$ Conversion and Foreign Funding: The Truth is Here

The violence against Christians in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and now inKarnataka should be seen at various levels — from the economy ofconversion to the historical roots and real meaning of conversion.First, funding. Nobody seems to know exactly how much money the VHPreceives from abroad. The only figure we have is $1.7 million from theIndia Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) that raises money fromindividuals and corporations in the United States (including Cisco andSun Microsystems) to distribute them among a plethora of Sangh parivaragencies, some of whom work for 'tribal welfare'.On the Christian side, thanks to the Foreign Contributions RegulationAct, the Home Ministry is in possession of the Annual Report onForeign Contributions for 2005-06. It lays out in minute detail thefunds received by churches and Christian organisations in India. Weknow, for example, that the top donors are church-based orChristian-inspired organisations from the US, Britain, Germany, theNetherlands and Italy. We also know that a greater part of the funds —Rs 7,785 crore — goes to mainly Christian and church-basedorganisations in India. According to the Home Ministry's analysis, themajor part of the fund are spent on disaster relief and establishmentcosts. Welfare of scheduled tribes gets only Rs 25 crore and welfareof scheduled Castes only Rs 9 crore. The rest of the money goes intosocial work — building of schools, colleges, hospitals, etc. Nowhereis the word proselytisation mentioned. There are also no records ofmass conversions.Hence, the Sangh parivar's argument that Christian charitable andsocial work is a disguise to convert 'innocent, illiterate' tribalsand Dalits is a lie — at least as far as the records go. The HomeMinistry report also tells us that the bulk of the money is spent inTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi — not in Orissa or Gujarat.Now to come to the violence at Kandhmal in Orissa. The man,Laxmananda Saraswati, whose murder had sparked off the latest round ofviolence, was a VHP sant who was at the forefront of the VHP's gharwapasi ('home coming') movement that consisted of reconverting tribalsand Dalits who had been converted by the Christian missionaries.At one level, the violence that followed Saraswati's death was aresult of a century-old conflict between the tribal Kandhs and the=0DDalit Pano. The former accuse the latter of stealing their land, aidedby missionaries who, on their part, continue to occupy land thatbelongs to the state. The Panos who have converted to Christianity inlarge numbers are clamouring for Scheduled Tribe status because theirconversion has not mitigated the effects of caste prejudice againstthem. As a Scheduled Tribe the Panos hope to preserve their religiousidentity and also be eligible for reserved government jobs. Thisinfuriates the Kandhs as well as the VHP.Conversion has two dimensions to it. In the first place, it is anintensely personal affair. It is this individual realisation occurringover a period of time that makes the conversion of entire communitiesa slow, painstaking and laborious process. It is also this individualrepudiation of Hinduism that rattles the VHP beyond measure. It meansthat the tribal or the Dalit in question is no longer bound by anyfate or destiny, but is, in fact, a free agent who can transform hislife by changing his value and belief system.The second dimension of conversion is that it is a political act.When, over a period of time, an entire community is converted, it hasrevolutionary implications. What does it mean for a Dalit to convertto Christianity? To know that, one has to understand where the Dalitis coming from. He lives beyond the pale of 'caste Hindu' society —even his shadow is considered polluting in some regions of this
country; the jobs that he does are considered the most filthy —dealing with animal hides (chamars), disposing of the corpse aftercremation (doms) and cleaning the night soil (bhangis). He does nothave the right to use a mechanised transport, wear nice clothes, orjewellery. His house is frequently burned, his women are routinelyraped. He lives in a night without end.Then, he finds a God who, like him, suffered excruciating pain, whochose his disciples among the poor and the wretched and gave his ownlife so that others could find salvation through his suffering.The Dalit also understands that, in the light of Jesus' story, theHindus do not seem to have a moral order, that the only thing thatcounts for them is ritual purity and impurity. Instead of good andevil, Hinduism deals in the categories of ritual cleanliness anduncleanliness. The community, fortified by its realisation that theHindu world view is only one among many others and not even of themost superior kind, gradually revolts and crosses over toChristianity.Thus what began as a conversion of an individual ends as a collectiverevolt against the oppression, the brutality and the inhumanhumiliations of caste society. That is what the VHP and the Sanghparivar do not want. They want to crush this revolt.
Soumitro Das is a Kolkata-based writer. This Report is from the Hindustan Times