A Christian community event to be held at Sankal village in the tribal taluka of Dediapada in Narmada district on February 11 was “called off” after right-wing organisations flagged the gathering for alleged “religious conversion”. However, the organisers denied the allegations.
The event titled ‘Aatmik Jagruti Sabha’ was called off after the Dediapada police launched an inquiry and summoned its organisers to record their statements. The police action came after the Narmada district administration forwarded to the Superintendent of Police a memorandum by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Adivasi Manch of Narmada district alleging “religious conversion”.
The area also witnessed protests from local villagers in the run-up to the event, which was to be held for the first time in Dediapada in the premises of a local church.
Meanwhile, Amarsinh Vasava, a member of local Christian body Samast Kristi Samaj, said it was only a spiritual gathering. “The event has been called off because of the protests… It is not true that it was a platform for religious conversion; it was only to be a spiritual gathering. In today’s times, people are aware and it is not easy to lure someone to convert into another faith and the allegations are baseless. Only the community members were to gather in prayer and sermons,” the Dediapada resident told The Indian Express.
However, in its memorandum to the District Collector, Rashtriya Adivasi Manch of Narmada stated, “In the name of a spiritual gathering, the Christian community has organised an event to convert tribals into the Christian religious faith. If this programme is allowed to take place, it will be dangerous for the religion, society and country… Although there is not a single Christian in this village (Sankal) as per the records and the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2021, yet, the Christian community has constructed a ‘kaccha’ church in the village. The Christians have interfered with tribal practices and are influencing them to give up their devotion to tribal gods and goddesses and tribal culture… Therefore, no permission should be granted to this event that is meant to execute a religious conversion in the area.”
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.