UCANews (www.ucanews.com)
JAIPUR, India (UCAN) – A
Catholic bishop in northwestern India says a
renewed Hindu demand to strip non-Hindu tribal
| people of their constitutional rights is a
move against mission work.
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The Hindu groups "probably want to deprive
non-Hindus of their tribal rights as a disincentive
to conversions," according to Bishop Joseph
Pathalil of Udaipur, whose diocese is based
in Rajasthan state. | The demand was raised
at a Feb. 25 rally led by Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad
(VKP, forest dwellers' development forum), an
| affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,
national volunteer corps). RSS is the umbrella
body of organizations | working to make India
a Hindu nation.
Carrying bows and arrows, about 40,000 tribal
people came singing and dancing to the rally
in Udaipur. It passed a | resolution demanding
that non-Hindu tribal people be stripped of
constitutional concessions granted to all tribal
people. These include rights to reserved land,
to live in reserved forests, and to harvest
and sell minor forest products. Tribal people
also are entitled to financial assistance in
education, and quotas are reserved for them
in jobs and educational institutions.
The Indian constitution treats "every tribal
equally, irrespective of religion," Bishop
Pathalil explained to UCA News in a telephone
interview from Udaipur, 660 kilometers (about
410 miles) southwest of New Delhi. Currently,
tribal Christians "enjoy all the special
rights and privileges accorded to tribal people,
although I would say they often find it difficult
to procure them from an indifferent system,"
he added. The state is now run by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP, Indian people's party), considered
to be the political wing of the right-wing Hindu
groups. Christian leaders say tribal people
in Rajasthan's southwestern region have suffered
attacks from Hindu groups since the present
government came to power in December 2003. Media
reports say the government tacitly supports
these groups. For example, government departments
were involved in | organizing the Feb. 25 rally,
which was addressed by top-ranking officials
of Hindu bodies. In one of those addresses,
RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan cautioned the tribal
people against the "vested interests"
and | "disruptive forces" operating
in the area. He urged them to stand up, get
organized and fight such "evil forces."
Such terms are often used by RSS activists to
refer to religious minority groups such as Christians
and Muslims.
Tribal people have not faced major attacks for
the past year or so. However, an evangelical
group called Emmanuel Mission International,
based in Kota town, faced several incidents
of harassment after Hindu groups accused it
of publishing an "objectionable" book
on Hindu deities.
Bishop Pathalil acknowledged that "there
has not been any major attack on Christians
in the area of late, but the harassment continues."
His vehicle was stopped and pelted with stones
near the predominantly tribal district of Banswara
in October 2005.
The prelate said workers of Hindu organizations
aim to create terror by "stalking nuns
and priests when they visit the | villages."
But over time, he continued, "we are getting
accustomed to this kind of situation."
| The state known for desert tourism has 56
million people, 88 percent of them Hindus. Christians
number barely 73,000, and 60 percent of them
are tribal people belonging to various Churches
and denominations. Most of the tribal Catholics
belong to Udaipur Diocese, from where attacks
against Christians have been reported. The VKP
is active in the area with its "re-conversion"
programs, which attempt to bring tribal Christians
back to Hinduism. "They have a huge network
in the area. All the big villages have at least
one institution managed by an RSS affiliate,"
Bishop Pathalil said.
Niranjan Singh, a lawyer familiar with the tribal
situation in Rajasthan, considers the Hindu
demand "merely an attempt to provoke tribal
people and create disharmony among the tribal
communities." Tribal rights do not come
under the state government, but are part of
national policy.
"One cannot also say that all the tribal
people present at the rally agreed to the resolution,
which was read out in a language they do not
speak," Singh observed, noting that the
Hindu leaders at the rally spoke in Hindi. Most
tribal people speak their own tribal dialect.
