Christian Adivasi victims of violence and forced 're-conversions' in Amravati
Amravati (AsiaNews) Rajura, the only Catholic village in Amravati, one of the six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra, is under serious threat from Hindu Fundamentalists. The village is unique because all of its inhabitants are Adivasi, i.e. tribal people, and Catholic, descendants of migrants from Madhya Pradesh, who have been living in the village for centuries. At present, they are living in fear for their lives, swords literally hanging over their heads, if they do not re-convert to Hinduism.
In an exclusive interview to AsiaNews, Bishop Edwin Colaço, Bishop of the diocese of Amravati, explained that Rajura "is the only Catholic village in the diocese [. . .]. All the people in the village are Catholics, very poor, illiterate, mainly agricultural labourers, but very faithful to the religion."
"A few days ago," the prelate said, "a Munni or Hindu holy man from Ayodhyawhere, according to Hindu tradition the Hindu God Ram was born and where Hindu extremists tore down the Babri Mosque (Babri Masjid) in 1992held a huge religious meeting here. It was well attended by people from all the villages in the J J Taluka."
"The saffron clad, trishul (trident-spear) bearing Munni attacked the Church and denounced the Missionaries. He launched into a tirade against the Adivasi of Rajura village alleging that missionaries had originally converted them by force, and said that it was his mission to re-convert them back to Hinduism."
For Bishop Colaço "this was very well planned by the Hindu Religious Convention. The Munni had done his homework well and knew the place. In a belligerent mood, he urged Hindu villagers to 'kill the Christian Adivasi with 'swords'. He eventually sent a group of fanatical followers to the village to force the Catholic Adivasi to attend the meeting."
"They drove into the Christian village in jeeps, carrying swords and shouting fanatical Hindu slogans. But, [. . .] they found only women since the men were away at work. They threatened to kill the women if they did not follow them to the Hindu meeting .The terrified women were then huddled into the jeeps and forcibly brought before the Munni."
The Bishop of Amravati is alarmed by what is happening. He told AsiaNews that the "situation is very serious. The Munni has threatened the people of neighbouring villages, saying that they would be ostracised, and would be fined 10,000 rupees if they maintained any contact with the tribal Christians."
For him, "this is a violation of human rights. Christian Adivasi are poor and illiterate [and] depend on Hindus for employment. If they are ostracised, they will be denied their means of livelihood."
"Worse still, many Adivasi have daughters and sisters married to Hindu men and living in other villages. Now, the fundamentalists have forbidden any contact with their families".
There have been immediate consequences to the holy man's diktats. "All Adivasi children have been withdrawn from the parish boarding school and villagers have not come to church for the past two weeks. No one dares to come."
"This is disturbing for another reason," the Bishop said. "At the boarding school, the children from the parish were fed, clothed and given books. I hope they do not suffer from malnutrition or drop their studies".
Assisted by their local priest, the villagers eventually lodged a complaint with the local police. This, in turn, was followed by further fundamentalist threats demanding that the complaint be withdrawn, which is what happened.
Bishop Colaço wrote to the Union Home Minister as well as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra asking them to investigate the escalating violence against Christians in Amravati. He has also approached the Bishops' Conference of India asking them to intervene.
Fr S M Michael (SVD), a sociologist at the University of Mumbai, told AsiaNews that "Hindu fundamentalists want a monolithic culture that will absorb all identities. They are desperate to revive the old oppressive caste system and, in this way, dominate and exploit tribal people. This is 'emotionalisation of politics'. With local elections due in April, they are desperate to emerge from the shadow and shame caused by their defeat in the last general elections."
Fr Michael explained that "the Church has to mobilise to protect the Bishop of Amravati. Ever since the general elections ended, his diocese has been the target of fundamentalists. He should get some kind of help from his fellow Bishops. It is important that the bishops of this region work out some strategy with State authorities to nip in the bud such communal passions so as to not undermine law and order."
Back in December 2004, AsiaNews had already reported cases of 're-conversions' staged by Hindu fundamentalists in the diocese of Amravati.
At that time, Uddhav Thackeray, leader of the Hindu fundamentalist group Shiv Sena (SS or Army of Shiva), issued a warning to Christian missionaries in Amravati.
"If they do not stop exploiting poor and illiterate Adivasi," he warned, "we shall show them what the SS is all about".
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