Author: Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: www.newkerala.com
Date: October 29, 2004
URL: http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=39654
The chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak
Sangh (RSS), the country's most influential Hindu group, has criticised
Christian missionaries for allegedly trying to convert tribals.
Addressing a conclave of tribal
students in this Jharkhand capital, K.S. Sudarshan Thursday attacked the
missionaries for apparently claiming that they were the only ones working
among the poverty-stricken tribal communities.
In the rest of his speech, however,
Sudarshan chose to concentrate on the need to strengthen the educational
system in tribal areas.
The RSS chief spoke after inaugurating
a programme at the Birsa Munda stadium. Chief Ministers Arjun Munda of
Jharkhand, Babulal Gaur of Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh of Chhattigarh
also addressed the students.
The four-day function has been organised
by Vidya Bharati, an RSS-affiliated organisation, and around 17,000 tribal
students from all over India are taking part in it. It ends Saturday.
The students presented folk dances,
played tribal instruments, wore tribal dresses, and made handicrafts from
bamboo and clay. Many were heard reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu
prayer song.
Sudarshan also appealed to Maoist
guerrillas to shun violence. He praised Vidya Bharati for doing a "commendable
job" of spreading education among "the deprived class".