Judeo: Feeling holy

Bhubaneswar, March 4: No money changed hands. No secret camera recorded the ceremony. Only batik-printed orange-hued saris, yellow-coloured shawls and red towels marked the rite of passage of 212 Christian tribals in Jharsuguda district who reconverted to Hinduism this morning.

At a two-hour shuddhikriya havan, former Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo — who had to resign after being filmed accepting cash in lieu of mining leases — washed the feet of the tribal men, women and children with water from the Ganga to “usher” them into Hinduism.

The batik-printed saris, cotton shawls with Ram’s name printed on them and the towels were handed over to over 100 men, 70 women and 30 children from 53 families as a symbolic gesture to mark their “homecoming”.

The ceremony, under Operation Ghar Vapsi, was organised by Sangh parivar organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rushikul Seva Trust, Bharat Vikash Parishad, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram and the Adivasi Suraksha Samiti.

Since 8.30 am, the grounds near the Jhadeswari temple in the western Orissa town of Jharsuguda, about 400 km from here, were packed with hundreds of tribals and Sangh activists. As two platoons of the local police hung around, the poor tribals from Jharsuguda and neighbouring Sundargarh district received the Gayatri and Sri Ram mantra from a group of priests.

Each tribal was first purified with Ganga jal. Judeo, the chief guest, sat on a low wooden stool. The tribals sat on another when he washed and wiped their feet. The purification was followed by two or three drops of the panchamrit, a mixture of honey, basil leaves, cow urine, milk, ghee and curd. The tribals were later fed a meal of rice, dal and vegetables.

“The Christians are alluring the tribals. We oppose them. Why are they not going to Uganda, Pakistan and other places? We have no conflict with them. This is their homecoming,” said Judeo, who started his political career with mass reconversion programmes. Two months ago, he had visited the Jagannath temple in Puri incognito.

VHP activist Subrat Tripathy, a key person behind today’s programme, said the district administration had been informed, as the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act mandates.

A local VHP activist said that so far, 10,000 tribals in the state have been reconverted under the Ghar Vapsi programme.