August 10, 1998

A series of attacks by the fanatic Sangh cadres on the minorities threatens to rip apart Gujarat, the communally sensitive state.

By Uday Mahurkar

On July 17 Dinesh Surti, a local BJP worker, won a court case relating to a piece of land in Zhankvav village in Surat district on which a Christian missionary school is being run. When Surti went to the school to demand the return of his land, the school authorities led by Father S.J. Albert refused. Incensed, Surti's supporters started digging up the playground and pelting the school building. In retaliation, Christian tribals went on the rampage, burning three shops owned by Hindus and also damaging vehicles. The police registered a case against both parties.

A couple of weeks ago, students of I.P. Mission School in Rajkot, a Christian missionary school for girls, a majority of them Hindus, were allegedly handed copies of the New Testament by the school management and asked to sign a proforma on the last page which stated, "I have decided to accept Jesus Christ as my deliverer." When the girls' parents got wind of it, they took up the issue with local Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists who soon landed up at the school and burnt copies of the New Testament. On a complaint by the principal, six VHP activists were arrested five days later.

In June, two Hindu girls, one of them married, eloped with two Muslim boys of Randhikpur village in Panchmahal district. The parents of the girls approached the local VHP leaders, who in turn instigated Hindu mobs to target Randhikpur's Muslim locality, forcing the 300-odd members of the community to flee. The VHP activists also served an ultimatum: the Muslims will not be allowed to return until the girls were restored to their parents.

In the five months that the Keshubhai Patel Government has been in power in Gujarat, clashes between the VHP and the minority communities have registered an alarming increase. Emboldened by the BJP's comeback, fanatics among the Sangh Parivar have gone on the offensive, crossing limits at least in some cases. The growing communal tension -- over a dozen incidents of clashes between Hindus and Muslims and Hindus and Christians, besides VHP attacks on the minority groups -- threatens to tarnish the image of the Patel Government.

Such has been the Sangh Parivar's backlash that while the Muslim dwellings of Randhikpur village lie deserted, Protestant and Roman Catholic priests of the state have formed a joint coordination committee to protect Christians' rights. Says Father Stanley Fernandes, bishop of Ahmedabad: "Earlier, attacks on minorities were sporadic. But now they are happening on a regular basis, which indicates a pattern." Adds Father Jerry Sequiera, a Jesuit priest: "The Government must act fast to dispel the impression that its machinery is hand in glove with the culprits. We can only hope that sense will ultimately prevail."

The VHP and Christian missionaries have for long been engaged in skirmishes over the issue of conversion, while in recent times the Parivar has been targeting Muslims after several Hindu girls eloped with their Muslim lovers. Evidently, local Sangh Parivar leaders, who see these twin developments as an affront to the community, have become militant now. Says Pravin Togadia, VHP joint general secretary: "It is true that in some cases our cadres have become over-aggressive. The fact is that Hindus were unorganised so far and were tolerating the provocative activities of the minorities. But with growing awareness and a BJP government at the helm, they feel emboldened to come out with their grievances."

Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya defends the Government's stance in the controversial affair: "The police has acted in a fair manner by registering cases against VHP activists where necessary and preventing tension from spreading further." According to Pandya, in the Rajkot school case, the missionaries named three VHP activists but the police arrested six persons, while in Randhikpur 11 persons have been arrested for ransacking Muslim houses. As he puts it, "The incidents have been blown out of proportion and misrepresented by the Congress which is trying to make political capital out them."

Indeed, for the opposition Congress, it's an issue handed on a platter. Says party leader Amarsinh Chaudhary, who submitted a memorandum to Patel last week listing 22 cases of alleged VHP attacks on minority groups: "If the Government doesn't rein in the Hindutva cadres, it will have to face dire consequences. Right now, it is playing the role of an abettor." The Congress high command promptly despatched a three-member team, comprising former Union minister P. Shiv Shankar, Vayalar Ravi and Vimla Varma, to probe the incidents. "The sense of insecurity among the minorities has reached a new high following these acts of vandalism and communalisation of the police," declared Ravi after touring the affected areas,

However, what has strengthened the VHP's argument is a report in a Gujarati daily Aaj Tak. Citing official records, the daily published a list of 42 cases from just one of the seven zones of Ahmedabad where, in the past six months, Hindu girls had married Muslim boys after being converted. In contrast, during the same period, the number of Muslim girls marrying Hindu boys was just three. Also, 30 of the 42 nikaahs were solemnised by one maulvi alone and that too in one particular mosque. Subsequent inquiries by the police not only found the newspaper report to be true, but they also came across a number of cases where the girls were minors. In several instances the Muslim boys were already married. Moreover, in at least two recent cases in Bhuj and Rajpipla, Hindu boys who eloped with Muslims girls were allegedly killed by the relatives of the girls.

To justify its condemnable methods of settling scores, the VHP charges Muslims and Christian missionaries of pursuing their conversion activities aggressively. For instance, Sangh leaders allege that in Dangs district, in the tribal belt of south Gujarat, nearly 25 to 30 per cent of the tribals have been converted to Christianity in the past decade and a half. But as an observer put it, "Rather than indulging in violence, it would do the VHP good if it fights the battle on the ideological plane -- by opening more educational and health-care institutions like the missionaries." Perhaps, it would also augur well for the health of the state Government.

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