Conversions in currency

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=486f4afa-a139-44e4-8086-b2e14efaff1d&&Headline=Conversions+in+currency

Jashpur, Chhattisgarh: Sixty-year-old Bhubaneshwara Bhagat became a
Christian some years ago. Bhagat, an Oraon tribal, is a resident of
Gaati Mahua village, 80 km from Jashpur Nagar, on the junction of
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. But he was soon 'reconverted' and
now calls himself 'a Hindu'. The reason for 'reconversion'? The death
of some cows and buffaloes at home that made him think that converting
to Christianity was the reason for the misfortune. Bhagat still
celebrates the Oraon festivals of Sarhul and Karma, but he now
believes that the trees that are worshipped symbolise Shiva and
Parvati.

Nasreet, once a Christian, 'reconverted' to Hinduism under the
influence of his 'Hinduised' Oraon in-laws. He has a Saraswati
calender at home, but also celebrates Oraon festivals. Chand Kumar
calls himself Hindu, but his home has images of Jesus and Mary, which
he says his children brought from schoolfriends. "The church plants
these through children," asserts Dev Nandan, an activist of the
Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, an RSS-affiliate founded in Jashpur in 1952 to
counter the Catholic Church, which has been active here from the 19th
century.

Fifty-five-year-old Nistar Toppo of the same village is a Christian.
He celebrates Christmas and Good Friday but not traditional Oraon
festivals. No Christian in this remote village does. Jitendra Tigga, a
Christian shopkeeper on the outskirts of Jashpur Nagar, celebrates
tribal festivals alongside Christmas.

Caught in a triangular battle for their minds, Jashpur tribals are in
a dilemma. Festivals and rituals of Christian, Hindu and tribal
origins are pulling them in different directions. There is a
disruption of old tribal traditions. There are elements of syncretism
along with new sources of conflict.

The 'Hinduised' tribals have been made to see their religion as a
branch of Hinduism. They celebrate Sarhul and Karma alongside Holi and
Raksha Bandhan. The Hindutva method of conversion is not a replacement
of their traditions but an assimilation of them as branches of
Hinduism. However, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram activists reluctantly admit
that 'Hinduised' tribals still bury their dead.

There is another current too. An Oraon tribal mahapanchayat at Ranchi
recently raised slogans against the church. It claimed that a version
of the Bible — the Nemha Bible — in the local Kurukh language tells
worshippers to destroy the religious sites of those who worship trees.
At the gathering, there was a demand for Oraon traditions to be 'left
alone'. "Christian converts should not get Scheduled Tribe (ST) quota,
as they don't follow a tribal lifestyle now. They get triple benefits
of minority rights, tribal quota and foreign wealth. This is wrong,"
says Karma Oraon, an anthropologist with Ranchi University. History
professor Diwakar Minz asserts that the "Sarna religion has no link
with the Hindu religion and is self-guided. Its independence should be
maintained."

This tussle for souls — through the physical manifestation of beliefs,
traditions and practices — continues in such forgotten corners of
India like Jashpur.

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