Untouchable Vs. Touchable

What is “untouchability,” and how do we perceive and react to it as human beings in this modern world? Why this practice still exists in the civilized nations? Is it possible for a nation to achieve its economic growth by ostracizing and segregating communities from the mainstream by social custom in this digital economy in the 21^st century?

Why are some people still forbidden to touch any item or things in the modern-day society? Why do few group of people claim that they are special in a society and allowed to touch and use things, when Mother nature provides free resources to everyone under the sun without any discrimination? Is it moral and ethical to practice untouchability by the civilized human beings?

Did God create the untouchable and touchable separately on this planet? Or is it just a man-made system in the society, and powerful leaders brainwashed the oppressed and downtrodden people for their own selfish benefits? In other words, did few rich, educated and powerful people in the communities exercise their authority and castaway poor and uneducated people for their selfish motives?

Two weeks ago, I received a telecasted video message from south India reporting that a poor community, so-called Dalits in one of the villages had drinking water issues since their bore well was dried-up due to the hot summer dry season.  As a result, in the helpless situation, Dalit, “untouchable” families tried to get water from a neighboring bore well located within their Hindu community in the same village. Sadly, rather than helping one another in this critical basic human survival needs situation, they (other Hindus) did not allow the Dalits to get bore well water for drinking by so-called “touchable” (Hindu) people.

I’m sure like me you will also be shocked and surprised to hear this kind of story in the 21^st century from a democratic and developing country, like India.  Even though I’m far away from this country, but for some reasons, this news disturbed and lingered in my mind with a question as to why is “untouchability” still practiced in India, when its’ “constitution” legally abolished it almost 68 years ago?  Furthermore, how can civilized human beings accept this kind of bad practices and behaviors in India, which is according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) one of the fastest-growing economies with second-largest (513.7-million) labor force in the world now?

An article published in the Guardian magazine titled “America’s Untouchables‘: the silent power of the caste system, written by Isabel Wilkerson states that when Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife Coretta visited India in 1959. At one point in their trip, King and his wife visited a high-school in Trivandrum in the state of Kerala, whose families had been untouchables. The principal made the introduction. “Young people,” he said, “I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America.”

This article also states that King said to himself: “Yes, I am an untouchable, and every negro in the United States of America is an untouchable.” In that moment, he realized that the land of the free had imposed a caste system not unlike the caste system of India, and that he had lived under that system all of his life. It was what lay beneath the forces he was fighting in the US.

As you can imagine “untouchability” is not only a social, political, economic, philosophical, global and theological debatable subject, but also an academic topic with many theses can be written, in spite of already published articles prior to, and after the Indian Independence in 1947. Because I think this is one of the social evils still exists in India despite of its abolition in 1950, and it should be a concern for all civilized human beings in this world.

To address this social issue I have a couple of thoughts; however, decided to take a critical thinking approach that can reach to the conclusion with the following two scenarios’ assessments, understanding, and evaluation:

Scenario #1:  Robot (Artificial Intelligence – AI) Approach

What if in few years robots take over the “Dalits” inherited day-to-day dirty tasks in India, is it possible to eradicate “untouchability” practices from the society? In other words, in few years if robots can do the same job what Dalits are labeled to do as the street sweepers, cobblers, dead animals removers, etc., and for these tasks they are now known in the society by few people as polluting people, will this bad social untouchability practice be removed once for all in India with these machines replacement? Why not?

As we know that in this digital economy, Indian professionals are dominating the information technology (IT) industry throughout the world. Most of Indian smart and skilled IT or computers professional are in demand and being hired by the large corporations in the world in fastest growing artificial intelligence (AI) areas, in which  machines or robots are doing the work, and as a result, human workforce is being replaced by these robots in major industries in the world.

When Indian IT professionals are designing and implementing robots for various operations in the world for different companies, why can’t they do the same thing to replace the “Dalits” dirty tasks, for which they are being labeled as “untouchables?”

Imagine, within few years Indian IT professionals in their own country if they come out with the “state-of-art” technologies utilizing robots to replace the poor, oppressed and uneducated and downtrodden people’s labor of dirty and filthy day-to-day work, why should there be an untouchable practice in the country? In this case, since Dalits duties will be replaced by the robots, there is no reason to say you are untouchable or polluting people when they are not doing the actual work. As we can see in this scenario, robots are managing and dominating the given dirty tasks.

What happens if the robot decides not to work for the “touchable?” Or, what happens if Dalits start managing their daily tasks utilizing the robots? How would an educated mind or civilized human beings in this modern world deny the facts and accept these realities?

In this scenario, it is foolish to think that Dalits are polluting people because of their tasks when the country is faced with all kinds of environmental issues related to the pollution. In fact, it is another serious social matter to be discussed, but not in this blog.

Scenario #2:  Theological Approach 

According to the “Holy Bible,” God first created Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7 NKJV).  God said, “it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.  Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man (Gen. 2:18-22 NKJV).”

Based on the “Holy Bible,” God first created these two (Adam and Eve) human beings and breathed into nostrils the breath of life. As we know that from this first family our human generation began.  As per the Bible, God did not create separate groups of people, what other religion calls it is as “untouchable” and “touchable” human beings.

However, according to the Bible, the only “untouchable” was a tree and its fruit.  God commanded the man (Adam), saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Gen. 2: 16-17 NKJV).”

Since our first parents (Adam and Eve) broke God’s first commandment and ate the forbidden tree’s fruit and disobeyed Him. As a result, Sin entered into the human race, and we became “unclean” people in God’s sight.

According to the Bible, no mortal man can wash away this Sin except God’s only Son, Jesus Christ (Acts 22:16 NJKV). It is very interesting to note also that we human beings call it as an “unclean,” but in reality, God created everything “clean.” For example, when the Apostle Peter was asked to visit Cornelius house, Peter replied: “Surely, not Lord, I have ever eaten anything impure or unclean.” Lord said “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean (Acts 10:14-15 NKJV).”

When we compare and evaluate these two (Adam’s fruit and Peter’s vision) eatable items incidences in the Bible, it clearly indicates that it was only the tree’s fruit, but not a human being like Cornelius, a non-Jew became an untouchable thing. This shows that all human beings became special people in God’s creation. In fact, due to our Sinful nature, we are separated from God; however, according to the Scriptures when we believe in His Son, Jesus Christ once again we’ll be in God’s family.

I think there is no human being who can explain better about an untouchability issue of drinking water than our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God in this following incident when he asked for water to drink from a Samaritan woman, a non-Jew person at the well.

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? Jesus answered her, “if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks that water I give them will be never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. John 4:9-14 NKJV).”

Wow! A careful contrast of the two religions belief shows huge differences. I’m sure this makes more sense to civilized human beings and since my two approaches are self-explanatory, and I think no further explanation is required.

Let us hope and pray that the God of Bible may give us wisdom and understating on this matter.

If you have any comments, suggestions, experience or testimony on this subject matter, please feel free to write to me in the comments section of the website. Appreciated!

P.S. This blog post was first published on September 2, 2018, and according to the Pinterest Analytics this pin and/or post ranked one of my top impressed and viewed posts to this day. Therefore, I thought of re-publishing it again due to current economic, social, health, political, and racial crises in the world. I thank and appreciate all of my followers and viewers on the social media.

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