kutipan koran di bawah ini sebenarnya hanya salah satu
info harian di india. berita semacam ini di mana umat
hindu masuk agama lain (islam/kristen) sering terjadi
bahkan terkadang secara massal. ini terjadi karena
adanya diskriminasi yg inheren dalam ajaran hindu itu
sendiri yakni bahwa umat hindu yg tidak punya kasta
(outcaste yg biasa disebut Dalit) dari lima kasta
besar, maka hidup sosialnya akan sangat sengsara:
tidak boleh masuk temple, tidak boleh pegang kitab
suci, tidak boleh sentuhan dg kasta tinggi, dll.
yg perlu dibahas di sini adalah, bagaimana mengatasi
problema konflik yg akan terjadi antara umat hindu yg
merasa marah krn sebagian umatnya "diambil" orang, dg
umat muslim/kristen yg dijadikan tempat oleh kalangan
Dalit ini untuk pindah agama? perlu dicatat, bahwa
sebagaian besar kasus konversi yg terjadi di india
sangat berbeda dg yg terjadi di indonesia. kebanyakan
di india memang dari kemauan mrk sendiri.
salam summer,
6 TN dalits turn to Islam
- By R. Bhagwan Singh
Chennai, June 2: Alleging discrimination by caste
Hindus, six dalits have embraced Islam after a feast
of biryani provided by some Muslim preachers at
Melmandhai village, near Thoothukudi, about 600 km
south of Chennai, according to reports reaching here.
The event on May 23 jolted the Jayalalitha government
since it took place within days of the chief minister
revoking her controvzersial law banning forced
religious conversions. She did so as part of many sops
to win back public support after suffering a rout in
the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Hindu Munnani has
promptly blamed the government for the Melmandhai
conversions, saying they would not have happened if
the anti-conversion law was still in place.
About two dozen Muslims from Thanjavur, Theni and
Erwadi went to the dalit colony in the village,
housing about 150 families, that Sunday evening with
biryani packets and a couple of clerics. Once the food
was served, the dalits were treated to a sermon on
Islam and six of them came forward to be converted,
eyewitnesses said.
Nineteen-year-old Sudhakar, a school dropout and son
of a poor mason, was one of them. He says he decided
to embrace Islam because the Hindus treated dalits
badly. "For instance, the two tea shops owned by caste
Hindus humiliate the dalits by serving tea in separate
containers while at the third shop, belonging to a
Muslim, the dalits are treated as equals."
However, the youth in the village insist that they
would never ill-treat the dalits though there could be
some aberrations among the older illiterates among the
caste Hindus.
"They (dalits) are contemplating more conversions but
no dates have been fixed. The six who have converted
to Islam did so to enhance their social status and not
because there was any coercion or allurement from
Muslim leaders," said P. Kaladi, the district
vice-president of the Dravidar Kazhagam who had
encouraged the dalits to convert.
Himself a caste Hindu, Mr Kaladi recalls that DK
founder E.V. Ramaswamy Periyar had exhorted the dalits
at a massive 1925 rally at Vaikkom, Kerala, to convert
to Islam if they wanted to be treated as equals in
society. "I am only continuing our late leader�s
preaching. There is no future for the dalits in
Hinduism," Mr Kaladi said in a phone interview. He,
however, admits that dalits are not ill-treated in
Melmandhai and there are no social tensions in the
village.
Then why did the conversions happen? The dalits in
this village struggle for their livelihood as farm
labour and with rains failing for the last three
years, life has been harder. The government is keen on
ensuring that they do not fall easy prey to conversion
attempts by unscrupulous elements taking advantage of
the withdrawal of the anti-conversion law.
Police and revenue officials have visited the village
and personally verified with the converts. "We are
convinced there was no allurement. This could be a
stray case and we are closely watching the situation.
The situation is calm," says Thoothukudi district
superintendent of police Sandeep Rai Rathore.
But the Hindu Munnani is not convinced and has put up
posters demanding action against the agents who lured
the dalits to Islam by allegedly promising jobs in the
Gulf. It is also worried that Melmandhai could be just
a beginning.
=====
Mario Gagho
Political Science,
Agra University, India
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