The Kewat People

15 Days of Prayer for the Hindu World – Day 5

Priya and her family live along the Ganges River and are members of one of the large Kewat people groups. Her father, brother, and most of her other relatives work as boatmen and fishermen—occupations traditionally associated with the Kewat people.

Priya managed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce. She, along with countless youth like her, hopes to obtain a job in a government bank. Unfortunately, despite scraping together the 500-rupee fee (about US$8) for the bank’s pre-employment assessment test, her results have not yet merited a job.

Rajesh lives with his wife and four children in a simple single room. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from a well-known college, but his hunt for a job where he can use his education came up empty. Desperate to provide for his family, he eventually gave up his dream of being an engineer and opened a tiny tea shop on the roadside.

Though still rare, increasingly more youth from low-caste backgrounds, like Priya and Rajesh, manage to acquire a college education. Sadly, millions of South Asian youth from lower castes continue to face an unemployment crisis and often experience discrimination throughout their lives.
While education is a powerful tool for breaking the cycles of poverty and discrimination, many among the Kewat community remain hesitant. They often feel that it produces little fruit due to the ongoing discrimination in hiring systems and other forms of prejudice.

1. Pray for creative, powerful outreach to the Kewat people, who are so familiar with the lives of fisherman. “And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:19).
2. Pray that members of the Kewat community would encounter and respond to the hope of Jesus who said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).
3. Pray for an end to caste discrimination and that the Kewat, along with all of South Asia, would escape the vicious cycles of poverty and discrimination.