The Gujarat administration ‘vibrantly’ backs the RSS efforts in tribal-dominated Dangs to stem Christian missionary ‘proselytisation’. Reinventing tradition and reconversion are stock-in trade of the Parivar machinery

By Mahesh Langa
Dangs, Gujarat

The Legend Of Ram Reconstructed: Ram, Lakshman and Sabari idols Photo Laxman

A Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad leaflet says Dangs is Dandakaranya Pradesh of Ramayana. To complete the picture, a check-dam over Purna River has been named Pampa Sarovar and a statue of Sabari installed on its bank

On Christmas day in 1998, a nondescript village called Subir in Ahwa (Dangs, Gujarat) hit the headlines when a rally of about 1,500 people from Hindu right-wing outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal turned violent, attacking a missionary school and church. Within a week, 35 churches and prayer halls were burnt down in this tribal district of south Gujarat. The rally was organised by right-wing groups to protest the alleged conversion of tribals to Christianity by missionaries. Importantly, the chain of events occurred after BJP rule was instated in Gujarat and the BJP-led NDA formed the government in New Delhi.

According to Fr Raphael, a Jesuit at Nav Jyot School at Subir, “Barring that incident, we have never had a problem in the area since we started our work about a couple of decades ago.” Countering the RSS claim that missionaries pose a threat to the country and Hindus, Fr Raphael said: “I don’t know what we have done to pose a threat.” The 1998 incident was the first time that missionaries, who have been working in the field of education and health in the Dangs for nearly a century, were directly attacked by Sangh Parivar outfits.

Since then, however, no violent incident has occurred against minorities in this predominantly tribal district (Dangs has a population of 1.87 lakh and over 95 percent of it is tribal). To counter missionaries’ activities and the supposed proselytisation among tribals, Sangh Parivar outfits and other neo-Hindu groups (like Swadhyay Parivar and Swaminarayan) have adopted new methods and new means to Hinduise Adivasis, including invention of new traditions and myth making. Attempts at staving off the missionary ‘offensive’ have continued unabated, and the latest is a Kumbh mela to be organised by RSS from February 11-13, 2006, at Subir village, around 35 kms from Ahwa, the district headquarter of Dangs. The selection of the place is very significant, because it was here that militant Hinduism was first asserted.

In Dangs, there is a common belief among tribals that the legendary Ram and Lakshman had passed through the area on their way to Lanka. Cashing in on this belief, the Sangh Parivar has endeavoured to reconstruct the history of Dangs. This is how a leaflet of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, a Parivar-affiliate, describes Subir: “Dangs is Dandakaranya Pradesh of Ramayana. Passing through densely forested hilly areas of the region here, Ram and Lakshman met Sabari (a mythological Bhil lady). Ram ate the fruits Sabari offered and blessed her on the bank of Pampa Sarovar. So Sabari had belonged to this village and therefore it is known as Subir.”

A Sabari Dham temple has been built on a hill in Subir, and every year on Sharad Purnima, a fair is held to celebrate Sabari’s birthday. According to the Kumbh mela office at Sabari Dham, a Ram Katha of a well-known kathakar Morari Bapu was organised in 2002, and it was then that Bapu had suggested organising a Kumbh mela for vanvasis (tribals).

To complete the imaginary Dandakaranya Pradesh and Sabari Dham, a check-dam built under the 11th Finance Commission scheme for tribal areas over Purna River, which passes through the area, has been named Pampa Sarovar and a statue of Sabari installed on its bank. Massive preparations undertaken for the upcoming event can be seen at the Kumbh mela office near Pampa Sarovar, but people at the office were not very forthcoming with information. However, during an informal talk, Mukesh Daga, an RSS activist at the office, divulged a few details of the planned Kumbh: “This programme is meant for the whole Hindu samaj. About five lakh people are expected to assemble here. Forty huge tents will be erected to accommodate them. The state government is going to assist with power, transportation and whatever is needed. The main objective of the fifth Kumbh is to put a full stop to conversion of tribals. During the three-day mela, a special drive for Ghar Vapsi (reconversion) will be made. Only yesterday, we reconverted around 20 vanvasis here.”

The overall in-charge, Swami Asheemanandaji — a Bengali sadhu who has been active in Dangs for almost a decade — was unavailable for comment. But the local media has often quoted him saying: “Bharat is facing two big challenges in the 21st century. One comes from Islamic jehad and the other from Christian missionaries. To counter these challenges, we need to awaken the Hindu samaj. And this is what I have been doing here in Dangs. My main objective is to completely eradicate Christianity from this tribal district.”

Local tribals, though, are vociferously opposed to any such Kumbh. Says Rajubhai Pawar, sarpanch of the village, “I don’t know what they are going to do here. But we villagers don’t want such tamasha. They are outsiders from Surat and Navsari and other places. They want to assemble five lakh people here. What will happen if so many people throng the place? The district has no system to support such a huge crowd. It will certainly create environmental damage and law-and-order problems.”

The Parivar Troika? Narendra Modi with swamis involved in the project Photo Laxman

Some local tribals are opposed to the Sabari Dham Kumbh, alleging that the organisers are outsiders from Surat, Navsari and other places. Backed by local MLAs and the erstwhile ruler of Dangs, they recently held two huge protest rallies

Recalling the visit of RSS supremo Sudarshan to the place last July, Rajubhai said the police beat up villagers in order to clear the road for the convoy. “He came here on a Wednesday, which is when we have our weekly mart. So there was a crowd. All of a sudden the police lathicharged, and four people were injured. So now we have decided to oppose such nataks.”

On September 28, locals organised a big sabha at Ahwa to formally decide opposition to the Sabari Dham Kumbh. Chhotubhai Vasava, the JD(U) tribal MLA from Jhagadiya, while addressing the meeting said: “They want to spent eight crore rupees in this Kumbh. I would like to ask: why splurge money on such tamashas? If you are genuinely interested, do some positive and constructive work here. Otherwise leave us alone, please don’t divide our tribal society.”

This was followed by another recent protest led by the erstwhile ruler of Dangs and the sitting Congress MLA. Addressing a rally, the former maharaja spoke out against the plan. “As the king of the adivasis of Dangs, I would say that disputes in the community have increased ever since the Swami Asheemanandaji set up his ashram on the Chamak Dungar hills. He had taken one-acre land on the mountain for Rs 10,000 and now he occupies four hectares. Mokhanwad villagers will file a complaint against the ashram.”

The former ruler dubbed the Sabari Dham a sham, saying, “Our social fabric is being damaged. Previously, three stones atop the hill used to be worshipped as our own tribal gods. But now they have built a Sabari Mata temple and keep propagating that tribals worshipped Sabari there. This is totally false as it was never the case.”

Madhubhai Bhoye, Congress MLA of Dang Vansda, was more vocal and levelled serious allegations: “The Central government has allotted Rs 15 crore for carrying out development work in the district. There are 311 villages in Dangs but the district administration has spent Rs 9 crore on constructing check-dams all over eastern Dangs keeping in mind the venue for the Kumbh. They built 20 check-dams to create an imaginary Pampa Sarovar. I have written to the Central government to investigate the misuse of money.” Bhoye also pointed out that the state government and district administration are helping the RSS in a big way to make the function “successful”.

Dangs Collector RM Jadhav confirmed the administration’s involvement: “We are providing infrastructure support like electricity, check-dams etc. for the Kumbh.” When asked whether Dangs needed a Kumbh, Jadhav parried it, saying, “It’s a religious issue. What can you do if people want it?” The large-scale protests seem to have had no impact on the RSS and other outfits involved in organising the mela, though. Incidentally, all trustees of Sabari Dham are from Surat and Navasari — Jayantibhai Kevat, south Gujarat in-charge of BJP, Ramesh Bamrolia and Gopal Patel, a Surat-based textile trader.

Gopal refused to believe that locals are against it. “The protests have been orchestrated by local politicians. Otherwise tribals are with us. It’s their programme and they are doing it for themselves.” He also denied that a special drive would be made for reconversion. “We don’t believe in conversion or reconversion. As Hindus, it is our duty to help our Dangi brothers,” he said.

Satyakam Joshi, an associate professor at Centre for Social Studies, Surat believes that an event like Kumbh will have vicious impact on the locals: “The core issue of development and poverty eradication will take a backseat to Hinduisation.” On the process of Hinduisation, Joshi considers this as not a recent phenomenon, only that now it is being done systematically. He believes the Hindu outfits would try to draw political advantage from the process at work. Joshi, however, believes that even Christian missionaries have also played this game. “In tribal areas of Dangs the process of Hinduisation and Christianisation has been going on since the last hundred years,” he observed.