http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/09/12/asia/OUKWD-UK-INDIA-HINDUS.php
Tribal lands become factory for Hindu foot soldiers
By Krittivas Mukherjee / Reuters Published: September 12, 2008
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly Hindu
India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high in
tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict seems
particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly Hindu
India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high in
tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict seems
particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly Hindu
India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high in
tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict seems
particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly Hindu
India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high in
tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict seems
particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly Hindu
India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high in
tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict seems
particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity for
decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and creating
foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political standard-bearer
of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power in
1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which it
enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly
Hindu India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high
in tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict
seems particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
and chanting of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity
for decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and
creating foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political
standard-bearer of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power
in 1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which
it enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly
Hindu India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high
in tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict
seems particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
JALESPETA, India: Deep inside the thickly forested hills of eastern India,
where ancient tribes live in huts of grass-and-mud cut off from modernity, a
stealth electoral weapon is at work for India's Hindu nationalists.
It is a sprawling residential school founded by a Hindu proselytiser, where
girls from animistic tribes learn Sanskrit prayers and Hindu philosophy in
between gardening and cooking.
Across India's remote tribal belt, a zone of Christian missionary activity
for decades, such tutelage is aimed at converting tribes to Hinduism and
creating foot soldiers for Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, the political
standard-bearer of India's Hindu nationalist groups.
"The BJP is performing well in tribal-belt because of the good work done by
the Sangh Parivar," Jual Oram, BJP's vice-president and a tribal MP, told
Reuters, referring to the Hindu revivalist movement set up partly to counter
Christian missionaries.
As the party prepares for national elections due by May, the foot soldiers of
Hinduism recruited in thousands of places such as the Kanya Ashram school for
girls in Jalespeta will help in campaigning. They are among the party's
grassroots network across India.
In most states, the recruitment of followers for the BJP sparks little
controversy.
But in this region, it has often led to conflict. Since last month, at least
16 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in reprisal attacks in Orissa
state after the murder of the founder of the Kanya Ashram girls' school.
More than three percent of Orissa's 40.5 million people are Christians, many
of them devout converts from Hinduism, according to the World Christian
Database. They are prime targets of these new Hindu nationalist campaigners
eager to swell their ranks.
To counter the missionaries, Sangh Parivar, an affiliated group of Hindu
organisations has replicated their work.
It has opened thousands of schools and medical facilities to increase its
influence among poor tribes, traditional worshippers of nature who Hindu
radicals say are weaned into Christianity by coercion or inducements such as
free education and healthcare.
"We have reconverted about 50,000 people in the past 40 years," said Hansraj
Maharaj, who looks after the Kanya Ashram in Jalespeta in the eastern state of
Orissa.
He says the number of reconversions, as an ancillary benefit, directly
amplifies the number of votes for the BJP.
HINDU NATIONALISM
In 25 years, the BJP has gone from a bit player to the main national
opposition party, a success many credit to the diligence of groups such as
Kanya Ashram through its focus on Hindutva or Hinduness, a concept defined in
sometimes strident, even fatal opposition to Muslims and Christians.
The BJP led a central coalition from 1998-2004 after a brief stint in power
in 1996. It now governs or shares power in 12 Indian states, in many of which
it enacted laws making converting difficult or even impossible.
Although the Kanya Ashram and another residential school for boys in nearby
Chakapada village say they are a social service organisation, the links to the
party are hard to ignore -- the work of Hindu nationalist groups has been a
political project as much as a religious and cultural one.
Full-time workers from these ashrams help in election canvassing, touring
tribal villages and telling people to vote for the lotus flower that is the
BJP's symbol.
The long-term aim of the ashrams is to have students always think of Hindutva
and become automatic supporters of the BJP.
But the battle for votes is only a convenient by-product of the battle for
souls which Hindu groups have fought with Christian missionaries engaged in
converting tribesmen.
Christians form less than three percent of officially secular but mainly
Hindu India's 1.1-billion population. But Hindu say conversion rates are high
in tribal belts where missionaries either coax or coerce the poor into changing
their faith.
Christians say the Sangh Parivar uses the spectre of conversion to unite
Hindus for votes.
RELIGIOUS RIOTING
In this tranquil village nestled in the teak forests, religious conflict
seems particularly unlikely. Yet the calm is eerie following days of religious
rioting last week.
Away from modernity, it is a place from another time, without electricity or
tap water. Barefoot children play with cows. Women walk to a nearby market,
balancing bundles of firewood on their heads, while bare-chested, sinewy men
plough patches of fields.
"It's a deceptive lull before more violence," said Lambodara Kanhar, a leader
of the Kondh tribe of Orissa's remote Kandhamal.
Local media reports said fear of attacks was prompting many Christians among
the tribes and ethnic groups to convert to Hinduism, with a ceremony involving
the washing of the feet, sprinkling of holy water from the Ganges and chanting
of mantras.
Laxman Digal reconverted about two weeks ago.
"Christianity couldn't give us peace or security, so I am becoming a Hindu,"
he said before a village gathering.
But at his home symbols of the faith he renounced remains -- a Christian
calendar, several small, metal crosses and a rosary.
"There is no need for them now," he said, putting the religious items in a
steel box as neighbours peered through windows.
Whether or not Digal becomes an automatic BJP voter may never be known, but
the Sangh Parivar attributes the BJP's success among indigenous communities to
"the home coming" of converts like him.
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash; Editing by Megan Goldin)
