By Kollengode S Venkataraman (written in 1999).
The attacks on churches of tribal people in India have brought to focus the undercurrents of religious intolerance not only in India but throughout South Asia. That these attacks have been widely condemned by every print media in India, the Indian President, and the Prime Minister, is reassuring. The situation, we hope, will head towards a semblance of normalcy in the coming weeks.
Even though the Patrika cannot influence opinions or decisions on any matter anywhere, we join the chorus of condemnation on these attacks. They are cowardly because they terrorize vulnerable sections of society, and barbaric because they destroy the fabric of a civil society, taking us back to the days reminiscent of the Dark Ages.
Indians’ caste identity is ubiquitous. Hindus, a generic term coined by Persians for the people living around the Sindhu (Indus) River and beyond identify themselves along languages and castes. Other dividing lines that people gloss over, or are completely oblivious to, are the differences among the rituals and dogma within the Hindu fold. Lumping together all these people of Hindus is as unrealistic as lumping people from all over Europe — from Norway to Greece to Ireland to Poland to Russia — as Christians. While it is correct in a sweepingly general sense, the generalisation also obscures the serious historical differences.
The caste identity of Hindus is so strong that they carry it with them even when they convert to Islam or Christianity that ostensibly do not recognise caste. Examples: Rajput Muslims, Jat Muslims, Reddy Christians, Nadar Christians, Pillai Christians, Sikh Christians, and Brahmin Christians. Only caste seem to be truly pan-Indian.
Hence, looking at the attacks on churches in the remote tribal areas in India purely in terms of abstraction of religious freedom without considering the sociological underpinnings you need, may not tell the whole story. It is like looking at the spread of Islam in the US without considering the racial divide, or the problem of Northern Ireland purely in terms of conflicts between Vatican and the Church of England without considering the Irish-English ethnic divide.
Several broad-based observations on India are necessary for a better understanding of the recent religious strife.
- Even though the Christian population—Syrian. Catholic, mainstream Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal — in India is around 3% nationwide, it is unevenly distributed. In Kerala it is about 20%. In Goa, in western India, nearly 30%. In Tamil Nadu in the South, 6%. In some parts it is below 1%.
- In the smaller states in the mountainous northeast with tribal population that are outside the Indian caste system, the Christian populations are above 80%. The dramatic changes in the demography of faith are the result of conversion during the last several decades.
- Churches thrive in places where Christian populations, even when small, fall within the Indian caste system.
- Even as the Indian elite brags about cultural heritage, philosophical traditions, arts, and the vast literature in Indian languages, often without knowing about them, they send their kids to English medium schools, many of them run by Catholic missionaries in urban centers. Often, these youngsters learn no Indian languages to appreciate the very things that their parents brag about. This disconnect between this trend in urban areas and the attack on the churches in the remote tribal regions of India is indeed quite striking.
- Globally, the tribal people are the most exploited demographic subgroups. They are economically, socially and spiritually exploited, their habitat destroyed, their simple lifestyle overwhelmed, and their identity and heritage eroded by mainstream organizations, including missionaries. This is a global phenomenon we see among tribal people in North, Central and South Americas, China, Africa, and Australia. In India, the inter and intra tribal rivalry has further complicated the situation. See John Berry, Ramesh Chandra Mishra, and Durganand Sinha’s book Ecology, Acculturation, and Psychological Adaptation. A study of Adivasis in Bihar, Sage Publications, California, 1996.
- Even after 50 years of independence and its nuclear arsenal notwithstanding, India’s report card is awful in reducing illiteracy among adults, immunising and educating her children, decreasing the mortality of women during pregnancy and childbirth — particularly among the rural poor and the socially deprived people.
- The post-independence development in India, while conspicuous, has benefited the resourceful classes of not only Hindus but also Muslims and Christians as well. This has further widened the gulf between the haves and the have-nots across the board. In recent times, those deprived people falling within the Indian caste system are violently using the political system to get their share of the spoils.
The root cause — Gaining control over the tribal people. The benefits of changes sweeping across India have bypassed the tribal populations who are outside the Indian caste system and living in remote areas. Social condescension and government neglect are the primary causes for this condition of abject neglect. It is but natural that the tribals emotionally and spiritually align themselves with whoever gives them dignity, education, and tends to them when they are sick.
One of the criticisms against Christian missionaries, not entirely without justification, is that some of them, subtly and not so subtly, use material incentives for conversions. But it was Swami Vivekananda, India’s spiritual renaissance man in the 20th century, who said it is a crime to preach God to those with empty stomachs.
This aside, even if the criticism is valid, what is the record of elected governments in India in the last fifty years – the life span for two generations — in providing basic services such as roads, water, electricity, and schools to the most vulnerable sections of the population?
When people lead a socially respectful or economically rewarding life, material inducements do not work for converting people. This is the case even when missionaries, some of them, in any case, aggressively seek converts. Read Missionaries in India: Continuities, Changes, Dilemmas by Arun Shourie ASA Publications, New Delhi, on the historical agenda of Christian missionaries in India.
While the discomfiture of the Hindu fundamentalist and religious orders on seeking their tribal brethren converting to Christianity because of economic incentives is understandable, what have they done for giving these people dignity and reducing the economic lure of religious conversions among the dispossessed?
The dangerous rise of religious fundamentalism: Religion and spirituality are uplifting for individual seekers of truth. However. when religious institutions become wealthy, numerically strong, or when they can whip up emotions of their flock, their leadership is prone to become intolerant, devious, corrupt, greedy, and politically ambitious, as we have seen in the Middle East and South Asia.
Given the historical interests of religious institutions for conversion — The Vatican is no exception — in politics, any society should be concerned about economically induced conversions. Pope Paul, in his visit to India said the Church wants to harvest new souls. That is, increase its market share, in India’s population. Mature societies, instead of depending on charities from foreign sources, including missionaries, respond by using tax money for inculcating scientific temperament among their citizens through education and improving the quality of life for the poor.
In non-tribal areas in India that have a long history of missionary activity in modern times, people change their faith more because of personal transformation, spouses belonging to another faith, and other reasons. They should have the freedom to do it. Besides, people walking away with their heart, mind, and spirit is a natural response to the suffocating and caste-ridden Hindu society of today, particularly in rural India. Those who are upset with conversions will be served better if they meditate on this.
The issues are complex, but no matter how complex and emotional the issues are, physically attacking places of worship of others is wrong. The bigotry of the attackers deserves everyone’s condemnation.
Hindu fundamentalists should know better. Planting and destruction of Hindu places of worship in the name of Islam and Jizia and the religious tax Islamic rulers imposed on Hindus, did not help in Islamizing the entire nation even after six centuries.
Persecution in God ‘s name: The greatest irony of history is that, through the centuries, throughout the world, people have been, and continue to be terrorized, tortured, persecuted and ridiculed, strangely, in the name of love, compassion and righteousness, and in the name of God(s) that nobody can show others, and in the name of a dogma and ritual that are, after all, arbitrary. The history of the Inquisition, including in Goa under Xavier, is widely known to discerning readers.
That this abomination persists in our “modern era of enlightenment” only shows that not much has changed in human aggressive instincts to conquer. Behind all institutionalized conversions and reconversions attempted with zeal is the sense of superiority the organizers of the converting religions feel underneath their armour of righteousness. And condescension towards other approaches beneath their patina of piety. END