Christian Subversion And Missionary Activities - 5

[G.Subramaniam]

dailypioneer

Conversion’ rankles here

Sidharth Mishra | Ranchi

The only concession that the Naxals allowed during Sunday’s bandh call was the Easter congregation in churches, which exist in the Jharkhand countryside in large numbers. From huge crowds outside the Ranchi Club to gatherings around smaller prayer houses in the countryside, the mood is celebratory. The day Jesus came back to life, is also the day of awakening in poll season.

The Congress candidate from Lohardagga, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Rameshwar Oraon, cannot let the opportunity slip by. He ensured that local newspapers here on Sunday carried his statement that local Bishop Cardinal Thelspore Toppo has not extended support to his independent rival Chamra Linda. A statement on Toppo’s letterhead supporting Linda has been doing rounds in the countryside, putting the Congress candidate in a fix.

Today, the Congress survival is totally dependent on support from tribal Christians. Toppo’s certificate to Madhu Koda that he was a gentleman ensured that the Independent-led UPA Government survived for more than a year despite the Congress incharge of the State Ajay Maken crying foul and recommending every fortnight to the party high command that support to the Government be withdrawn.

Toppo, though never directly, often makes it clear where his preferences lie. Or let’s put it this way: He never minces words in his addresses about the harassment of Christians at the hands of RSS cadre, who too are present now in large numbers through organisations like Vikas Bharati and Bharatiya Vanvasi Parishad.

In seeking the blessings of the proselytising missionaries, the Congress has handed over its legacy of fighting conversions to the RSS. This has allowed spread of influence of the Hinduvta forces among non-Christian tribals.

The movement for resisting conversion was started by Congress veteran Kartik Oraon. He even persuaded his party to bring a Bill in Parliament to counter the influence of missionaries by withdrawing benefits of Scheduled Tribes from tribal Christians. But he did not live long. He was a three-term MP and his wife Sumati made it to the LS for two terms. From him, the mantle to counter missionaries fell on Lalit Oraon, who became the first tribal MP from Jharkhand to represent the BJP. Lalit’s victory showed a definite trend in the BJP network shifting to the countryside.

Kartik Oraon was no fundamentalist. Born in a tribal family but possessing extra-ordinary intellect, he completed his Bachelor’s degree from the Patna College of Engineering around the time of Independence. He went to England for higher education and came back with a deep understanding of the Christian interests in Jharkhand. Before his death in 1981, he became the Minister for Aviation and Communications in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet.

Today, Kartik’s legacy has been effectively adopted by the BJP. With abject poverty and lack of appropriate development, the cause of conversion could be as trivial — by urban standards — as getting a good bucket for drawing water from fast-drying wells. The cause for re-conversion could be the failure of the proselytising agencies to replace the bucket when it became old.

In the time of polls, conversions and re-conversions also become a tool for scoring political points. On the occasion of Good Friday last week, several instances of Christian tribals reconverting to Sarna (traditional tribal religion) worship were reported. It’s a way of expressing political sinews. Today, the Congress in Jharkhand — which Gandhi saw as the crucible of his ideas — is beholden to missionary benevolence. Politics of religion indeed has a different connotation here.