On February 23, the Hindu Jagaran Manch, Seva Bharati, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS organised a Hindu Sangam (confluence) at Alirajpur, 80 kms south of Jhabua, now a new laboratory and hotbed, nicely situated on the Gujarat border, to test the Hindutva formula of the future Hindu Rashtra. The stated purpose of the Hindu Sangam was to ‘‘stop the activities of missionaries’ (read forceful conversions by allurement) and to bring back the converted Christian tribals to the Hindu fold (ghar vapsi). Dilip Singh Judeo, former BJP central minister, caught on camera receiving Rs 9 lakh, is organising similar ghar vapsi programmes in Mahasumand in Chhattisgarh and Jharsuguda districts in Orissa in the first week of March.Judeo, whose territory was so far restricted only to the Chhattisgarh tribal belt, after having acquired sufficient funds for his mission, as he has admitted before television cameras, is now emboldened to extend his unconstitutional activities in the newly fertile grounds of Orissa. After all, it is in Orissa that Dharam Rakshak (defender of the religion) Dara Singh rendered a unique service to his cause by burning alive Graham Staines and his two little sons and was allegedly involved in the murder of Fr. Arul Dass and the forceful tonsuring of six Christian women in Kilipal village of Jagatsinghpur district for refusing to convert back to Hinduism. “This is what I mean when I say that they project their own ways of forcing people to convert when they accuse us of forceful conversions”, says Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao of Delhi.These incidents and those of beating up people or destroying shops and restaurants on Valentine’s Day because of its western Christian origin or attacking the art exhibition in Surat because it was inaugurated by M.F. Hussain or indeed the burning up of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute library in Pune by right wing fundamentalists are only some of the many true examples of India Shining. Atrocities on dalits are far too many and too widespread to recount here.And while the regalia of the Indian state was on full display at Rajpath this Republic Day, to observe the anniversary of the promulgation of the Indian Constitution, members of a minority community, thinking of the sufferings of their brothers and sisters in Jhabua and elsewhere, could not quite work out their own place in the ‘secular, democratic state’ framework.Again, as the India Shining ads and the full page ads put out by various ministries to highlight the glorious achievements of the government are being shamelessly flaunted, the insecurity experienced by the priests in Jhabua, who were literally beaten up at their own residence by sadhvis, in full view of the police posse, under the BJP reign, was impossible to comprehend. The presence of the Rapid Action Force, with their vehicles neatly parked in their compound, could not bolster the priests’ confidence robbed by the violent sadhvis.It is often impossible to console or convince Christians in Jhabua, Alirajpur or in villages such as Kilipal in Orissa or Gujarat that things will eventually return to normal. Much as they try to forget their traumatic experiences at the hands of such terrorists, their angst gets recharged with the memories of the government sponsored Gujarat genocide.Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Jhabua, a photographer of yesteryear, and one who has been admiring the colours of the India Shining ads, was speechless before those sobbing teachers who approached him for shelter and solace in the Don Bosco school compound. But what could a spiritual leader tell them when he himself heard the attackers bellowing, “It is our government now, it is a government for the Hindus”.The priests and nuns working in the remote areas of the country are convinced that the trouble-makers are those who are threatened by the social transformation brought about in the lives of the poor by their developmental work. The money-lenders cannot easily find dalits and tribals to put their thumb impressions on fabricated documents to usurp their ready crops or charge exorbitant interests to be paid up by several generations. “Our ouster means closing down of the educational, developmental and health avenues that provide for a healthy tribal society”, says Bishop Chacko.
