BANGALORE, India — Christians living in the Hindu heartland of Maharashtra state in western India are being lambasted by a media campaign that includes daily headlines of mass conversions to Christianity.
The ideological home of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad — the militant and pseudo-cultural umbrellas of the Hindu fundamentalist cause — has for decades been churning out anti-Christian thinkers, writers and ideologues whose writings are sold through books masquerading as historical and intellectual material.
The media campaign has spilled onto the streets, with Christians being confronted in restaurants and tea houses by their neighbors and co-workers. Since the beginning of August, the newspaper has been carrying daily reports on missionaries and conversions. The impact has been substantial. Already non-tribals in the three villages of Gaulwadi in Roha, Waki in Kolhad, and Nilaj in Mangaon have prevented church social workers from entering nearby tribal hamlets. As a result, the child care centers and youth empowerment activities there have halted.
The pen behind the campaign is Arun Pawar, a Raigad Times correspondent who has been filing “exclusive and investigative” reports on tribal conversions. Pawar is also on the local governing council and wields political clout in his hometown. However, members of the more secular “English” media claim Pawar fudges his facts and dodges the real issues. They say he is not able to pinpoint exactly where the conversions took place and refuses to divulge the names of the families that have converted for houses and money.
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