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Coversion to Christianity does not alleviate the sufferings of tribals.
I have been to Jharkhand region and Madhya Pradesh where many tribals
have been converted and there situation still remains the same. The
basic medical care (or whatever other small tit-bits) that is given
before conversion stops as soon as the conversion is complete. They are
promised heaven once they convert but all such promises are fake. There
is nothing wrong in opposing such conversions. There is nothing wrong in
opposing such persons who tend to take advantage of poor tribals.
Vivek seems to indicate that 'right-wing Hindus' (I don't understand the
meaning of this phrase; anyone who stands for Hindus instantly becomes a
right-winger these days) never helped tribals. These 'right wing' Hindus
run thousands of primary schools (Saraswati Shishu Mandir's) throughout
the country and a large number of these are in tribal areas. They also
run an organization 'Van Bharati' whose primary purpose is to provide
basic medical facilities, job oriented training and to prevent their
exploitation. Incidentally, Missionaries in Madhya Pradesh have
vociferously protested the presence of Van Bharati in tribal areas.
>
> It's more than just a little hypocritical that the right-wing Hindus
> are championing social service while getting offended when someone
> else happens to do it better than they do. I don't necessarily agree
> with the actions of the Christian missionaries, but when the Hindus
> get upset that tribals are being converted by giving them aspirin, the
> question in my mind is "so what prevented you from helping them all
> these years?"
It is not social service that offends Hindus. What offends Hindu's is
the conversions carried out in the garb of social service. Social
service per se should be free from any preconditions.
Nothing prevents us from helping the poor and as pointed out above, we
do help them. But considering the face that about 200 million of us are
poor and we do not have unlimited sources of money (unlike Missionaries
which have swollen coiffers overseas), it is not possible for us to help
each and every poor person. Any help that is received from organizations
can only temporarily alleviate suffering. But to permanently eradicate
this problem, we need a change in style of governance. And this change
can be brought about only when we come together and elect such persons
who are honest and have foresight about the future of the country. These
people are poor not because 'right-wing Hindu's' refused to help them
but because we had rotten governments, corrupt politicians and lazy
baboodom for the past 50 years.
> As long as our community focuses on shows of strength rather than on
> any meaningful changes, there won't be any foundation on which to
> build real strength.
Show of strength over the issues that affect the community is essential
for the survival of any community. History has shown that only strong
commmunities prosper. Jewish communities have been lobbying hard against
the Palestinian control of Gaza Patti. They have been lobbying for
Jerusalem to remain under the control of Israel rather than it be handed
over to Palestinians. Such countless examples can be given where
communities come together to show their strength for the issues that
affect their community, religion or culture and this has helped them
prosper.
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