TUESDAY, MAY 17 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
BY ANANT GUPTAnew delhi — An Indian man
who converted to Christianity in
the 18th century was declared a
saint by Pope Francis at a Vati-
can City ceremony Sunday, mak-
ing him the first Indian layman
to be canonized.
Devasahayam, born into a
Hindu family in the south Indi-
an kingdom of Travancore, was
baptized in 1745 and went on to
fight caste discrimination and
advocate for social equality.
India’s caste system divides
Hindus into four groups, with
Dalits, formerly known as un-
touchables, at the bottom.
I ndia’s constitution abolished
untouchability in 1950, but
caste-based discrimination per-
sists.
The elevation of Devasa-
hayam is significant for India’s
Christians; a majority identify
as Catholic and many belong to
lower castes.
“The Christian community in
India is largely Dalit and Adivasi
[Indigenous people]. The politi-
cal ecology of the Christian
church in India weighs heavily
in their favor,” said John Dayal,
former president of the All India
Catholic Union.
Despite that, he said, the
number of Dalit and Adivasi
priests, nuns and bishops is
disproportionately low.
The canonization will bring
attention to these communities,
Dayal said, arguably making it
more significant for Indian
Christianity than Mother Tere-
sa’s canonization in 2016.
The Christian community in
India numbers nearly 28 mil-
lion, less than 3 percent of the
population, according to the last
census in 2011.
Devasahayam, born Nilakan-
dan, served the king of Travan-
core as a soldier and later as an
official in the treasury, where he
met a Catholic military officerfrom the Dutch East India Com-
pany.
The officer shared the story ofJob from the Old Testament
with Devasahayam, who was
struggling at the time with astring of family tragedies, ac-
cording to an account by Indian
priests who attended the canon-
ization ceremony. The story
moved Devasahayam to convert
to Christianity and take the
name Lazarus. The translation
of his new name in his mother
tongue of Tamil was Devasa-
hayam, or “God has helped.”
According to a profile of the
saint published by the Vatican,
his conversion to Christianity
was seen as “treason” by the
king and led to his death in 1752
after years of torture and im-
prisonment.
But local clergymen at the
Diocese of Kottar in Tamil Nadu,
the resting place of Devasa-
hayam, believe he was persecut-
ed for his embrace of marginal-
ized groups.
“ What was not tolerated was
that being a high caste man, he
had no barriers after he became
Christian,” Father Joseph El-
phinstone told Vatican News.Devasahayam was said to share
meals with people from lower
castes, an unthinkable act in
18th-century India.
Six Indian saints have been
canonized in the past 15 years,
all but one under the papacy of
Pope Francis.
Dayal described this as part of
an attempt to recognize the
growing diversity of the Church
and its believers: “In the White
world, the Indian Catholic com-
munity is slowly consolidating
its place of honor,” he said.
Several states in India have
recently passed laws targeting
religious conversions, which has
sparked violence against minor-
ities, including Christians.
“Saint Devasahayam stood for
equality and fought against
casteism and communalism,” a
former government official told
NDTV. “This canonization is a
great opportunity for the
Church to stand against the
prevailing communal poison.”Pope canonizes 18th-century Indian man who fought against c aste system
VINCENZO PINTO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Devasahayam, right, an 18th-century convert to Christianity, is
among those depicted on a tapestry Monday in Vatican City.BY KAROUN DEMIRJIAN
AND DANIELLE PAQUETTEPresident Biden has approved
the deployment of hundreds of
Special Operations troops to So-
malia, officials announced Mon-
day, reversing his predecessor’s
decision to withdraw U.S. forces
from the violence-stricken coun-
try — a move that complicated
efforts to combat a regional ter-
rorist group.
Biden’s directive was made in
response to a request from the
Defense Department to reestab-
lish a base of operations in Soma-
lia, which the administration is
referring to as a “small, persis-
tent U.S. military presence.” The
size of that force will number
fewer than 500, down from the
approximately 750 personnel op-
erating there before President
Donald Trump ordered their re-
moval in January 2021.
A senior administration offi-
cial, speaking on the condition of
anonymity under ground rules
set by the White House, said the
deployment will draw from forc-
es already in the region. Their
primary focus will be al-Shabab,
an al-Qaeda affiliate considered
the terrorist network’s most le-
thal and well-funded operation.
Army Gen. Stephen Townsend,
head of U.S. Africa Command,
warned lawmakers earlier this
year that the U.S. withdrawal
from Somalia had hampered the
military’s ability to suppress the
threat there, saying that under-
taking so-called “over the hori-
zon” strikes launched from a per-
manent base in neighboring Dji-
bouti was akin to “commuting to
work.”
Biden’s decision to resume the
deployments was first reported
Monday by the New York Times.
“Our forces are not now nor
will they be directly engaged in
combat operations,” said Penta-gon spokesman John Kirby. “The
purpose here is to enable a more
effective fight against al-Shabab
by local forces.” The pattern of
popping in to conduct limited
operations, he added, “was ineffi-
cient and increasingly unsus-
tainable.”
The lack of a permanent U.S.
military presence in Somalia has
allowed al-Shabab to grow stron-
ger and increase “ the tempo of its
attacks, including against U.S.
personnel,” the senior adminis-
tration official said, noting that
sending American troops back
“rationalizes what was essential-
ly an irrational arrangement we
inherited.”
Attacks by al-Shabab rose by
17 percent in 2021 compared
with the previous year, according
to a January analysis from the
Africa Center for Strategic Stud-
ies in Washington. This year, they
are projected to rise by 71 per-
cent if the current pace of vio-
lence continues. A similar surge
in fatalities is expected if nothing
changes, the researchers assess
— a level of death stemming fromal-Shabab’s aggression that So-
malia has not endured since 2017.
The deployment announce-
ment comes a day after the So-
mali legislature elected HassanSheikh Mohamud to the presi-
dency, returning him to power
after a five-year hiatus. In that
time, al-Shabab has reportedly
made territorial gains against
African Union peacekeeping
forces — one of the entities U.S.
military personnel will be tasked
with supporting.
A decade ago, al-Shabab mili-
tants appeared poised to seize
Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu,
before African Union forcesstepped in and the United States
escalated airstrikes. The group
has since pushed to conquer the
East African nation and enact a
strict interpretation of Islamic
law.
Fighters have staged thou-
sands of attacks in Somalia and
neighboring Kenya, including
the 2013 raid on a Nairobi mall
that left 67 people dead and the
2017 truck bombings in Mogadi-
shu that claimed more than 500
lives.
U.S. defense officials say the
group is one of al-Qaeda’s biggest
moneymakers, extracting funds
from companies and civilians
trapped within its sphere of in-
fluence. The extremists have
worsened famine by cutting off
aid groups off from those going
hungry and have declared war
against anyone cooperating with
the West.
In early 2020, al-Shabab at-
tacked a military base used by
U.S. forces in Kenya, killing three
American personnel. An official
review released earlier this year
determined that an “inadequatefocus on potential threats,” “com-
placent leadership” and “poor
oversight” all contributed to the
deadly event.
The last known U.S. military
casualty in Somalia occurred in
2017, when a Navy SEAL was
killed during a raid alongside
Somali partner forces. At least
two other Americans were
wounded in the incident.
In Mogadishu, civil society
leaders said they felt optimistic
about the return of U.S. forces,
though some cautioned that mil-
itary personnel alone won’t fix
the security crisis.
Osman Moallim, chairman of
Somali Non-State Actors, which
focuses on peacebuilding,
warned that the Somali govern-
ment would have to restore pub-
lic trust and pour resources into
neglected communities.
“We hope the U.S. support will
help Somalia maintain security,”
he said, “but military is not the
only solution.”Paquette reported from Dakar,
Senegal.Biden is sending hundreds of U.S. troops to Somalia
The deployment marks
a reversal of Trump’s
decision to withdraw“The purpose here is toenable a more effectivefight against al-Shababby local forces.”
John Kirby, Pentagon spokesmanWednesday, May 18 at 12:00 p.m.Smith discusses the rise of the gig economy andthe future of work.ANIA SMITH
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