Naxalites turn against religious conversions

Three months after Naxalities vandalised Hindu temples, attacked Ganesha utsav mandaps and ashrams in Bastar and Dantewara districts, they h...

Three months after Naxalities vandalised Hindu temples, attacked Ganesha utsav mandaps and ashrams in Bastar and Dantewara districts, they have turned their attention to Christian missionaries engaged providing health and educational facilities to tribals.

For the first time, Naxalities ordered Christian missionaries to stop carrying out ‘‘religious conversions of innocent tribals on the pretext of providing voluntary services’’. Till now, this was a charge levelled against the missionaries by the Vishav Hindu Parishad and Sang Parivar.

Last week, aiming to send out a strong message, Naxalities ordered eight tribal families of Markabeda village in Narainpur sub-division—who converted to Christianity some months back—to leave the village or risk being ‘‘punished’’ for converting. The families have also been warned against lodging a report with the administration.

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‘‘A group of Naxalities who reached the village a few days back passed these orders against all eight newly-converted tribal families,’’ a senior district official at Jagdalpur confirmed.

Most families, fearing the wrath of the Naxalites, have taken shelter in a missionary in Narainpur, with two returning to the village only to collect their belongings.

The terrified families have reportedly asked the administration to rehabilitate them elsewhere. ‘‘If we return, they (the Naxalities) will kill us,’’ says a member of one of the families.

In Dantewara, Naxalities distributed pamphlets against Christian missionaries, threatening them with dire consequences if they were found exploiting the tribals or carrying out religious conversions.

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Officials said the missionaries have been working among the tribals for years, but the recent developments had sent shock waves through the missionaries.

So far, Naxalities only targeted the VHP and RSS activists, accusing them of converting the tribals to Hinduism. Recently, armed Naxalities had attacked Ganesha ustav mandapas in Narainpur. A few days later, Naxalities reached an ashram and thrashed the sadhus there. They tonsured them ordered them to leave Bastar district.