Dean Nelson reports for The Daily Telegraph:
Leaders of India's low-caste Dalits are to celebrate the opening of a temple shaped like a desktop computer to inspire "untouchable" children to improve their prospects in life by learning English.
They believe learning English will open up new opportunities for India's 160 million Dalits in higher education and high-status government careers.
Dalits are India's most persecuted caste and its members suffer violence and discrimination throughout the country. There are regular reports of Dalit boys being murdered for illicit relationships with higher caste girls.
Leaders of the influential Dalit movement in Uttar Pradesh state, where the pro-dalit Bahujan Samaj Party is in power, believe more could escape the worst aspects of "untouchability" if they master the English language.
A foundation stone was laid in April and a 30 inch brass statue of the 'goddess' was dispatched from New Delhi to Lakimpuri Kheri village in Uttar Pradesh where campaigners are hoping to open the temple formally in honour of Lord Macauley, the 19th Century colonial official who sought to create an English-speaking Indian middle-class elite.
"The idea is to make English a matter of faith among Dalits because we believe it is an empowering language. If a Dalit woman starts worshipping English as a goddess, there is no way her kids would escape the 'ABC' from their childhood," said Chandra Bhan Prasad, the Dalit author behind the plan.
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