Retaliation Is The Religion

NORMALCY had long been restored to the earthquake-afflicted villages of Latur district till last month when Nandurg, a 600-family strong village in Ausa taluka, experienced tremors of a different kind. On February 14, a mob comprising more than 40 youngsters stormed the CHAI (Catholic Hospitals Association of India) camp just off the village. Employing conversions as a pretext, the attackers swooped on the resident social workers and the Catholic missionaries and subjected them to a religion of retaliation.

In the fracas that ensued that late Valentine's Day evening, there was no love lost and no blow spared to drive home the point: that nibbling into the Hindu fold would not be tolerated. The telephone connections were cut off and Father Jeevendra Jadhav, camp in-charge, was manhandled.

"The attack took us completely by surprise," says a stunned Sister Marlene Parakkadan, resident lawyer and one among the injured. "We had no idea that we were going to be attacked nor knew what had caused it. It was only afterwards that we were informed the trouble was brewing for quite some time and that certain elements found it fit to rake it up during elections."

Between 1995 and 1997, 15 students from Nandurg had been recommended by CHAI camp members to further their education in Karad while boarding in a Catholic institution. At the root of the problem was the transfer certificates of two of the prospective students. While the parents of seven-year-old Mohan Shinde and eight-year-old Kishore Lokare insist that the transfer certificates were given to Sister Marlene to be forwarded to Karad, the latter stands by her version: of being informed by the parents that they would forward the same to Karad directly.

Subsequently, for want of the TCs, the priest left the caste column blank at the time of admitting them into the Rotary Primary School. Later on, however, the records were manipulated to include 'Buddhist' and 'Christian' in the caste column. The information was then allegedly exploited by the Jankalyan Samiti to rouse up passions, goad the parents to bring their children back to Nandurg and convince them that this was a ploy employed by the Christian missionaries to effect conversions surreptitiously.

THEY took advantage of the fact that our children were the youngest in the group," says Baban Lokare. "They deliberately changed their caste into Christian. When I went to visit my son at the boarding house, I saw that the children were being ill-treated and were being taught Christian prayers." Members of the Jankalyan Samiti apparently attempted to stir up the people on the evening of the attack by handing out printed propaganda but the villagers evinced no interest in storming the CHAI camp. Undeterred by the lack of support from the villagers, the saffron activists, all outsiders from the nearby village of Omerga, decided to take matters into their hands.

Defending the act as "hotheadedness of youngsters", Dr Ashok Kukade, president, Maharashtra Jankalyan Samiti, says "there was very obvious mischief. The caste of the children has been mentioned as Hindu Christian when in fact no such thing exists. In one case, an affidavit has been drawn up to show a certain Mr Thomas as the parent of the child. Some of the children were in a bad state at this Karad home. Six children have had their castes changed and we have authentic records of three of them." Denying knowledge that Hindu-Buddhist was also planted into the caste column, Kukade concedes: "This method of attacking and breaking the law is not to be condoned. But then youngsters cannot tolerate these things."

 Of late, the way of the cross has not been a pleasant one for missionaries. The past five years alone have seen 17 attacks on Christian outposts in tribal areas, largely in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Teesta Setalvad, editor of Communalism Com -bat, blames it squarely on the resurgence of the Hindutva agenda. "The intention is very clear. They want to get them out. Some of the attacks have been brutal as in the case of Sister Rani Maria who was hacked to death in Indore or humiliating as in the Dumka incident where a priest was stripped and paraded on charges of sodomy. They are getting emboldened with the success of each act. Communalising the atmosphere, even in a place like Nandurg where there is no Christian population, is a cheap and quick way to get people back to their fold. The Christian leadership should have made this an issue in Parliament—their silence is amazing."

 At last count, however, 15 of the 40-odd miscreants had been arrested and have now been released on bail. PSI B.G. Ingewad is categoric that the CHAI camp has not been indulging in conversion. "Communalism has never been an issue here and a few mischief-makers are just out to make capital out of an unfortunate situation. Whatever tampering has taken place has been done in connivance with troublemakers in Karad. The matter is being investigated by the Karad district special branch."

Social workers at the CHAI camp are uncertain if anything will come out of all this. "We have been offered police protection, yes," says one of them, "but one month is already up and all the individuals who participated in the attack have not been rounded up. What are the chances therefore of anyone being chargesheeted?"

Communalism and conversion as issues have found few takers in Nandurg—even less so with Mohan's mother Saraswati Shinde. "I am not concerned with who has changed the caste column in the transfer certificate. I am not interested in either justifying or criticising the action of the Jankalyan Samiti. I am only concerned with knowing why the transfer certificate has been tampered with," says the visibly annoyed widow. Ironically, Mohan Shinde's caste had been changed from Hindu Christian in the first year to Hindu Buddhist in the second. "Can any child have two castes?" she continues, angered by the fact that the local school has refused her son admission unless he is willing to start from Class I all over again.

While the mystery of the doctored transfer certificates haltingly unravels itself, the two children, Kishore and Mohan, have lost out on their schooling. The learning experience, for want of clear transfer certificates, has compelled them to restart their education on a clean slate. "Kishore has not been to school for over a year now," rues Lokare. "He has lost all his interest in studies because of the gap."

Sister Marlene, on the other hand, is adamant: "I have decided not to involve myself in furthering the education of these children. In future if the parents seek recommendations from me, they will have to give their approval in writing." With the chasm of communication widening, it will be a while before both sides simmer down. Rumblings, such as these, are felt longer than those that can be measured on the Richter scale.