By Basant Rawat
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are at loggerheads in the western Indian state of Gujarat, known as the original laboratory of Hindutva.
Interestingly, the reason for the quarrel is a church, which has become a bone of contention between the ideological partners of the Hindutva project that seeks to define India in terms of Hindu values.
It all began with a story carried last month by a Gujarati daily newspaper about a church constructed in Amba Jungle village with the “blessings” of Hiraben Mahala, a BJP member of the Kaprada taluka panchayat (a block-level administrative division) in the southern tribal district of Valsad.
The report said Hiraben had promised to build the church in lieu of votes from tribal Christians during the local civic body polls held in March 2021. The BJP swept the polls, routing the rival Congress party.
Hiraben denied the report, saying the church in Amba Jungle was erected years ago. “I was in school when this church was built here. How can I be held responsible?” she told UCA News.
Hiraben, who hails from the village located 65 kilometers from the district headquarters in Valsad, sought to clarify that she was herself a Hindu but admired Christians.
Local political circles were agog with rumors that several BJP candidates had made similar promises to tribal Christians in the area to win their votes
In fact, her husband Prabhubhai Mahala had stopped construction of the church on government land when he was the village head of Amba Jungle years ago. “It was then shifted to private land. This story is only to malign me as I won the election. It is a political allegation,” she added.
Her version was supported by Amrut Kardaley, the present village head of Amba Jungle. “It is a baseless allegation. The reporter who filed the story did so based on hearsay and without verifying facts. He is an embedded reporter with the VHP,” he told UCA News.
The statements had little impact. Local political circles were agog with rumors that several BJP candidates had made similar promises to tribal Christians in the area to win their votes.
This irked VHP functionaries who have been running a campaign for decades to drive out missionaries from Gujarat’s tribal belt.
This story first appeared on ucanews.com