Many senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including the Chief Minister (CM) and Dy. CM Arun Sao have recently dropped hints that the Chhattisgarh government may introduce an anti-conversion bill to stop conversion in the months ahead.
The recent development occurred in the wake of hundred of thousands of people from the tribal (Janjati/Vanvasi) community hitting the streets in support of a nationwide de-listing exercise across the States lately and the Vanvasi dominated State of Chhattisgarh is no exception.
There is no if and but that the issue of illegal conversion backed by the missionaries across the State was one of the crucial issue for the Vanvasi community in the run up to the state assembly elections and the concerns of the community over conversion was more or less also voiced by the BJP during the campaigns.
Now the dominating performance of the party in the tribal-dominated region across the state has ultimately put the onus on the Narendra Modi led party to enact a stringent law to effectively contain the menace of conversion, augmenting briskly in the State and the party is reported to be exploring its options as well.
However, amidst the efforts of the saffron party to enact a tighter law to deal with the issue of conversion, it is crucial to explore whether an anti-conversion law can help evade the danger of illegal conversion faced by the Vanvasi Community for decades or whether the government needs to take a more practical approach towards eradicating the menace of conversion once and for all.
The buildup to the problem
The issue of conversion has been a long-standing issue faced by the Vanvasi community, which resides mostly in the remote regions across the country. In fact, the community was one of the most vulnerable in the country in terms of penetration by the missionaries during the regime of the East India Company and subsequently under the British Raj later on.
However, despite the huge investment of resources and deculturalisation attempts on the name of civilising society, the efforts of the missionaries turned out to be futile, as only a small percentage of the population was inspired to change their way of worship over the century. Though things started to change swiftly post-Independence as the ignorance of the respective governments left these people more prone to conversion in pursuit of better education, health facilities provided by the missionaries, a section of the Vanvasis people also fall prey to the fallacy propagated by the missionaries.
The continuous efforts of the missionaries, backed by the conversion apparatus comprising a few politicians, missionaries, and a few likeminded bureaucrats, contributed hugely to leading a section of people not only to change their religion but also to work for the conversion sharks in their endeavour to convert more from the community, paving the way for ultimately dividing society on religious lines.
As decades passed, now these converted people have become a significant vote bank for a few political leaders who in their pursuit to win elections, are wooing them with acts of appeasement.
Apparently, this very apparatus of the missionaries has become a notable evil force in some regions, whose actions pertaining to promotion of illegal conversion and building a society with a culture alien to the Vanvasis is now causing serious trouble to the community, leaving peacefully with their own set of unique traditions, customs and cultural values since ages.
Growing Confrontation
This very difference of customs, traditions, and cultural ethos has now started to create a serious rift between those who still practicing their age-old religious practices in Sanatan and the newly converted Christians. A section of them persistently press the others in the society to follow suit through inducement and lure such as providing free education, healthcare facilities, rations, money, jobs and even through fallacy such as citing similarities between the local god/goddesses with Christ.
The persistent efforts of these people have led to communal flare-ups between the two communities over issues pertaining to illegal conversion, burials of their dead’s on a number of times in the recent few years, indicating the growing menace of conversion born issues contributing immensely in drafting a rift between the society.
The newly converted claim that they have a right to promote, propagate, and practice their newly embraced religion, while the local Hindu Vanvasi community is of the opinion that the converts are not only promoting conversion through all the illegal means, but they have also left no stone unturned in insulting their age-old culture and worship methods. Additionally, the converted one’s with the backup of the missionaries, are also snatching jobs and availing themselves of other benefits reserved exclusively for the Vanvasi Community.
The leaders of the Vanvasi community claimed that even after changing their religion, they possessed a scheduled tribes certificate to avail themselves of the benefits given to the reserved category. The acts of illegal conversion, forced burials, and arrogating benefits given to the community cannot go hand in hand; hence there are serious confrontations occurring between the local Hindu Vanvasi and the newly converted ones.
A similar confrontation made the headlines worldwide after the two communities collided with each other over issue of illegal conversion in the Gorra village of Narayanpur leading to wide-scale protests and shutdowns in the entire tribal-dominated Bastar region in January this year. The incident of Gorra is not an exception, and there are other incidents as well where the two communities were at each other’s neck recently over similar disputes.
Demand of a Sarna Code
The issue of conversion is not the only trouble faced by the Vanvasi community, and in recent years a section of the community has also fall prey to the ill attempts of a few to craft a separate identity for the community, such as Sarna code.
In recent years, a section of people from the community have been witnessed demanding a separate religion code for them time and again, citing the unique nature of the worship methods of the community. Recently, a number of local organisations in Jharkhand had also reiterated that a Sarna code in the census is a matter pertaining to the very identity of the Janjati people, and the government should introduce it on priority basis.
Though, like the illegal conversion and reservation benefits to the converted, the demand for a separate religion code has also met stringent opposition from the community itself. According to those who are up against any such religion code, the demand of a separate religion code raised by a section of the people from the community is nothing but a well-calculated attempt by the foreign powers involved in hatching conspiracies to sow the seed of separatism in the community which could help them in their long-term goal of rampant conversion in future.
De-listing, a concrete step in resolving the issue
Amidst the growing tussle between the newly converted Christians and the local Vanvasi community, hundreds of rallies have been organised across states in a last couple of years by the latter demanding a nationwide exercise of delisting to identify those who have converted to other religion and still possess a certificate of Hindu scheduled tribes on paper to avail themselves of the benefits of reservations reserved exclusively for the STs.
A total of 231 such rallies are organised across the nation under the banner of Janjati Suraksha Manch alone within a span of only two years. In the rallies organised across states, hundreds of thousands of people from the community were seen marching with placards and banners raising their concern over the growing cases of conversion and inappropriate benefits being availed by the converted ones.
A number of such placards reads, “Jo Bholenath Ka Nahi Wo Hamare Jaat ka Nahi” (Those who are not of Bholenath cannot be ours), “Samasyen Anek Samadhan Ek De-listing” (Many problems one solution De-listing) “De-listing Kewal Naara Nahi Aarakshan Ab Tumhara Nahi” (De-listing is not only a slogan and the reservation is not yours), suggesting the community’s resolve for a nationwide delisting exercise.
Anti-conversion law or nationwide delisting
Undoubtedly, an anti-conversion law can deal with the issue of conversion for some extent, though the majority of the people in the Vanvasi community believe that the problem of conversion can only be settled once and for all if any such law would be backed up by a nationwide delisting exercise, as such an exercise would deliver a straight and clear message for those leaving the Dharma due to lure and inducement.
To conclude, it’s evident that the issue of conversion and its ramifications on Vanvasi society is alarming; however, the complexity of the issue is such that it cannot be addressed by only a stringent anti-conversion law as it can only contain the issue for some extent.
But moving towards the eradication of illegal conversion in today’s context, it’s necessary to understand that mere enacting an anti-conversion law would not be enough to deal with the issue alone, and it should be backed by a delisting exercise which can deliver a stringent message that those leaving the community for lure cannot be provided with the benefits of reservations reserved exclusively for the Vanvasi community.
