A prominent Lutheran leader has called for organizing a global gathering to offer international support to South Asia's Dalit communities—formerly called untouchables—along the powerful lines of informed pressure that helped end South Africa's racist policy of apartheid

Christian Century, Sept 21, 2004

A prominent Lutheran leader has called for organizing a global gathering to offer international support to South Asia's Dalit communities--formerly called untouchables--along the powerful lines of informed pressure that helped end South Africa's racist policy of apartheid. "The exclusion suffered by members of the communities known today as 'Dalit' is probably one of the most extreme and violent expressions of exclusion," Lutheran World Federation General Secretary Ishmael Noko told a seven-day executive meeting near the Swiss city of Geneva.

Noko, a theologian from Zimbabwe and the first African general secretary of the Geneva-based federation, was elected September 1 to another seven-year term. The caste system is Hindu in origin, and in India has been officially outlawed. But many Indians and human rights groups note that it remains part of social life. It is also said to be followed by some Christians and people of other faiths, especially in rural areas.