A FALLOUT of the naxalite violence in Chhattisgarh is the gradual loss of identity among Adivasi boys and girls. Tribal children who have either lost one or both parents in naxalite attacks, or whose parents have been lodged in Salwa Judum camps, are being adopted by various Hindu organisations such as Gayatri Parivar and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) affiliates such as Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra. These children are beginning to shed their tribal culture and are being trained to embrace Hinduism.
More than 105 children affected by Maoist violence are living in shelters provided by organisations affiliated to Gayatri Parivar in Rajnandgaon, Raipur, Jagdalpur and Gurur. There are plans to bring in 600-odd children in the course of the year, says Dr. Arun Madheria, patron of the Mata Gayatri Shikshan Evam Sewa Samiti in Raipur. His trust has adopted 25 girls since January. The Rajnandgaon centre has 31 boys with 25 more, mainly children of those affected by the latest naxalite violence in Errabore and Rani Bodli, joining in the fourth week of March.
The Gayatri Parivar affiliate in Jagdalpur has 18 boys and one girl at its shelter while five boys are lodged at the Gurur Shaktipeeth. Another affiliated organisation of Gayatri Parivar at Bhanupratappur is planning to bring in 25 children from Rani Bodli, where naxalites killed 55 police personnel on March 15.
Arun Madheria, who has given shelter to 25 girls at his Vatsalya home, sees nothing wrong in bringing up children in a particular way of life. "Children can be brought up to adopt any religion. It is immaterial what religion they embrace as long as they are protected and are given a decent life and education. Once they grow up they can chose their own religion," he says. Madheria has been bearing the cost of bringing up the girls with no financial help from the government. No philanthropic organisation has come forward to provide shelter to these children.
Although no attempt is being made to convert them, the fact remains that the tribal children will unconsciously imbibe the new religion. Their typical day begins at 5-30 a.m. with prayers and Hindu religious practices. They attend a school run by the RSS - the Saraswati Shishu Mandir. And their day ends with another round of prayer in the Hindu style.
Do the children understand the implications of their new lifestyle? No, but they like the shelters better than their village homes. This speaks volumes about the vulnerable lives they were leading back in the jungle, with the naxalite threat looming large over them.
What is, however, surprising is the fact that secular organisations such as the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) have taken no note of this trend. PUCL general secretary Vinayak Sen says this was nothing new because the Ramakrishna Mission School at Narayanpur has been taking in tribal children for years. The difference is that children are admitted to the Ramakrishna Mission school with their parents fully realising the implications of sending them to such a school; the children of Gayatri Parivar are orphans who have no voice in deciding their own future.
Purnima S. TripathiCOMMents
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