Dear Prabir,
I would like you to advise me about the fact that people use titles like
"Dalit" and "Adivasi" with Christian. The matter with people is that using
these terms associated with religion makes a sociological matter give a
communal colour. Firstly, i believe, that in Christianity, there is no division
among the identity of people on grounds of caste. Hence using the terms Dalit
and Adivasi associated with Christian would be unfair. Secondly, Dalit and
Adivasi are terms associated with people for sociological reasons; the former
used for people who have been termed as untouchables and faced oppression as
the down-trodden, and the latter for those indigenous people who have resided
in the sub-continent for a long time but their development compared to the
outside world has been insignificant and still bear the stamp of ancient
society. I am an Adivasi who practise Christianity, and these two different
identities are maintained as my religion does not interfere with my language
and customs and the customs do not limit my perception of the Almighty.
prabir chatterjee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Confusing statements. Does Braja Mishra agree that Mr Divakar is a
christian. That is true.
Do you think that he is a missionary? Well if you call a Maharaj of Ramakrishna
Mission a missionary you may be right. Again all Communists try to convert
people to Communism- so Prakash Karat is a missionary. But Mr Divakar is not
converting people to christianity. He is, if I remember correctly a Tamilian
who was born in a Dalit family and organises people for Dalit rights. He seems
to be in Delhi and earn a salary. What will you call all Gujarati Brahmins who
working in Delhi- Hindu missionaries? Surely not. They are Hindus. And they may
also be great social reformers.
Since he is not a "standard" priest or a foreigner living in a village and
converting tribals (like ISCKON people) there is no standard line he can
follow. Nor is it his personal statement. It is a statement of a group of
Dalits and Adivasis (not Chatterjees like me). Do we not respect the opinion of
Dr Munda, the former Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University?
Nobody says that Osho, ISCKON, temples, churches, gurudwaras, mosques do not
take land and build buildings on them and then fight about them.
However Santals, Mundas, Hos, even Kui people do not build buildings. All
Jharkhandis know about sarna- the sacred forests. Even some areas on
Ranchi-Kanke road and near Albert Ekka Chowk (Firayalal's) are Sarna areas.
Recently I saw similar sacred groves in Shillong. We Jharkhandis should realize
that Ramakrishna, Rabindranath and even the foreigner Jesus have said that
religion can not be restricted to buildings. All true Indian rishis have
renounced worldly goods. They have preferred to go and live like Adivasis-
close to Sarna and close to Dharti Mata (whom modern environmentalists call
Gaia).
Do not forget that in Mumbai, some people may dislike Malayalees, in Andhra
they may dislike Tamilians. In Bangladesh they disliked Punjabis. In Assam they
dislike Bengalis. If we are all Indians, we must promote good values- not the
caste system, the fights, the way Iich Indians in Africa mistreat poor
Africans, or Indians in US look down on African Americans.
Prabir
Braja Mishra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Strongly agree with Venkitesh
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
The writer of the report Paul Divakar is a Christian missionary. He touts
the standard line of christians as persecuted victims!
When they are the actual aggressors and destroyers of the tribals.
It is good to provide social services. But why do you convert people. Why
do you ask people to change religion. A lot of times help is provided only
if they convert. This is height of cruelty, but then again Christianity
has this record all over the world stealing wealth of poor people -- be it
in Africas, Amercas and elsewhere.
.
