ABSTRACT
Conversion has a long history in most cultures; however, in contemporary India, right from the beginning of the twentieth century, the conversion of the Dalits has been embroiled in political issues. Moving from the individual to the collective, conversion has played a significant role both in critiquing existing social frameworks and of working towards the empowerment of the Dalit community. Dalits are defined as the fifth varna by ancient Hindu treatises, the other four being Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and sudra. They were referred to as the outcastes. Manusmriti devotes a whole section to the varna system (chapter 10, 239-40).1 The untouchables have lived with different nomenclatures ranging from their occupationbased caste names, Harijan, depressed classes and now Dalit. The last is an overarching term used for the oppressed classes, and has several connotations such as ‘bruised’, ‘crushed’ and oppressed.
