Extremist Propaganda Raises Fear of Attacks on Indian Christians, Muslims
Extremist propaganda used to promote a Hindu religious festival has caused fear of attacks against Christians and Muslims.
Extremist propaganda used to promote a Hindu religious festival has caused fear of attacks against Christians and Muslims in a remote district in Gujarat, western India, according to recent reports.
The Shabri Kumbh, a new religious festival scheduled to be held Feb. 11 - 13, is stirring up religious tension with its slogan “Hindu Jago, Christi Bhagao” (Arise Hindus, throw out the Christians), reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide on Thursday. The event, which hopes to draw up to 500,000 people, will be held in the remote district called the Dangs
The event is said to commemorate the mythological story of Shabri and Ram where the latter kills the demon Ravana. Hindu nationalist organizers of the event have called for the same treatment for Christians, describing it as a dangerous foreign faith.
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The Dangs area is inhabited by tribal people, a small proportion of which are Christians and Muslims. The majority in the area are animist but the festival aims to encourage them to “re-convert” to Hinduism.
Commentators in India have highlighted that while this event is modeled on the Kumbh Mela festival, a centuries-old tradition which takes place every twelve years in one of four fixed locations across India (none of which are in Gujarat), its real focus seems to be to attack on the practice of the Christian faith in the district, CSW reported.
According to Dr John Dayal, Secretary General of the All India Christian Council and member of the Indian Government's National Integration Council, "the motives of this [festival] reek of rabid communalism and antipathy and physical hostility towards Christians. This area has been targeted by the Sangh Parivar for many years.”
The district in 1998 suffered from severe anti-Christian violence when 36 rural churches were attacked during the Christmas period.
Gujarat is governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and it is alleged that state funds are being used to promote the festival.
Two separate fact-finding teams from a cross-section of civil society traveled to the Dangs to investigate the intimidation and to speak to Hindu activists, district officials and representatives of the Sangh Parivar.
"We could see the fear writ on the face of most of the Christians we met," they reported.
The teams concluded that the festival was organized to intimidate tribals who have adhered to a non-Hindu religion and to encourage communal tensions to ensure they remain divided and subjugated, according to CSW.
The U.K.-based Christian human rights group and its partner, the All India Christian Council, is lobbying the Central Government in Delhi and the State Government in Gujarat to ensure that the festival takes place peacefully and without any harassment of Christians.
Stuart Windsor, CSW's National Director, said in a news release: "Given the fears of the Christian and Muslim tribal people in Dangs, it is vital that the Indian Government heeds their call and works to ensure their safety and to prevent an outbreak of violence against them. The tribals in India have long been marginalized by society and allowing them to be exploited in an inflammatory festival is a serious indictment on the state. CSW is calling on the Indian Government to ensure religious hatred is not whipped up again in Gujarat."
There are about 186,000 people living in the Dangs area, 92 percent of whom are tribals (adivasis) from the Bhils, Kokanis and Warlis. About 5 percent are Christians.
