Hindu extremists Re-convert 2,000 Christians
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hindu extremists Re-convert 2,000 Christians*
Hindu groups accuse Christian missioners of exploiting tribal poverty
and ignorance to increase Christian numbers
December 25, 2007
By UCA News
Ahead of Christmas, tension began to build up again in the tribal
regions of Gujarat, after Hindu extremist groups converted more than
2,000 tribal Christians to Hinduism.
A conversion ceremony took place on Dec. 16 at Vyara, 1,300 kilometers
southwest of New Delhi. The town is the headquarters of newly created
Tapi district.
Hindu groups through media claimed they converted some 2,500 tribal
Christians at a public function. Jesuit Father Stanny Jebamalai, who
works in the area, confirmed to UCA News that some 2,000 Christians
joined Hinduism.
Since 1998, tribal belts in the state have witnessed tension during the
Christmas season. That year, the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,
Indian peoples' party) came to power in a state election.
Hindu groups accuse Christian missioners of exploiting tribal poverty
and ignorance to increase Christian numbers. In 1998, Hindu radicals
attacked tribal people, priests and nuns, besides setting churches on
fire and desecrating bibles and churches.
This year, on the "reconversion" day, suspected Hindu radicals set fire
to a sugarcane crop on the grounds of Jesuit-managed Shantiniketan High
School in Zankhav, a village in Surat district, which borders Tapi.
For the reconversion, Hindu groups brought tribal Christians from
Gujarat's Dangs and Tapi districts, as well as from neighboring
Maharashtra state. In speeches at the gathering, Hindu leaders
reportedly accused local Christians of joining with Maoists to fight
Hindu landlords and convert more people to Christianity.
Tapi's deputy collector, N.S. Halbe, the second-highest official in the
district, told media the function had government permission. According
to him, local authorities have confirmed the conversions.
The incident has created tension in tribal pockets, particularly
Dharampur and Kaprada villages of Valsad district, in the southernmost
part of Gujarat, which has a sizable tribal Christian population.
Father Jebamalai told UCA News the "induced and forced" conversion of
tribal Christians was aimed at creating "a sense of fear among
Christians and prevent missioners from working in the area." He feared
more violence might happen in the area during Christmas.
Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, a human rights activist, told UCA News the
Hindu groups want to "vitiate the peaceful atmosphere" and terrorize
Christians working for the welfare of poor tribal people in the area.
The priest is based in Ahmedabad, the state's commercial capital, 915
kilometers southwest of New Delhi.
Joseph Amrutbhai Patel, a Catholic, told UCA News Hindu groups want to
pit tribal people against Christians. He is based in Ahwa, headquarters
of Dangs district, where several attacks have occurred in recent years.
Christian leaders say Hindu radicals fear tribal and lower-caste people
getting educated, which could lead them not only to stop slaving for
upper-caste Hindus but also to question the idea of high-caste
superiority. Political groups also have vested interests in keeping the
poor uneducated, Church leaders allege.
Sayakam Joshi, a liberal Hindu in Surat who has worked in tribal areas
for the past three decades, believes Hindu fanatic groups want to keep
alive the memory of the anti-tribal violence in 1998. Hindu groups in
the area accuse missioners of forcibly converting tribal people.
However, no government has found evidence to prove Christians engaged in
"forced or induced" conversions, Joshi told UCA News.
About 144,000 Christians living in 311 Dangs villages comprise hardly 5
percent of the district's population, according to Babubhai Desai, who
adds that Christians comprise only around 1 percent in Bharuch, Narmada,
Navsari, Surat, Tapi and Valsad districts.
Desai dismissed as baseless "nonsense" the allegation that missioners
induced tribal people to Christianity by offering them education and
health care. According to him, many tribal people turn to Christianity
to escape social discrimination they experience in the villages. In
Christianity they enjoy equal status with other Christians, he said.