Back to Hindutva

The lead editorial on the anti-Christian violence in Orissa observes that as the general elections draw close, it has become clear that the RSS/BJP has fallen back on its hardcore Hindutva agenda as its only sustainable hope to return to power. It says that though Maoists have claimed responsibility for the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda, the RSS, VHP and BJP have chosen the murder as an opportunity to unleash a vicious attack against the Christian minority. “The VHP has been fomenting these tensions in order to consolidate the Hindu vote bank by exploiting the tensions between the Christian tribals and Christian Dalits over the issue of deriving benefits of reservations,” it says. The pattern unleashed by the RSS/VHP in Orissa is similar to what they did in the Dangs district in Gujarat in 1998. “Subsequent consolidation of the Hindu vote bank by perpetrating the fiendish rousing of communal passions against the Muslim minorities is there for all to see in Gujarat. It is precisely this pattern that the RSS/VHP is seeking to unleash in Orissa,” it notes.

Politics of conversion

Another article on the Orissa situation titled “Fascist realism and the creation of a common sense” says the real problem in Kandhamal is related to the aggressive drive to convert tribals to Hinduism, including the terror directed at Dalit Christians, who are the stumbling block in the Sangh Parivar and the VHP’s path .Ironically, the activities of the VHP match what they accuse the Christian missionaries and the Church of doing in western Orissa. “Both work to attract and convert people to their respective faiths — something that is allowed under the Constitution.” The article, however, accuses the VHP machinery of propagating the idea that the tribals are Hindus and Christian missionaries are the villains who are spreading the religion through inducements and the Sangh Parivar has the right to re-convert the tribals to their original faith. “This is skillfully combined with terrorising sections of Dalits — who had opted to convert to Christianity after suffering social discrimination — to reconvert to Hinduism. This common sense makes the conversion of tribals look like as re-conversion,” it says.