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Rath yatra will pressurise Pope on conversions issue

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

The Catholic Church in Goa feels that the Bharatiya Janata Party, the political wing of the Sangh Parivar, is becoming increasingly secular with each passing day. But the Sangh Parivar refuses to believe that the Church is equally secular.

Perhaps this is the reason why its nation-wide campaign -- called the Dharm Jagaran Rath Yatra -- against the Church is beginning from Goa. It will start from here on October 20 and will reach New Delhi by November 3, two days prior to the visit of Pope John Paul II to India.

Sadhvi Rithambara, a fiery speaker of the Sangh Parivar, along with Pravinkumar Togadia, international general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, will flag off the yatra. The yatra will then pass through Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The issue is obviously the conversion of tribals by Christian missionaries. The yatra is being organised with the purpose of pressurising the Pope to halt such alleged forceful conversions.

"Let him [the Pope] admit publicly that all religions are equal and praying Jesus Christ is not the only way to reach God and salvation," says Mohan Joshi. He heads the Sanskruti Raksha Manch under whose banner the yatra is being organised.

With VHP chief Ashok Singhal publicly endorsing the cause behind the yatra, it is now clear that the Sangh Parivar plans to corner the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government on the issue, since the Pope is visiting India as a state guest.

The Pope will be addressing the 170-member Asian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Delhi during his three-day visit. The Manch feels the meeting is to consolidate the Church's conversion plans in the sub continent.

The Manch organised a yagna last week at the Gomanteshwar temple in Brahmpuri (Old Goa) as a way of remembering the victims of the Portuguese Inquisition, which lasted in Goa for over two centuries.

Brahmanand Swami, who led a delegation of kar sevaks at the time of Babri Masjid demolition, as well as Shripad Naik, the newly elected BJP MP from North Goa, were also present on the occasion.

Rather than using Hindu fundamentalist rhetoric, the Manch has been parroting the ideas of the great nationalists and freedom fighters of Goa like T B Cunha, Menezes Braganza and Francis Luis Gomes, who vigorously fought Portuguese imperialism and its religious policies in the state. The Manch is today headed by Advocate Joaquim Dias, a freedom fighter and former advocate general of the state.

Following the yagna, the Manch has now begun the Janjagaran Abhiyan (people's awareness campaign) with a plan to hold at least 200 meetings in 10 days which will include the distribution of pamphlets.

The pamphlets, besides attacking the Church, also criticise India's English press, alleging that it is always full of vicious and perverted news stories of the alleged persecution of Catholics in India.

"We are not anti-Christian, but definitely against the Church because it refuses to Indianise itself and accept the culture and ethos of India. We would definitely welcome Indianisation of the Indian Church," says Professor Subhash Velingkar, the state-level Manch co-ordinator and also the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary of Goa, by way of argument.

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