Wounded church unites against saffrons

Wounded church unites against saffrons
Santanu Saraswati
Dumka, May 26—Alarmed by the growing influence in the region and the serial attacks on Christians and minorities in Gujarat and Orissa, the church in the Santhal Pargana has decided to stand up as one and launch a “quest” for an “able Jharkhand leader”, who would support its cause in the Parliament.The five mainline churches of the region—the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, the Assembly of God Church, the CNI and the General Evangelic Lutheran Church—have appealed to the community to cast “conscience votes” so that Christians may be saved. “This is not a fatwa. But this is how the community demonstrates its solidarity,” said a church leader on the condition of not being quoted by name.Roman Catholics have traditionally supported the Congress, while the Protestants and the other sects backed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In the past, the Congress has benefited the most from a tie-up with the Jharkhand parties.The refusal of the JMM-S to go in for an alliance with any “national” party and the Congress’ ambiguous stand against the BJP have made the church look for support at the local level. “This, at least, will save us from holding the light on a devil,” said a priest in Bandarjori mission, hinting at a concerted move to deny the BJP any advantage.The incidents in Gujarat and Orissa cast dark shadow on a meeting of church heads recently. “The anxiety and angst after 50 years of service were common. In this situation, the Jharkhand candidate is likely to benefit, “ said a father who once faced the wrath of the BJP hooliganism in 1997. “The Christian voters felt alienated from the national parties after they went on promoting non-Christian leaders, “ said Marshall Soren, a resident of Shikaripara block and a researcher at the Calcutta University.Keeping in mind the poll arithmetic, the Congress and the BJP wooed non-Christian tribals, the Sarnas, who resented the Christians as they grabbed most of the reserved jobs. This isolated the church from the national parties, said Marshall.The 1998 polls showed a sharp polarization in Christian and Sarna votes. The Sarnas are non-Hindu tribals, who worship the forest. The BJP, which has been weaning away the Mahato and some Sarna tribal votes, has succeeded in making a dent in the area, as the divide between the Christians and the Sarnas weakened the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress. The Congress has managed to cling on to only five per cent while the BJP bagged 22 per cent of the total. Of the 10-lac electorate, the Christians account for only two lacs. Sarnas and Hindus constitute the remaining one lac. “The vote shift of the Sarnas from the Congress to the BJP has been steady,” says Dilip Toppo, a student of M.Phil in Jadavpur University and an electorate from Guhiajori.The church is now looking for support from new-generation Jharkhand leaders like Durga Soren and Lobin Hembrom, who have a very positive attitude towards the Church. Gurujee’s son, Durga, is also being projected as a possible successor to the father of Jharkhand politics, Shibu Soren. EOM.
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