ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how a set of critical events of protest against caste and religious discrimination in Dravidapuram village has triggered caste and class consciousness, which in turn facilitated their journey of conversion to Lutheranism. It delves into each critical event of the protest to analyse how they not only demonstrate different forms of established discriminatory social practices grounded primarily on caste stigma but also confirm the strongly felt sense of dissent. In the absence of documentation, I had to use the method of oral histories collected from the field to narrate these critical events of protest. From the lens of critical events of the protest, this chapter gives us insights to argue that though caste discrimination is present at the pan-Indian level, protests against those discriminatory practices and ideas have always been contextual and region-specific in approach. More importantly, this chapter examines how the entry of the Lutheran church into this equation, as an institutional agency, to further the Dalit cause for good is what one needs to pay attention to, as it completely transformed the entire outlook, perspectives, form, and content of their social protest.
