Christian missionaries generally target tribal people due to their innocence and try to convert them to Christianity. This time a similar incident has come to light in Odisha in which a tribal woman was converted to Christianity by promising to cure her illness. After conversion, instead of providing her medicines and medical treatment, she was made to pray in the morning and evening in the church. Later the woman died. After this incident came to light, there was widespread anger among the people of the tribal society and they demanded a complete ban on conversion.
According to reports, such an incident has come to light in Kesham village of Bishoi police station area under the Bamanghati subdivision of tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district. Pinky Jamuda (36), a woman from the Ho tribe of this village was suffering from kidney disease. Pinky, a mother of three children, lost her husband two years ago.
Due to the bad health condition of the woman, Christian missionaries came to her home and persuaded her to convert to Christianity. Christian missionaries assured her that if she left her original culture and embraced Christianity, she would be cured of the disease.
Pinky Jamuda got converted after falling prey to the trap of these Christian preachers. As per their advice, Pinky stopped taking medicines and medical treatment. Pinky Jamuda was made to do Christian prayers in the morning and evening. When her condition worsened further, she was kept in a church near the village. When her health condition did not improve, her daughter Sita, who studies in the ninth grade, took her mother to the nearby primary health centre in Manda. From there, the doctors referred her to Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital at Baripada, the Mayurbhanj district’s headquarters. When Sita reached the medical college, the doctors declared her dead.
There is widespread anger in the entire area after this incident. The villagers have taken this matter seriously and have demanded a complete ban on conversion activities.
The local villagers demanded the government take steps to curb conversion activities.
“Ever since the establishment of the church in this area, Christian missionaries have been roaming around and targeting simple, poor tribal people. They are repeatedly telling people that all their diseases will be cured if they abandon their original culture and adopt Christianity. This process is still going on. ”said Shyamsundar Naik, a villager
“The government and administration should pay attention to this. There should be a thorough investigation of what happened to Pinky Jamuda. Also, the government and administration should take strict steps to prevent such incidents in future. If it is not stopped, someone else may lose their life due to this type of act of Christian missionaries.” added Shri Naik
Senior Ho Samaj activist Manoranjan Thiria has also demanded the state government take strict action to stop the conversion.
