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More trouble not ruled out in Dangs district

No fresh incidents of violence were reported today in the predominantly tribal district of Dangs in south Gujarat even as the Union home ministry decided to send a senior official to visit Gandhinagar tomorrow to inquire into the recent communal disturbances.

Talking to the media, Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya said a central official, Kaushal, will hold talks with the state government officials, besides Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Chief Secretary L N S Mukundan.

The state government, he said, had already submitted a detailed report and an action-taken report about the incidents to the Centre. Pandya said no violence or trouble was reported in the area today.

But the authorities did not rule out further incidents. The uncertainty is because a Hindu organisation has announced it would ''not allow the area to be converted into another Mizoram or Nagaland".

For years, the district has witnessed similar incidents, especially in December during the last three years, with Hindu groups claiming the Christian organisations are on a "conversion" drive, and themselves being charged with "harassment".

The VHP and Bajrang Dal have officially denied involvement in the fresh incidents. And a relatively new organisation, the Hindu Dharma Jagran Manch, is now spearheading a campaign against what it called the "attempt by Christian missionaries to convert tribals" in the area.

Sources said the VHP and Bajrang Dal had floated the new organisation to "deflect the focus" from themselves and the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat led by Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel.

VHP's state unit president Kaushik Mehta admitted that many Parishad activists were also members of the Manch. He said similar incidents had been reported in the past because Christian missionaries tried to lure tribals to participate in Christmas festivities and then induced them to convert to Christianity.

He said the Manch was merely protesting against such attempts and itself organising a Vanvasi Utsav from December 25 to January 1 every year to counter the perceived threat.

It was as part of this programme that the Manch organised a big rally at Ahwa, the Dangs district headquarters, on December 25, in which the participants resolved neither to convert themselves, nor allow conversion.

According to Mehta, the Manch has been organising such activities for the last three years to "expose the conspiracy" of the missionaries and it was out of "frustration" that they had resorted to violence and tried to disturb the December 25 rally of the Manch. More sadhus , affiliated to the VHP and the Manch, were now leaving for the tribal districts, he said.

With the arrest of 38 persons from both communities and the formation of a 30-member peace committee that vowed to adhere to a 10-point communal amity programme, the situation was limping back to normal.

Pandya said three companies of the State Reserve Police had been deployed in the trouble-torn tribal district and these would be kept there until the situation returned to normal. The VHP, he said, had also called off its agitation in the state.

He, however, denied that the state government had received any specific communication from Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani in this regard.

UNI

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