Dumka (Jharkhand), Nov 10: Addressing a mammoth gathering of Santhal people here on Nov 9, senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar asked the Church and missionaries to stop conversion of innocent tribal people to their faith in the guise of service.
The Santhal Sanatana Sharma Sammelan was organized by Hindu Jagarana Manch in which Santhal men and women and young and children clad in their traditional attire participated. They came from six districts of the state namely, Pakad, Jamtada, Deoghar, Godda and Sahebganj. They reached the venue in a procession with beating their traditional drums and playing other musical instruments.
Swami Nityavratanand Maharaj presided over the Sammelan, the first of its kind being held in Jharkhand’s tribal dominated area. Dr Suman, Kshetra Sangthan Mantri of Hindu Jagarana Manch was among the prominent speakers.
Referring to conversion as an act of the ‘Satan’, Indresh Kumar alleged that the pure-hearted Santhal people were lured to embrace Christianity by the Church and missionaries in lieu of the services like education, healthcare and other services. These nature-worshipping Santhals were converted to Christianity as part of a greater conspiracy, he alleged.
Indresh Kumar said that ancestors, culture and motherland do not change with the change of faith. But the missionaries were misleading the innocent Santhals and other tribal people on this issue, he alleged. He asked the missionaries to repent for the misdeeds of their forefathers.
Referring to the glorious chapter in the freedom struggle of India and participation of Santhal leaders like Birsa Munda in that struggle, Indresh Kumar called for including their stories in the school curriculum.
Indresh Kumar praised the Narendra Modi government for ‘Sab ka Saath - Sab ka Vikaas’ he urged the government to accelerate the pace of development in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana. He said that the industrialists should be allowed to work but they should not get the land ownership rights. Further, the companies should spend 60 percent of their profit on the development of education, healthcare and infrastructure facilities, he added.
He said the Modi government is the government of villages and common people. The Prime Minister was working hard to make facilities like education, healthcare etc. at a cheaper rate to the masses. So long as education, healthcare and justice remains glued to money, it will not achieve the welfare of the society, Indresh Kumar said.
Later he participated in discussion with students at the indoor stadium. Prof Sujit Soren, Vimal Marandi, Manish Ranjan, Shivendra Kumar, Monica Murmu and others accompanied Indresh Kumar.
Dr Suman, the Regional Organizing Secretary of Hindu Jagarana Manch in his speech referred to vulnerability of tribal people to conversion to Islam and Christianity. Jharkhand is on target of Christian missionaries and Islamists, he said. They are targeting poor people from SC, ST and weaker sections of the society and convert them by all means fraudulent or otherwise. Many people have been converted to alien religions and it was necessary to bring them back to their ancestral religion, he stressed.
Dr Suman said that truncated India was not acceptable to them. We strive for Akhand Bharat, he added. Expressing concern over depleting Hindu population he vowed that we will not allow Hindus to become a minority in their own country.
Prominent among those conspicuous by their presence at the program were Mukesh Kumar of Hindu Jagarana Manch, Sadhvi Rekha Hembram, Brahmapati Hembram, Dr Raj Kishor Hansda, Santlal Marandi, and Bhim Soren.