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The Rediff Interview/ A Balakrishnan

'The spate of conversions in the North-East seems to be aimed at creating Christian-backed Greater Nagaland'

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Attempts are on to create a ''pro-American sovereign Christian nation'' in the North-East by encouraging separatist militancy and proselytisation with ''directions from Rome'', alleges A Balakrishnan, general secretary of the Vivekananda Kendra, based at Kanyakumari. ''The ouster of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang earlier this month was a step in this direction,'' he adds.

''I do not know what the Union home ministry is doing about it,'' says Balakrishnan, who was among the first volunteers of the Vivekananda Kendra to start working in the North-East in the seventies.

''The change of government at the Centre does not seem to have made any difference,'' he adds, seeking an ''immediate ban'' on the activities of foreign missionaries in the region.

''There is a difference between conversions in the rest of the country, and in the North-East,'' says Balakrishnan. ''Here, the goal doesn't seem to be preaching religion -- which is also wrong if allurements are offered. Instead, the spate of conversions in the North-East seems to be aimed at creating ''extra-territorial loyalties'' in the peace-loving tribals and ''alienating '' them from the nation.

Balakrishnan refers to the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland in this context. ''The NSCN is behind it all,'' he says. ''The idea is to create a sovereign, Christian-backed, possibly Christian-dominated, sovereign nation of 'Greater Nagaland' comprising Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, and two districts each of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The Arunachal districts border Nagaland, and the Assam districts are required to give `access' to various parts.

''The Americans are behind it. ''They want a 'compliant nation' that would serve their 'self-centred, geo-political interests'. With a 'Greater Nagaland', that's also Christian in attitude and approach, they will have a 'listening post' and 'control tower', tuned to India, China and the strategic Himalayan ranges.''

The ''game of America'' to weaken the two ''Asian giants'' is not recent, claims Balakrishnan. ''This was mooted immediately after World War II, and conversion to Christianity is only one of the steps in the process. The direction comes from Rome to create a separate nation which will be a protege of the Americans, and the Church is ably supported by American money.''

Balakrishnan wonders why the new rulers in Delhi, particularly Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, have done nothing about it ''after opposing the conversions in the North-East when they were in the Opposition''. According to him, there is enough documentary evidence already in possession of the Centre, supporting his case.

In this context, he refers in particular to the Centre's ceasefire agreement with the NSCN. ''It has weakened the resolve and the direction of the security forces to fight the banned organisation of terrorists,'' he says.

His information is that the NSCN is ''using the ceasefire period with impunity to spread its activities to Arunachal Pradesh, and also terrorise the 'population under its control' while the security forces are made mute spectators''.

Both factions of the NSCN ''have been collecting 'taxes' from the people, and 'octroi' from vehicles passing their 'checkposts' in the region,'' says Balakrishnan. ''Since spreading their activities to the Tirup, Challang, Lohit and Dipang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, they held a meeting of the MLAs in the area, asking them to resign.''

Eight of the 16 MLAs from the districts, and many village leaders participated in the function, he says, quoting his sources.

Even the recent ouster of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang had ''more to do with the Church-backed insurgency than to ego clashes or ethnic differences, as was being made out in a section of the media.

''Apang was all for 'development with culture', and this was not to the liking of the Church. He did not allow the missionaries to gain control over the people, who had started proselytisation activities in a big way.''

Balakrishnan alleges 'rebel Arunachal Congress' leaders, who headed the ouster move against Apang, as 'Church-influenced radicals'.

One of the rebels, opposed to Apang's Adi-Miniong tribe, even publicly declared that ''Arunachal Pradesh is a land for Christ''.

At the function where the statement was made, Dr C L Rema, the head of the Baptist Church at Tezpur, wanted to ''plant a church in every village of Arunachal Pradesh by 2000.''

The Vivekananda Kendra has its operations throughout the North-East, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, where it has 19 residential schools and centres in every district. ''Our thrust is on Arunachal Pradesh, as it is the only state mostly unaffected by 'conversions' when we started our activities in the region,'' says he.

Balakrishnan adds, ''Today, there is an estimated 35 per cent Christian population in a total of 800,000, up from a Census figure of near-zero in 1961, eight per cent in 1971 and near-20 per cent in the eighties.''

This is an ''unnatural growth'', he says, asking, ''Who then said there is no proselytisation?''

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