There is a battle raging in the poverty stricken tribal belts of India. The battle has been raging for hundreds of years. since the coming of Baptist Christian missionaries to the tribal forest lands in 1800 AD during the British rule.
*The spoils of this battle are :- The souls of hundreds of thousands of tribal people which would be 'saved and delivered unto the bosom of Jesus'. The addition of hundreds of thousands of new Christians to the ever growing world Christian population.
*The modus operandi :- To convince the tribal people to abandon the faith and the ways of their forefathers in order to avail of financial and material incentives on offer.
*The finances :- Financial assistance for this scheme is routed in millions of dollars from the west to various missions and charities deployed in the tribal land.
* Fringe benefits :- The added benefit to the priests/church workers embarking on this proselytising effort is the belief that a spot in heaven would surely be reserved for them for having brought so many errant and lost sheep into the waiting arms of the Shepherd. Personal advancement within the Church hierarchy. Salvation and champagne all round.
None of the above justifies violence against the missionaries busy converting Hindus in the tribal belt.
However, it should be realised that conversions in India can not go on for ever, without repercussions. We have suffered conversions for thousands of years, this has to stop. No one is stopping the missionaries from doing charity and poverty alleviation work.The problem is that conversion is being shown as the ultimate solution to all the problems of these poor and destitute people.
When a middle class Indian converts, no one bothers. He has exercised his right to pursue the religion of his choice. There are lakhs of them all around us, they are our friends and colleagues and even relatives. But when a man so poor that he will agree to anything for a loaf of bread converts, eyebrows are raised and rightly so. When he is asked to part with his soul in exchange for the loaf of bread, how fair is that?