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Dharmaraksha Samiti orders Christians to leave tribal village near Nashik

Christians in the tribal village of Kayre-Sadadpada in Peth Taluka near Nashik are living under the shadow of fear following an order from the Dharmaraksha Samiti to leave the place by March 31.

Despite heavy police bandobast after the Samiti issued the threat at its seminar held in the village, the 80-member Christian community is scared.

''We do not want violence. We would like to settle the issue with the Christians through negotiations,'' Gangadhar Janu Awari, the convenor of the Samiti said.

The Christian population in Peth area is about 500 among 110,000 tribals. Of the total of 700 at Kayre-Sadadpada, 80 are Christians.

Nashik District Collector Manoj Sounik said the administration has taken several steps after the incident. No untoward incident was reported even during the Hindu sammelan held recently, he added.

"I am in constant touch with the local administration and am hopeful of maintaining peace in the area,'' Sounik, who visited the trouble-torn hamlet twice, said.

The residents of the hamlet belong to four castes -- Kokna, Koli, Katkari and Warli. Most of them are either farm labourers or farmers.

An activist of the Jankalyan Samiti, an organisation working for the health of tribals, said the Christian missionaries are taking undue advantage of their poverty.

Conflicts between the communities have made the bonds thinner in the last couple of years. Last year things came to a head when 37 converted Christian tribals refused to contribute to the traditional Maulya festival held in the village. The Hindus believe that the missionaries prevented them.

The Samiti had also taken strong objection to the various activities of Father Jebraj, a priest who used to function there. He allegedly forced the tribals into conversion. There were allegations and counter-allegations by both the communities when UNI met a cross section of the people in the village.

Jebraj has already left the place.

Two missionaries who preferred anonymity said they were frightened by the militant attitude of the Samiti and were worried of its future actions.

They said, ''Out of the 37 so-called converts, only two were given baptism.'' The rest were on trial and have never been counted as Christians.

There are in all four churches in the area. At Kayre Sadadpada, Borda, Bhuvan (Hanuman Pada) and Hedpada. Christians have been staying in Peth Taluka for the last 20 years.

Locals Sitnam Hari Mahale and Sampai Pandharinath Sawant, who were re-converted at the Hindu sammelan, also confirmed the Christian missionaries' false propaganda against Hinduism. Asked why they had converted to Christianity, they said they had taken ill and went to the father of the church. He told them to pray to Jesus to make them well. The missionary also advised them not to worship Hindu gods and not to be associated with Hindus, they added.

Gunaji Gaut, a Communist Party of India activist from the area, too attacked the Christian missionaries for offering financial assistance to Hindus with the purpose of conversions. The missionaries, however, described the allegations as ''baseless''.

Father Joseph Pithekar of the Holy Cross church at Nashik said the small number of Christians cannot pose a threat to the 110,000 Hindu population. He blamed the fundamentalists for spreading false propaganda.

''Our main intention is to educate the tribals, not to preach religion as alleged by Hindu organisations. We have at least three hostels for the tribal students in Peth Taluka. We never compelled anyone to become Christians,'' he said.

He said at the hostel run by Holy Cross Church in Nashik, about 100 tribal students from Peth and nearby areas have been studying. ''We have never made Christian prayers compulsory," he said, adding that none of them was converted to Christianity.

UNI

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