Conversion through illegal means in the tribal populated regions of Bharat is not a new phenomenon and cases pertaining to illegal conversion and activities linked to it have been keep coming to the fore from separate remote regions inhabited by the community.
In the latest incident reported from the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh, residents of Argoti village have applied to the authorities seeking immediate halting of an under-construction Church which falls under Lakahanpur police station of Udaipur.
In the application submitted before the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Lakahanpur, the residents of Argoti has claimed that a Church is being constructed illegally at the center of the village without any prior permission from the Gram Sabha (Village body).
According to the details of the memorandum submitted, the villagers have alleged that a similar attempt to construct the same Church was made in the past as well which was halted after a strong protest by the locals, however a fresh attempt has been made to construct it lately which has angered the residents.
The residents have further demanded immediate halting of construction work of Church stating that it is being constructed with an ulterior motive to lure innocent people of the tribal community into conversion.
It’s been further revealed that the land on which the Church is being constructed belongs to one Bishop Dr Samuel Mathew who is neither a resident of the village nor does he visit the area. Interestingly it’s been disclosed further that if the said Church is erected then this would be overall fourth Church under the Argoti Panchayat which has around 1300 registered voters mostly hailing from the tribal community (Oraon tribes).
#Chhattisgarh | Residents of Argoti village in Surguja have submitted an application before the Sub Division Officer protesting against construction of a Church on a private land
The residents alleged that the village has zero population of Christians on paper and the three… pic.twitter.com/cvZ1NNP7JJ
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) July 5, 2024
Now after the residents have approached the authorities, the administration has reportedly initiated an inquiry into the matter assuring that action will be taken if anything found unlawful.
Larger ploy behind the rise of Churches
Meanwhile the development has also drawn attention from the members of the Janjati Surkasha Manch (JSM), a group associated with the demand of delisting (an exercise to identify those members of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community who have converted and practicing any other religion but still owns a Hindu identity on papers).
Dropping hints of a larger conspiracy behind the systematic rise of Churches in the area, Indar Bhagat, Prant Sah Sanyojak of JSM in a video message said that a number of Churches have already been built in the area which has zero Christian population officially.
“The land on which the said Church is being constructed is owned by Bishop Mathew who is neither a resident of Argoti or Lakhanpur block nor of Chhattisgarh, this indicates a larger ploy behind this construction as scores of cases pertaining to illegal conversion has been reported from the said region lately,” he added.
He further highlighted that if a Bishop whose primary job is associated with religious works as a missionary is investing that much of money for construction of a Church in a remote region itself raises concerns that should be answered after a thorough investigation, as such attempts to alter the demography are directly linked to the security of the country.
Meanwhile the Organiser also spoke to one of the residents of the Panchayat who reside only a kilometer away from the construction site. Interacting with the organiser representative, the resident informed that the area is notified under Fifth Schedule and one need to take permission of the Gram Sabha prior to any such construction in the village, however the Gram Sabha has not been approached.
“We have verified it with the local authorities though verbally, who have informed that there is not a single registered member of the Christian community in the village so what is the point of constructing a Church here that too without taking the Gram Sabha in confidence,” he added.
He further alleged that illegal conversion has been taking place at a rampant pace and at least 1/3rd of the residents in the panchayat practices Christianity but you will hardly found members of the community on papers.
Rampant conversion in remote areas of Surguja region
It must be noted that cases of illegal conversion from remote pockets of Surguja have been grabbing the headlines for long and of late the area has witnessed an unprecedented surge of construction of Churches in many remote panchayats who has a significant population of the tribal community. Most of the conversion cases in these regions involved members of the Oraon tribes who is the most affected sect among the tribal group marred by the menace of illegal conversion.
Majority of the members who got converted are either lured by money, education and health facilities for children and other family members or they are pressurized by the other members of the community who have already embraced Christianity.
Further the community members are also cohered in conversion through pressure tactics such as boycotting marriages in those family who choose to remain practicing Hindu or a Sarna follower for that matter.
However, astonishingly in most of such cases of conversion the individual or families who embraced any other religion remained practicing Hindu largely for availing benefits associated with the reservation provided to the members of the ST community.
Will government enact a stringent anti-conversion law?
Notably, the issue of illegal conversion and related activities was at the forefront and one of the most debated topics in the run-up to the state assembly elections where the Bharatiya Janata Party edged past the Indian National Congress in a grand manner.
The BJP during the election campaign had emphasised on the need of addressing the issue of conversion on an immediate basis and promised to take effective measures against the menace of illegal conversion if voted to power.
The party had registered an impressive strike rate in the tribal dominated Surguja and Bastar division of the state where it won all the seats barring one in Bastar and did a clean sweep in Surguja region, a stronghold of the Congress party.
Upon returning to power after a significant drought of five years many of the ministers of the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai led cabinet had also dropped hints that the government is mulling over enacting or making effecting changes in already existing anti-conversion law. Though emergence of cases pertaining to conversion and linked activities still underscore the immediate need of implementing effective measures.
