Coimbatore: About 1,000 members belonging to 225 ‘Arundhadhiar families of a village, about 30 km from here, on June 29 embraced Christianity in protest alleged excesses by Hindus. Hailing from K. Ayyampalayam, Pazhavur and some habitations near Palladam, the converts were allegedly not allowed to worship and were humiliated at a temple function on June 6. As authorities did not act even after several representations, they resorted to conversion, S.T. Kalyanasundaram, president of the Tamil Nadu Arundhadhiar Democratic Front, said. This is one of the major instances of mass conversion after Meenakshipuram in the 1980s.
(Hindu June 30, 2001).
