HVK Archives: They still exist, tall men, sun-crowned, to be counted
They still exist, tall men, sun-crowned, to be counted - The Observer
S. Gurumurthy
()
January 20, 1999
Title: They still exist, tall men, sun-crowned, to be counted
Author: S. Gurumurthy
Publication: The Observer
Date: January 20, 1999
The press, the TV, the politicians, and the church are almost
conclusive in their views; nearly unanimous that Christians in
Dangs district in Gujarat are being set upon by Hindus; as if a
Hindu pogrom is on against the Christians; as if the 'secular'
character of the nation is in danger. Not to be left out, the
'intellectuals' too have joined the herd saying that 'they want
to be counted'! Poor thing. In a herd no one is counted. But
no time for asides now.
Amid this deafening noise, two men of unquestionable intent and
integrity have stood out. They have refused to be part of the
herd, to endorse the lies, which have led the whole country and
even the entire world - to refuse to believe anything other than
what the herd shouts. And they have Insisted on telling the
truth, and have courageously brought out the whole truth.
First, they told the truth to the press; but the press shoved
their statement in a corner. Then they presented a memorandum to
the Prime Minister, which the press ignored.
Thereafter, they submitted a memorandum to the National
Minorities Commission, swearing on oath. The national press did
not take notice. But, they are sure that at least the Minorities
Commission cannot ignore what they have said on oath.
Who are they m relentless pursuit of truth? What do they say
about the Dangs Issue? Let us first look at what they have said.
This is what they have testified that the Dangs issue is not to
be perceived as an attack on C that it is a long simmering
reaction to the conversions by the Christian missionaries; that
the missionaries have used and even now use, unethical means to
convert; that this is not the beginning, but, the culmination;
that the missionaries have been Inciting the converted tribals
into vandalism; that the missionary schools have even punished
the students who were wearing Gandhi caps; that during the last
five years nearly two dozen idols of Shiva and Hanuman - revered
by the tribals - have been desecrated or broken and in one
instance the converts urinated on the idol of Hanuman; that the
ancient beliefs of the tribals is mocked at openly; that just two
months back, at the instance of the missionaries, the converts
twice beat up the nephew of the Bhil tribe Raja, who refused to
marry a Christian girl and get evangelised; that the converts
threw stones on a rally of the Hindu Jagaran Manch on December 25
which became the flash point for the clashes.
The scenario unfolded by them is stunningly different from what
the megaphones have been writing, broadcasting and telecasting.
The conduct of the missionaries and the converts unfolding from
their testimony is not certainly that of a minority on the run
for its life. In fact, the truth seems to be the other way round
- it emerges as an aggressive and militant minority.
Yet none of the facts brought out by them had till then appeared
in the media; the public was completely in the dark about them.
Even afterwards such facts remain unhighlighted.
Who are they who have spoken In a voice totally different? Of
course, they are not press reporters who seek name or fame, or
columnists who are sensitive to their image, or politician who
seek votes. Then who am they?
They are two of the oldest surviving Gandians. They are also
Saryodaya workers. One of them is Ghelubhai Naik and the other,
Chunilal Vaidya, both aged 82 years. It is not just their age or
their status as Gandhians on which rested their right to speak
out on the Dangs affair. In fact, they merely happened to be
Gandhians and Saryodaya workers. In fact, they alone not the
press or the politicians of the intellectuals who relied on each
other to talk or write on the happenings in Dangs - are qualified
to talk on the situation in the district.
Why are they so qualified? They are not like armchair politicians
who issue statements abusing or praising some body on the basis
of press reports. They are unlike the press reporters who rely
on politicians or bureaucrats, or who try to understand a
century's history in a two-day visit to the place or through long
distance calls and write news stories. They have actually worked
among the Dangs tribals - not for one or two years or for one or
two decades. They had worked among the very tribals who are at
each other's throats now, hold your breath, for the last 50
years!
Naik, a young man of 32 in 1948, went to Dangs along with his
brother Chotubhai who was asked by Sardar Vallabhai Patel to work
in that district to prevent conversions of the tribals by the
missionaries. The Sarvodaya leader has thus gained intimate
knowledge of the problem of conversion for the last 50 years;
most of the journalists who reported on Dangs were not even born
when Naik started his work with the tribals. Naik has been just
awarded, on January 1, Gram Sewa Puraskar by the premier Gandhian
institution, Gujarat Vidya Peeth.
Not the least important is another fact. The two Gandhians have
been staunch opponents of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu
Jagaran Manch.
Undoubtedly, no one would have known the Dangs tribals better
than the Gandhians who had worked with them for 50 years. It is
these Gandhians who have brought out the stunning facts kept out
of public view by the media, by the church, by the politicians.
They have exploded all the falsehood circulated by the defenders
of the faith and secularism.
Speaking on the ferocity of the missionary efforts at conversion,
Ghelubhai Naik recalls how 'the missionaries even used the name
of the Mahatma for effecting conversions'. He says "they entered
the Sabharmati Ashram carrying a book entitled Gandhiji's
favourite Bhajans, but the book contained no Gandhian reference
but only Christian psalms". The veteran Gandhian also claims
"some missionaries even tried to induce him and his associate to
embrace Christianity. When we rebuffed their overtures they
tried to evict us from the house where our office was located in
the mission area in Ahwa".
Not a word has appeared in the media as yet about the Christian
efforts at conversion. The media has not even told the public
such fundamental facts like what have been the demographic
changes In Dangs in recent times. Had this simple fact been
known, it would have cleared much of the air.
According to census records, the total population of Dangs
district was 114000 in 1981 and 144000 in 1991. The percentage
of the converts was 1.3 per cent in 1981 and it leapt by 4 times
in 1991 to 5.4 per cent. (It was 0.9 per cent from 1941 to 1961
and was 1 per cent in 1971) in terms of numbers the converts were
1500 in 1981 and they became 7500 in 1991. What is the number
now? Will you be shocked? According to the Gandhians, it is now
40000. Or, 25 per cent of the total population of the Dangs
today.
It means the number of converts have gone up by 25 times in 18
years, out of which a jump 21 times has taken place during the
last 8 years.
The Gandhians had perceived the danger of reaction from the
unconverted tribals waiting to explode. They were furiously
petitioning to different Congress governments to take measures to
tackle the danger, which fell in deaf ears. Because, votes and
action against conversion cannot go together.
Why were the unconverted tribals simmering? Simple. Their number
was eroding; demographically, they were becoming smaller; their
civil community was fragmenting; their families were being blown
to pieces by missionaries who told the converts to keep no links
with the unconverted brethren, not to participate in the
community festivals, and to deviate from such family traditions
and, for instance, bury the dead, but, unconverted father without
the knowledge of the surviving brothers who remain unconverted.
This apart from the converts desecrating tribal gods like Hanuman
by breaking them and urinating on them.
Not a word in the media about the conflicts - real conflicts
between the converted and unconverted tribals - which have lead
to the present situation.
Does one need any other reason for the clashes at Dangs? It is
the testimony of sociology and history that mere change in the
demography is enough to lead to reaction. Dangs could not be an
exception. But, this fact was neatly suppressed from the public.
In addition, the converts in Dangs have been not peaceful, but
militant. And yet the press and the politicians have virtually
made a Tiannanman Square out of the Dangs affair as if there has
been recrucification of Christianity by setting upon the peaceful
converts of Dangs.
Not a syllable of what the Gandhians have said has been
challenged by any one in the secular establishment, including the
press. Even the church has not demurred. And yet the press has
continued to print news and views on tons and tons of newsprint
on how the Christians are being persecuted and has just dismissed
the two Gandhians in to a corner. And the church goes on
nonchalantly complaining that the Christianity is being targeted.
Still the Gandhians would not leave their pursuit of truth.
Having spent their best years in truthful service, and away from
politics of power and therefore lies, they have had the courage
of conviction to damn the press also. In their memorandum to the
Minorities Commission they said: "We are anguished that the
ground realities behind the violent incidents haven't come to the
fore or have been deliberately ignored by large sections of the
media, which in turn has led to one-sided reporting and press
statements which vitiated the atmosphere even further". They had
even said that the press reports were 'totally baseless'. In his
press statement Naik said that the press was indulging in
'telephone journalism'.
Why did the press not report the truth even after the Gandhians
came out with the correct facts. This is the injury that human
ego inflicts on truth. Having written in strong and offensive
language blaming the Hindu communalists and sympathising with the
missionaries, how could the press go back without serious loss of
face? The press preferred to be consistent rather than being
truthful. This is where the press praises Mahatma Gandhi, but
does not have the courage to follow him. He said in a clear
voice "my loyalty is to truth; not to consistency. If I am wrong
a hundred times, I will correct myself a hundred times'.
But for the two Gandhians, the truth about the Dangs would have
remained buried under tonnes of lies. It is they and not the
intellectuals who were part of the herd, who really stoop up. Of
course, there were just two and not too many - like our
intellectuals among the herd - and so they are easily counted.
It is they the Gandhians who have come out as 'tall men, sun-
crowned, who live above the fog and fluff of mock adulation' -
the kind of men a Senator in the USA prayed for when that country
found their President Richard Nixon prevaricating to them in the
Watergate affair.
Back
Top
|
