Bhopal: An uneasy calm pervades the tribal dominated district of Betul in Madhya Pradesh that is set to host the ambitious Hindu convention of Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS).
Just 10 days ahead of the convention, a pamphlet titled “Adivasi Hindu nahi hai” circulated among tribals in the district has left the RSS brass stunned.
Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s visit to the tribal dominated district for the Hindu Sammelan.
RSS volunteers have termed it as an “act by separatists and church supported groups”.
The Samast Adivasi Sangathan, a confederation of tribal organisations, on the other hand said, “it is a conspiracy of the RSS to take tribals into Hindu fold and deny them with their right to reservation.”
Preparations for Hindu sammelan was started six months ago by Vidhya Bharti, a frontal organisation of the saffron outfit. On February 8, a group of Hindu seers will deliever sermons before the speech of the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS at the Hindu Sammelan.
Mohan Nagar, convener of the sammelan and head of MP and Chattisgarh, tribal education wing of Vidhya Bharti, said, “Those who have done this belong to Gondwana Gantantra Party and also those who are supported by the church. This would hardly have any effect on our programme, he asserted.
There is a strong presence of Church in Betul district which has about 35% tribal population dominated by Gonds and Korkus. Padhar hospital, a multi-speciality healthcare unit of Evangelical Lutheran Church of MP established in 1890 has been quite famous among the tribals in the region, The Times of India reported.
Nagar said, “No such sammelan was ever organised in Betul. In the past few years, we have started 500 ekal vidhalayas, non-formal one teacher schools of the Sangh.”
Spread across all the 1,407 villages of Betul district, the Sangh cadre mobilised the tribals by holding various programmes including Kabaddi competitions and “awareness campaigns for environment and hygiene”.
“On January 26, we organised Bharat Mata Ki Arti in 1,180 villages ensuring the presence of 86,000 tribals. While extending invitation, we registered 1 to 2 persons from a family with a registration fee of Rs 10. They were given with some literature titled Tapti Mata – river Tapti which originates from the district and a rudraksh that symbolise Lord Shiva.”
Lord Shiva is revered by tribals and they call him by various names like Bada Dev, Boodha Dev and Mahadev, he said.
But Dilip Dhurve , spokesman of Samast Adivasi Sangathan senses a conspiracy in the sammelan. “The pamphlet is a part of ongoing awareness campaign among gullible tribal. We want to protect their constitutional rights like reservation which may be jeopardised if they go into Hindu fold. We also want the government to work for poverty alleviation programmes to save the tribals from the menace of malnutrition and joblessness”, he said.
In the name of Bharat Mata Ki Arti, the Sangh parivar is forcing the tribals to take a vow in the name of Bada Dev to attend the Hindu sammelan. Tribals respect Bada Dev, he said.