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Thursday, August 08, 2002 Indian Express SPECIAL REPORT VHP cooks up Christianity story, dishes it out in tribal belt Anti-missionary campaign launched in Maharashtra village with a little help from the local media N. GANESH RAIGAD, Maharashtra, AUGUST 7: ''Four-hundred-and-fifty tribals in Raigad convert to Christianity? Houses, loans distributed. Impression of Jesus found on the tea-cup of tribal household indicates slow conversion by the missionaries. Tribal community unite against conversion by missionaries.'' There are some of the screaming headlines from Raigad Times, a supplement of Ratnagiri Times, a local Marathi daily. Inside a small office on the first floor of a bungalow in Mangaon, sits Arun Pawar, the correspondent of Raigad Times, who has been filing ''exclusive and investigative'' reports on tribal conversions. Pawar, who is also a member of the Mangaon Gram Panchayat, is not able to tell exactly where the conversions took place. He does not give the names of the families that have converted for house and money. ''I never said that tribals have been converted, it is in the process. Through the articles, I was trying to wake up the people to the slow conversions of the tribals that is being done by the Christian missionaries under the name of social work,'' he says. The man who sits next to him interrupts the conversation: ''Talk to me. I am the one who has given all the stories to him. I know more than what he knows.'' He is Ravindra Korde, the district chief of the VHP, and has no qualms in saying that it's the VHP that has been behind the propaganda. Asked whether he could cite one instance of a conversion, he replies in the negative. ''I do not have figures right now with me. You can get it from me later,'' he says. ''I have heard about some conversions in Uran and its neighboring areas that happened four years ago,'' Korde says triumphantly. Incidentally, his organisation has been trying to recruit youths through their ashrams but the campaign has met with little success. ''What is the need for the tribals to go to schools run by missionaries where they are taught about Christianity and Jesus. They could learn at our institutions,'' Korde says. It's about a month now. Almost everyday, the newspaper has been carrying reports on conversion and missionaries. It has already had an impact. Already non-tribals in three villages - Gaulwadi in Roha; Waki in Kolhad; and Nilaj in Mangaon - have blocked the social workers from the Catholic church from entering nearby tribal hamlets. The result: the balwadis and youth empowerment schemes there have come to a standstill. And tension ripples along the tribal belt. ''Tribals have little choice as they have to depend on non-tribal land-owners for their bread and butter. The non-tribal community which is associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have their own interest in disallowing the social organisations from educating the tribals,'' says a member of Amardeep, a social organisation floated by the Catholic church, which has been working among the tribals for the the last 12 years. Ulka Mahajan of Sarva Hara Jana Adolan, a Raigad-based social organisation, says: ''Why is the issue of conversions bring brought up now? I believe somebody does not like the tribals getting organised. They don't like the fact that the tribals have mustered courage to voice their problems.'' Tribal leader Laxman Hilam, a member of the gram panchayat, minces no words. ''Now they talk of conversions. Where were these people earlier? Did they ever come to see how we survive in this adverse conditions,'' asks Hilam. At Kathewadi, 65-year-old Gunaji Hilam is clear about what the Church has done. ''First of all, we do not know what the Christian religion is and neither have the members of the organisation shown any interest in that regard. We know that after they came, our children who were earlier loitering in the wild are now getting educated. We are able to save our income, we know what our rights are and we are not afraid of the sahebs,'' he says. URL: http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=7312 ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe to this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
