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Journalism of Courage
PETH (NASHIK), JAN 5: At Peth in Nashik today, the Shankaracharya of the Karveer Peeth, Vidhyashankar Bharati, reconverted’ 37 Christian tribals to Hinduism while Swami Aseem Anand, the man who allegedly kicked off the campaign against Christians in the Dangs, Gujarat watched.
At the Vishal Hindu Sammelan, called by the recently-formed Dharmarakshan Samiti, the Shankaracharya also reiterated the outfit’s ultimatum to Christian missionaries to leave tribal areas in the region by March 31. Aseem Anand of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram alleged that there is a global conspiracy to exaggerate incidents in Gujarat and pressurise the Indian government. He claimed that the incidents in Ahwa in Gujarat were instigated by Christians. He also claimed that tribals in the Dangs region who had converted to Christianity are re-converting to Hinduism and within a month there will not be a single Christian family left to be re-converted.Addressing a gathering of thousands of tribals from the region, the Shankaracharya demandeda ban of foreign funding of missionaries and urged Hindus to thwart their activities.
Bharati said: “Request them (the missionaries) once, twice, thrice and if they do not refrain from their activities, then take the next step.” Retaliation against injustice is perfectly justified, he added.
“Hindus have the power to reduce the whole world to ashes. But the power is to be kept under control,” the Shankaracharya said.
The Sammelan’s six resolutions are:
During the sammelan, the Shankaracharya reconverted’ 37 Christian tribals from Kayre Sadadpada, Raajbari and Naalshet villages back to the Hindu fold by administering holy water.
Today’s Sammelan follows an attack on Christian tribals and a church at Kayre Sadadpada village in Peth on October 16, 1998. The church, about 11 km from here, was damaged when Christian tribals refused to contribute Rs 150 and seven kilogrammes of rice per family for the annual tribal Maulya festival. The village comprises 100-odd families, of which 16 have converted to Christianity over the last 10 years. After the incident, police arrested 26 villagers, who werelater released on bail.
