08-09-2005, 11:57 PM
<b>Where names don't clash with god (FEATURE)</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bhuj (Gujarat), Aug 7 (IANS) Some have embraced Hinduism but have Muslim names, others are Muslims but carry Hindu names! Meet the world of tribal people coming to grips with the modern world - and gods.
In the interiors of Gujarat's Kutch district in western India, religious conversions are not unusual for aboriginals. Happily this has not affected the social equilibrium in the area, and religious differences have not led to tensions.
There is Maluk Mamu, who has become a Hindu and adopted a new name: Mavji.
He lives in Bhirandiara village some 400 km from Ahmedabad.
Other members of his Koli Vadha community have also taken to Hinduism under the guidance of a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, Shashikant Patel.
Although they have accepted the religion, not all have assumed a new identity. There are Hindus with Muslim names like Ismail, Jusab and Hussain in interior villages of Banni grassland in Kutch.
They converted to Islam three years ago.
When the VHP became active in the region, rebuilding houses in areas ravaged by the January 2001 earthquake, it started a conversion drive among the Vadhas.
Today, many Koli Vadha members, bearing Muslim names, can be found practising Hindu rituals.
"We have started worshiping Ramdev Pir. Earlier we did not follow Hindu traditions," Mavji told IANS.
"It is the VHP who had this temple built for us. We used to wander in the jungle, could not even build houses. How could we have built the temple? The VHP has built houses for us," Mavji said.
The community members believe they have been converted to the Dalit community. At least this is what Patel has reportedly conveyed to them.
Patel denies his personal involvement and maintains that the Vadhas have been following Hindu religion since ages.
The conversions have not led to communal tensions. The Muslim nomadic groups do not mind the Hindu acceptance by some Vadhas.
This explains why Kutch remained untouched by communal violence that engulfed major parts of the state in 2002.
In the Koli fisher folk community, Meena, 27, says: "My parents used to follow Islam, now we are Hindu."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In the interiors of Gujarat's Kutch district in western India, religious conversions are not unusual for aboriginals. Happily this has not affected the social equilibrium in the area, and religious differences have not led to tensions.
There is Maluk Mamu, who has become a Hindu and adopted a new name: Mavji.
He lives in Bhirandiara village some 400 km from Ahmedabad.
Other members of his Koli Vadha community have also taken to Hinduism under the guidance of a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, Shashikant Patel.
Although they have accepted the religion, not all have assumed a new identity. There are Hindus with Muslim names like Ismail, Jusab and Hussain in interior villages of Banni grassland in Kutch.
They converted to Islam three years ago.
When the VHP became active in the region, rebuilding houses in areas ravaged by the January 2001 earthquake, it started a conversion drive among the Vadhas.
Today, many Koli Vadha members, bearing Muslim names, can be found practising Hindu rituals.
"We have started worshiping Ramdev Pir. Earlier we did not follow Hindu traditions," Mavji told IANS.
"It is the VHP who had this temple built for us. We used to wander in the jungle, could not even build houses. How could we have built the temple? The VHP has built houses for us," Mavji said.
The community members believe they have been converted to the Dalit community. At least this is what Patel has reportedly conveyed to them.
Patel denies his personal involvement and maintains that the Vadhas have been following Hindu religion since ages.
The conversions have not led to communal tensions. The Muslim nomadic groups do not mind the Hindu acceptance by some Vadhas.
This explains why Kutch remained untouched by communal violence that engulfed major parts of the state in 2002.
In the Koli fisher folk community, Meena, 27, says: "My parents used to follow Islam, now we are Hindu."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->