A poor, illiterate Hindu villager falls ill and looks for help at a Christian missionary-run medical facility. He’s offered a spurious, ineffective white substance and asked to take the “medicine” in the name of Jagannath. It doesn’t work. After days of suffering, the missionary gives the villager an authentic allopathic pill and asks him to take it in the name of Jesus. When it cures him,the impressed and grateful villager is asked to embrace Christianity.
A paper mache or wooden idol of Jagannath, this state’s ubiquitous deity representing the lord of the world, and a bronze cross are both set on fire by missionaries. While Jagannath is reduced to ashes, the cross remains unscathed. The power of Christianity is “proven” before the enthralled would-be converts.
Or perhaps a clergy member will simply say “Jai Ganesh” to start a car—and it sputters. When he says “Jai Jesus”, it suddenly starts.
These are the alleged real scenarios offered by the local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office-bearers when asked why they are lashing out against Indian Christians and their missionaries.
The Hindu group accuses missionaries operating in Kandhamal—the scene of violence and rioting over the last few weeks—of deceitful methods to increase their flock.
“For the last 30 years, they have been targeting the poor and illiterate people of this area and converting them by fraud, deception and lure,” says Priyanath Sharma, the Vibhag Sampadak, or division secretary, for Kandhamal and Bhanjanagar. “If people convert of their own free will, we have no issues, but we oppose these methods vehemently.” He cites numbers from the 2001 Census, which shows the Hindu population of Kandhamal district has grown by 2% and Christians by 16%.