India Christians, Home Minister Discuss Concerns Over Massive Hindu 'Re-Conversion' Festival
An Indian Christian group and the Indian Home Minister met on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing intimidation of religious minorities by Hindus as the date for a massive Hindu festival approaches.
An Indian Christian group and the Indian Home Minister met on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing intimidation of religious minorities by Hindus as the date for a massive Hindu festival approaches.
The All Indian Christian Council, backed by the All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Organizations and other groups, led a delegation to meet with India’s Shivraj Patil on Jan. 17, reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide. AICC informed the home minister of their fears of violence stemming from the Feb. 11-13 Shabri Kumbh Mela festival in the Dangs, a remote district in Gujarat, western India.
“We can only imagine the kind of violence and communalism that will emanate if this event is allowed to happen,” said Dr. Joseph D’Souza, president of the AICC, in a CWS news release.
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“If the event is allowed, the AICC requests that the Government provides adequate supervision to maintain law and order and save innocent lives,” he added.
Some 185,000 people, mostly tribal Indians, live in the area, but the event is aiming to attract 500,000. The majority of tribals practice animism, but the festival has been organized to encourage them to “re-convert” to Hinduism.
The slogan, “Hindu Jago, Christi Bhagao” (Arise Hindus, throw out the Christians), has been used by the festival organizers to stir up religious tensions and to promote a Hindu identity to the Dangs people, reported CSW.
AICC fears that the festival and related activities are part of a “political plan” aimed at generating more support for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in an area which is a traditional stronghold for the more secular Congress Party.
In 1998, severe anti-Christian violence erupted in the district when 36 rural churches were attacked over the Christmas period following the instigation from Hindu extremist groups.
Furthermore, D’Souza expressed his concern that the re-conversion of the tribals living in the Dangs district will be socially destructive. Although the place of tribals in the caste system is comparable to that of the Dalits, the Dangs people do not know about the caste system.
However, according to D’Souza, “the re-conversion ceremony will definitely include the tribal peoples into the realm of untouchability.”
At the end of the meeting, India’s house minister assured the AICC delegation that he would take sufficient precautions to prevent violence against Muslim and Christian communities in Gujarat.
Following the meeting, CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas, expressed the organization’s full support of the AICC in its concerns as presented to the Indian government.
“This festival has the potential for instigating large-scale violence and widespread communal tension,” Thomas said, “and we would urge the Indian Government to do all within its power to ensure the safety of religious minority groups in the area.
“The tribal people of the Dangs area must be free to choose their religious allegiance without coercion.”
