Forceful reconversions in Orissa

Victims of anti–Christian violence in Orissa are disinclined to return home, as Hindu fundamentalists threaten 'more attacks' if failed to reconvert to Hinduism.

Times of India reports: At the infamous Nuagam relief camp near Baliguda, where a nun was raped on August 25 and where today there are about 2,000 tribals bunched up around leaky tents and on ground wet from flooding, Johan Naik and four others like him stand out as the most wretched.

"We are accursed," says Johan, rubbing his gnarled hand on his bald head. A month ago, as rampaging Hindu mobs ran through Kandhamal, looting, burning and pillaging, around 400 men converged at his house in Pirigada, a cluster of Protestant houses in Nuagam block. There, with swords unsheathed and drunk on the righteous rage of bigots, five of them gave Johan a choice. "You either embrace Hinduism or you die," he was told.

Soon, he was dragged to the nearby Patakhanda temple and made to prostrate before the statue of a 'devi'. Someone brought a jar of cowdung and cow's urine and forced him to gulp a bit of it. That was his purification rite and "return home" to Hinduism. And before he could actually make sense of what was happening, a young man whipped out a razor, doused his head in water and began tonsuring him.

"We know we are not Hindus. We never were, because we are tribals, worshipping nature and animals before we took up Christianity when the missionaries came here years ago," Johan said on Sunday. "But because of forced conversions, our brothers think we have let them and our faith down. Now, we are in the middle, nowhere."

Dand Naik, another one of the bald–headed men at Nuagam camp, waved his finger in anger and desperation. "I can tell you the names of those who shaved off my hair. Gurunam Patra, Satyaban Patra, Bhagavan Chaudhary, Subhash Sahu, Upendra Patra..." he trails off.

Siprayan Digal, 45, said there were 14 others who were forced to relinquish their faith in Christ. "But they have disappeared after that. There are five of us here, but many have left Kandhmal for now, out of fear and shame. Maybe someday, after the fire has been put off, we can go home and reclaim our religion and God. Dignity too."

Meanwhile Police arrested three Maoist rebels in connection with the murder ofVHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati whose death triggered attacks on Christians.

The Maoists were arrested Sunday and confessed to the Aug. 24 killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in the eastern state of Orissa, said senior police official Manmohan Praharaj.

Police had said immediately after the Hindu leader's murder that they suspected Maoist guerrillas because they had left a letter claiming responsibility. They said the attack may have been an attempt by the rebels to win the support of villagers who have converted to Christianity.

Hard–line Hindu leaders have dismissed the Maoists' claims of responsibility for the killing, maintaining that Christian activists were behind the slaying.