“Muslims and Christians will be wiped out of India by December 31, 2021,” blurted out Rajeshwar Singh, a BJP and RSS leader in December 2014. He and his organisation have missed the target. But they have not gone back on their pledge. It would be naïve to believe that Singh made this preposterous and outrageous statement on the spur of the moment, without giving a serious thought to it. 

Look at what RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, said last year. He warned the Hindus about religious conversions and the alleged ‘demographic changes’ taking place in the country. Though the deadline for making the country Christian-mukt and Muslim-mukt has gone for a toss, the work is picking up momentum, with extra vigour, as is seen from the attacks unleashed on the Christians across the country, especially in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, a state ruled by the Congress which wears secularism on its sleeves. 

It seems the Sangh Parivar has adopted a tribal state as its next laboratory of Hindutva. According to media reports and expose by a fact-finding team which visited the area, a consistent campaign is going on to convert the Adivasi Christians into Hinduism by hook or by crook. The Hindutva forces, who are on the job, are prowling the villages spreading the poison of communalism. 

The Adivasi Christians are threatened, intimidated and thrashed to make them succumb to the diktats of the marauding Hindutva forces. They are forced to convert to Hinduism, throwing to winds the fundamental right to profess and practice a religion of one’s choice as guaranteed in the Constitution. Bringing back the tragic and traumatic memories of the atrocities on Christians in Kandhamal in Odisha in 2008, in many Chhattisgarh villages they have been forced to flee their homes, and take shelter in camps; some of them have severe injuries inflicted by the goons. In many cases, the police reportedly remained mute spectators.

Chhattisgarh is not ruled by the BJP; it has a Congress government which claims to be the protector and defender of minority communities. With the Sangh Parivar outfits baying for the blood of the Adivasi Christians, it is incumbent upon the State government to see to it that they are able to go back to their homes; they enjoy their freedom to profess and practice Christianity. The government should punish the guilty for taking law into their hands. Though FIRs have been filed in some cases, and a few arrests made, it has not been enough to infuse confidence in the victims. According to some reports, Chhattisgarh saw the second highest number of attacks on Christians in India, Uttar Pradesh being the topper in this regard. 

At a time when Christians are at the receiving end of brutal attacks by Sangh Parivar elements, a different attack is being perpetrated in Kerala. At the St. Mary’s Basilica in Ernakulam, a group of Catholics entered the Church and unleashed an unprecedented attack on the priests celebrating Holy Mass. They uprooted the Altar, attempted to snatch away host and wine, and hurled unprintable abuses against the priests. It is the result of an ongoing tussle in the Syro-Malabar church on the mode of celebrating the Eucharist. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Church is not making any serious attempt to bring the conflicting groups to the negotiation table and settle the issue. Let us hope that the church hierarchy would settle the issue following the Christian values of unity, love, peace and forgiveness.