Many Liberations? Dalit Theology and the Interreligious Challenge

This paper explores the promise that a comparative shift in Dalit Theology will hold both for the development of Dalit Theology in the context of its ongoing critiques (of its epistemological binarism, as well as insufficient comprehensiveness), as well as the changing Indian context of growing religious nationalisms, which necessitates significant levels of subaltern as well as interreligious solidarity as an antidote. It takes into serious consideration the changing global theological contexts where liberation theologies are no longer the prerogative of Christians, but are also being articulated by Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim scholars, it lifts up liberative motifs within different Dalit traditions that can transform Dalit Theology. Through a careful reading of the signs of our times, the paper seeks to outline the shape and scope of a comparative theology of Dalit liberation, which would be more aligned with the visions of some of the earliest proponents of Dalit theology.