FATHERS’ FIGURES

‘‘HOW am I any less Indian than Dilip Singh Judeo? How can our work be called anti-national?’’ he asks. Victor Kindo, th...

‘‘HOW am I any less Indian than Dilip Singh Judeo? How can our work be called anti-national?’’ he asks. Victor Kindo, the bishop of the Raigarh-Jashpur diocese, has a point. His ancestors have been part of this corner of central India for centuries.

Even as Judeo rails against ‘‘foreign’’ missionaries, the irony is that it was his forefathers who were largely responsible for bringing Christianity here. In the 1880s, some members of the Oraon tribe heard of missionary Father Lewins who had fought against the zamindars. Kindo says they sent three delegations to Ranchi seeking the Father’s help. He did not come but in 1906 two Belgian missionaries arrived on request and the first baptisms took place.


			Probe Jogi in Judeo video: I&B Minister
			I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday claimed there is ‘‘circumstantial’’ evidence to suggest Ajit Jogi’s role in the Judeo VCD case. He said one of the ‘‘suspects’’ is a Michael William, associated with a company that runs the studio of Akash Channel, the local cable network. ‘‘I want to know what relations Jogi has with this channel,’’ he said. The channel has denied all charges. — ENS. Story continues below this ad

In Raigarh and Jashpur, the diocese that runs 103 primary schools, 56 middle schools, 26 high schools, a teachers’ training institute, two hospitals, 47 dispensaries, two leprosy centres, and one orphanage and old age home each.

Even ardent BJP supporters say the quality of missionary schools and hospitals is far superior than anything else in the region. At the Bishop House, the mood is sombre. In a strongly worded statement today, the vicar general of the diocese, Father Paul Toppo, describes as baseless Judeo’s charge that missionaries hatched the ‘‘conspiracy’’ against him. As for his claim that Hindus are in the danger of becoming a minority because of Christian activity, Toppo says the proportion of Christians has come down — from 2.43 per cent in 1961 to 2.32 per cent in 1991.

Judeo’s charge that Christians in the N-E are responsible for the secessionist movements is equally spurious — of the many militant outfits in the region, only a couple have a ‘‘few Christians’’ in their ranks. But it is Bishop Kindo’s question that resonates. ‘‘How can we be anti-national? All our activities are for fellow Indians.’’ Even Judeo studied at St Xavier’s, Ranchi.

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