ARTICLE : Church luring Gujarat tribals to Christ

Posted By Ashok V Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
Sat, 24 May 97 16:42:12 EDT

Title : Church luring Gujarat tribals to Christ
Author : Sunil K Poolani in Saputara
Publication : The Sunday Observer
Date : May 18-24, 1997

Bhavarsinh Hasusinh Suryavanshi is a king. No buts about it. But his sub=
jects
respect another king: Jesus Christ.

Suryavanshi, king for the last 13 years, is the 22nd in the line of Bhil =
kings who
ruled Linga, a village 28 km from Saputara, in Gujarat. He still receive=
s a
monthly privy purse of Rs 3,400, and the two sipahis appointed by him are=
paid Rs
1,800 a month by the government. Moreover, he has 48 acres of land allot=
ted by
the government where he grows crops and is the proud owner of a colour =
television
set - so what if there is no electricity in the village!

Despite all this, Suryavanshi's life is no better than any of his subject=
s': he
moves around on foot unlike his predecessors who travelled in a palanquin=
(a
sipahi was seen resting his leg on the. "throne" while the king was seat=
ed), and
- gravest of all the ruler doesn't have any powers over his subjects, tho=
ugh once
in a blue moon he holds court in his patio to resolve petty quarrels.

Says he ruefully: "Most of my men [there are about 250 families in his =
village]
have ditched me. Notwithstanding my plea, every family, except mine, has=

converted to Christianity. "

Linga's case is not an isolated one. Traipsing through the tribal villag=
es of
south Gujarat, more incidents of conversion by Christian missionaries cam=
e to our
notice. And we found a slow but steady revolution taking place - unrepor=
ted and
unlooked at.

Keshu Pawar and his family in nearby Malegaon hamlet embraced Christianit=
y two
years ago. What prompted him to do that? "Once when I was suffering fro=
m fever
and headache, a couple of Keralite nuns who were on a visit to our villag=
e gave me
a white powder. I consumed it and felt better. They told me it was God'=
s prasad
which can cure any illness. They, visited us often, held catechism class=
es, and
told us about Christ and his supernatural powers. Convinced, we joined =
them."

Chanduram, Keshu's brother, was next in line. His daughter had some "inc=
urable"
disease and the nuns took her to their monastery, and two weeks later, =
says
Chanduram, "she came back home walking on her feet". Seventy-five per =
cent of the
families in the village followed suit.

If a major chunk of the villagers we talked to converted to Christianity =
as the
church offered them money and free medicines and clothes, some of them =
were
influenced or intimidated by neo-converts. Soon church bells started tol=
ling in
the village where electricity and primary education are unheard of.

It is not that the church is not doing good to their lives. Says Keshu: =
"After I
became a Christian, I stopped drinking and chewing tambaaku. They [the =
nuns] talk
to us so endearingly that we get a feeling that someone is there to care =
for us...
they help us in all possible ways." A priest who visits them once a week =
tells
them that "bad habits are Hindus' prerogative and those who reconvert to =
Hinduism
will fall into the putrefied life again".

Interestingly, Chanduram, who is not as obsessed with Christianity as his=
brother
is, admitted that he is seriously thinking of reconverting to Hinduism. =
Why?
After much persuasion he says: "Pandurangshastri Athavale's followers app=
roached
us a couple of weeks ago asking us to reconvert. They said they would =
give us
more benefits than what the church gave us."

Suryavanshi is optimistic: "My men are lured by cash, kind and help. But=
I'm sure
they will reconvert to Hinduism if some Hindu group offers the same benef=
its.
Also, the government should chalk out some measures to curb this practice=
. "

Surya Goswami, an artist working in the tribal belt for the last 17 years=
and
founder member of Gandharapur Artists' Village in Saputara, says: "The =
church uses
weird ways to lure tribals - like giving powdered Crocin or other tablets=
for
various illnesses, saying it is God's gift to mankind. One of their lure=
s is: a
Hindu idol in a tribal temple will go down under a flood, but not the cro=
ss on top
of a church. Then they ask the tribals: 'How do you expect a god to save=
you if
he is not in a position to save himself?'' And the poor, illiterate triba=
ls, often
failing to find a suitable answer, succumb to the church's exhortation."

Says a confused Suresh Gadvi, a neo-convert: "I'm aware that the church =
is now
adamant that we shouldn't reconvert, because, as the priest keeps telling=
us,
Christ will never pardon us if we do. But for us, religion is immaterial=
- what
is important is we should get basic amenities. "

Is anyone listening?

I have tried to present the facts. But facts don't matter much in the sec=
ularist's
dim little world. It's much easier to remain ignorant and much more popul=
ar to
jump up and down frothing at the mouth and denouncing everything you don'=
t like in
your shrillest - but oh-so-secular - voice. Especially if you are doing =
something
as PC as tongue-lashing Hindutva. Facts can be mortifying, so cowards =
just ignore
them. Courage lies in facing up to charges, examining them critically, =
and
swimming against the PC stream if needs be. No religion in the world is =
perfect.
Pretending that ours is won't serve any purpose but it's the only religi=
on we
have, and it's a darn good one, at that.

Bethany says, "The Church cannot afford to wait until caste is not an iss=
ue in
India, as that day will probably not arrive until Jesus returns. If the =
Church
thinks India can reform the caste system by itself, perhaps millions of =
souls will
perish while the Church waits for the unbelievers to do in the strength =
of their
flesh what has been hard to accomplish in the Spirit". Can't "afford to =
wait"...?
Hmmm.... If I was in the crowd when Jesus asked the people who have never=
sinned
to cast the first stone, I'd have chucked a boulder - provided it was a =
secularist
in place of the woman: After all, Mary Magdalene prostituted only her own=
body.

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