Tag Archives: Tribals

Bhopal:

There is hardly any political representation to Christians in India. In the Union Cabinet headed by Indira Gandhi, there is no Christian. Christians form over 2% of the Indian population. It may be small but it is the most literate and the most alert. Apart from this, it is serving the needs of the Hindu majority which depends upon the schools and hospitals run by the Christians. The high caste Hindus consider it a status symbol to send their children to convents. But after taking all these advantages, what the Christians get is only abuse.  

In MP, the only Christian Minister in the Cabinet was dropped in the recent reshuffle. Thousands of Christians staged protest demonstrations in the second week of July in Raipur district demanding reinstatement of Julius Ekka.

RSS and other communal Hindus have been for long demanding the dismissal of Julius Ekka, a highly respected leader. The RSS official journal, Organiser (26-7-81) hailed the dismissal and said: “The main reason for his sack was his pro Jharkhand stand and encouragement to conversion in Jashpur and other areas of Raigarh dt. which is the centre of missionaries”. It said Ekka was originally a tribe. The beauty of the whole thing is that it is only the converted tribals who are the most conscious and militant lot but the RSS and other communal Hindus do not want them to get awakened. That is why they are pouring crores of rupees to Hinduise the tribals and thus keep them docile and obedient. 

Berhampur, West Bengal:

The RSS-controlled Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on 17-6-81 converted a number of Santals including its leader Chunku Hansda and entire family to Hinduism at a ceremony near here. RSS leaders headed by Shyamapada Mukhkyopadhaya, VHP general secretary, conducted the conversion ceremony. Santals like other tribals are not Hindus but animists. They have been demanding a separate state of Jharkhand.

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) having its headquarters in Singapore and whose jurisdiction extends from Pakistan to New Zealand, is having its seventh Assembly in Bangalore from May 18 to 28. CCA is a regional ecumenical fellowship of Protestant Christian churches. There are 86 member churches belonging to about 20 countries. The CCA Assembly meets once in four years and it is the supreme policy-making body.

The theme of the Bangalore Assembly is “Living in Christ with People”.

The Dalits of India are proud that the CCA has chosen India for its 7th session and Dalits of Karnataka are prouder still that it is their capital city that is playing host to this historic session. India has a Christian population of about 2.5 percent and constitute one of the persecuted minorities of this country.

But it is a fact of history that no body has done so much for the Dalit awakening and emancipation as the Christians. Untouchables and Tribals in particular must be grateful that they have been the biggest beneficiary of the Christian work.

While welcoming the delegates, we wish to assure the Church leaders that the Dalits of India shall ever remain grateful for then help. However, the Dalits have still a long way to go for liberation and, therefore, we call upon the CCA leaders to continue to work for the Dalit liberation.