It would not be difficult to derive, from the description of safe havens offered so far, rather romantic associations, for example of a homely, cosy environment pervaded by peace, tranquility, love and harmony. As we shall presently see, such a pastel-coloured picture has indeed been painted in certain quarters. However, let us first expose ourselves to some very different aspects of a world that endeavours to set up protected territories. Any such romantic image stands in remarkable contrast to the almost obsessive preoccupation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century missionaries with the violence and cruelty they perceived, particularly in Hinduism. One of their favourite topics with which to illustrate this was the caste system. So let me quote a few sentences from the Abbé Dubois (who lived in Southern India between 1792 and 1823). He is talking here about a group of untouchables, the paṟaiyār, which, incidentally, gave rise to the English word ‘pariah’.

The contempt and aversion with which the other castes … regard these unfortunate people are carried to such an excess that in many places their presence, or even their footprints, are considered sufficient to defile the whole neighbourhood. They are forbidden to cross a street in which Brahmins are living. Should they be so ill-advised as to do so, the latter would have the right, not to strike them themselves, because they could not do so without defilement, or even touch them with the end of a long stick, but to order them to be severely beaten by other people.