Author: Chandrakant Naidu
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: May 8, 2002
As the Sangh Parivar gloats over
its success in communalising tribals in Gujarat, its attempts at doing
the same in other states has worried minorities. In Orissa, the Parivar
is on overdrive to reconvert tribal Christians to Hinduism.
Even the Puri Shankara-charya helped
re-convert nearly 80 Christians, at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district, where
Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his minor sons were burnt
to death.
There have been frequent incidents
of violence against Christians in the state. In July 1999, Father Arul
Doss was murdered in Jamabani village. In August 2001, members of the Missionaries
of Charity were attacked in Kandhamal district.
These incidents only intensified
the conflict between the two communities. The Parivar has not done much
to prevent conversion. But it has aggressively reconverted to expand its
base.
VHP state secretary Gouri Prasad
Rath says the Parishad is working towards the "upliftment of our own people"
and not reacting to the missionaries.
"Unlike the missionaries who are
resorting to allurements and fraud to convert the tribals, we are only
welcoming back those who want to return to the Hindu fold voluntarily,"
says Rath.
In Jhabua and Dhar districts of
Madhya Pradesh, bordering Gujarat, the Sangh Parivar has been operating
for over 40 years. It runs hostels for the tribals. In 1998, four nuns
were allegedly raped in this region triggering nation-wide protests.
But, on the political front, the
BJP's gains were not commensurate with the efforts put into the communalisation
of tribals.
The Jhabua-Ratlam Lok Sabha constituency
returned a Congress nominee -- Kantilal Bhuria. The Congress also holds
four of the five assembly seats in the belt.
With the creation of Chhattisgarh,
a large chunk of the tribal population of Madhya Pradesh is now in the
new state. Being reactive rather than proactive, the Parivar has failed
to create substantial influence on the tribals in Chhattisgarh.
During the past three years, the
VHP has opened about 600 schools for tribals in Chhattisgarh. Another 400
schools are being planned.
(With inputs from Soumyajit Pattnaik,
Kumar Shakti Shekhar and Venugopal Pillai)