorous and a sharp critic of society and church,” Monica said.
“He has broadened the horizons of the discipline of theology through his teaching, research and writing and has challenged and inspired scholars, students, and non-academic readers to better understand and critique the caste system, a characteristic feature of Indian culture, even while acknowledging other intersecting socio-political realities like gender, class, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism.
“Bishop Devasahayam has strong commitments to the education and training of lay people and, during his tenure as Bishop, he established the Laity Institute for Transformation Education in Chennai.
“It was a centre that trained men and women to be effective witnesses to the Gospel in their places of work and engagement.”
As a member of the Dalit caste, the lowest stratum of the caste system in India, Bishop Devasahayam is only too aware of the inequality woven into the fabric of Indian society, an inequality he works tirelessly on changing.
“Traditionally, Dalit people have been considered untouchable, unapproachable and unseen,” he said.
“They have been denied education because they can’t attend school … harming their chances of making a decent living.”
Creating the change needed to address this inequality, he said, would be a slow and challenging, but necessary, process.
“Mental change has to take place first and no one wants to give up that feeling that they are better off than the other person, so there is selfishness and egotism involved,” Bishop Devasahayam said.
Monica said Bishop Devasahayam had carried out extensive and important work on Dalit theology.
“By virtue of his roots and experiences as a Dalit man in rural Tamil Nadu, Bishop Devasahayam was a pioneer and an early architect of Dalit theology, which is theology written from the perspective of Dalit experience within a rigid and hierarchical structure of caste,” she said.
“He says that the Church in India is in a sorry state, and it will fail if it does not weed out caste.
“Dalit theology is therefore a significant phase in the history of Indian Christian theology, sits comfortably among other theologies of liberation and seeks to liberate and empower those marginalised by the tyranny of caste based on and justified by Hindu religion.
“Bishop Devasahayam’s commitment and enthusiasm for the cause of Dalit emancipation is evidenced in the fact that upon retirement he pursued degrees in the field of law and is now using that training to inform and equip young Dalits so they might know what their constitutional rights are.
“This is so essential given the fact that many Dalits, especially men in rural India, are often picked up, humiliated and tortured for the flimsiest of reasons.”
Bishop Devasahayam said volunteers from the Uniting Church in Australia had made an important contribution to missional work within the Diocese of Madras.
“There is an historical link between the Uniting Church in Australia and the Diocese of Madras in the Church of South India,” he said.
“That connection has meant that the UCA has been able to send volunteers to help within schools, hostels and hospitals in the Diocese.
“Volunteers have also done extensive work in renovating some buildings in the Diocese, and this vitally important work has created a spirit of partnership.”