Drawing the parliament’s attention to the menace of religious conversion, BJP MP Gomati Sai said that Christian missionaries who lure tribals into conversion are far more dangerous than Naxals. She raised concerns about the threat Christian missionaries pose to internal security of Bharat.
While speaking during the zero hour in the parliament on December 3, the Raigarh MP drew the attention of the members to rampant conversion activities in her constituency in Chhattisgarh. She referred to the communication made by Sukma SP to his subordinates about the activities of Christian missionaries and said that it clearly shows “the dangerous situation pertaining to conversion prevailing in Bastar and Chhattisgarh at large”.
The SP had sent a letter asking his subordinates to keep a track on Christian missionaries and recently converted tribals for illegal conversion activities. He had sent that letter after a church was removed for encroaching government land in a village in Kondagaon and to prevent violence as a result of conversion. He had written that, “missionaries are trying to entice and encourage local tribals for religious conversions in interiors areas” and “disputes between local tribals and converts’ community cannot be ruled out in future”.
She further said that thanks to the central government’s efforts to bring down violence in Bastar and the pressure exerted by the central forces, Naxal activities have reduced. However the activities of Christian missionaries who lure and intimidate innocent tribals into converting are on the rise and they are “more dangerous than the Naxals”, she said. She also mentioned attempts being made to build prayer houses in the ravines of Chattisgarh.
While talking about her own experience, she said Jashpur from where she comes has been suffering due to religious conversion for many years. Hailing former BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo’s efforts against Christian conversion, she talked about how he brought back lakhs of families to Hindu dharma. She also demanded that a strong law should be brought to stop the conversion activities of the missionaries.
Tribal communities of Chattisgarh are vulnerable to conversion as they have to face the two pronged war from Naxals and missionaries. In August, many tribal families of Bhilai were lured into conversion and made to abuse Hindu deities in front of their community people to further conversion.
Such activities have shown to brew hatred between the neo-converts and Hindu tribals as the converts are brainwashed to abuse the latter’s deities which results in violence. Involvement of missionaries in anti-development protests and aiding Naxals with the same makes them dangerous to the internal security of the country as well which has been pointed out by the MP.
