For a small group of Madia-Gond tribespeople in a densely-forested corner of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, pre-poll promises of higher minimum support prices and crop procurement from both the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP mean little. For this community of Vishwasis, even accessing their fields is a challenge, and they say their first priority is “peace”.
The community refuse to accept the dangerous tag of “Christian convert”, preferring to be called “believers” or Vishwasis in Hindi.
The 15 Vishwasi families from Remawand village of Narayanpur, who were driven out of their homes by a series of communal attacks last December, started returning to their ancestral lands in January this year, just in time for paddy harvesting. But they were not allowed to touch their crops till the government procurement window had closed, forcing them to miss out on the MSP purchase cycle.
‘Betraying the community’
For the last two years, these villagers have also been prevented from entering the forest to collect minor forest produce like wood and tendu leaves, used to roll bidis, as their fellow tribespeople accuse them of betraying the community by “converting their religion”.
“They said the forest belonged only to Adivasis and that we were not Adivasis anymore,” says Bhutni Korram, one of the Vishwasis, who added that they have not even been allowed to bury their dead in the village and have been forced to use a cemetery in Narayanpur town about five to six kilometres away.
In the Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts of the Bastar plateaus, at least 14 villages, including Gorra, Devgaon, Palna, Borawand, and Morenga saw Vishwasis being driven out by the majority Adivasi population last December, with support from organisations linked to the Sangh Parivar, amidst allegations that large numbers of tribespeople were being converted by Christian missionaries.
Conversion accusations
“It all started in 2021, just when we had finished building a new prayer house here,” Sunheri Salam, 40, tells The Hindu, adding that it was meant to be a common space for Sunday prayers for Vishwasis from the neighbouring villages. “But as we started to gather, a few villagers started prohibiting us from bringing in outsiders, alleging that we were promoting religious conversion,” she said, adding that they have been relegated to praying privately in their homes ever since they returned.
The Vishwasis, however, refuse to identify as Christians or even acknowledge that they have a religion. They worship in prayer halls, not churches, which are unadorned by any images of the cross or Jesus Christ. Instead, these Madia-Gond families say they became “believers” at the turn of the century because of the help they got from Christian missionaries in dealing with personal crises.
Political cross-fire
With the Remawand Vishwasis now starting to return to their villages under police protection and preparing to vote, the Congress party is promising action against their oppressors in a bid to win their trust. The BJP, on the other hand, is courting the Adivasis who drove them out with the rhetoric of religious conversion.
Remawand village falls under the Narayanpur Assembly Constituency (ST), where the Congress’ incumbent MLA Chandan Kashyap is going up against the BJP’s Kedar Kashyap, with the Communist Party of India’s Phool Chand Kachlam also in the fray. The village, along with the rest of the Bastar region, is set to vote on November 7.
The constituency was represented by the BJP in 2013, but then was among the 11 of the 12 Bastar seats that the Congress had swept in 2018.
With neither of the Kashyaps visiting Remawand yet during this election cycle, Mr. Kachlam has been regularly interacting with the Vishwasis, helping them learn how to draft police complaints and protest letters, and how to reach the administration with their issues, the villagers said.
‘We are scared’
“Congress is sending its workers now to tell us that they made a mistake and will ensure justice if we vote for them this time. At the same time, the BJP workers are outright threatening us that if they win, they will kick us out of our homes and lands permanently. We are scared,” said 56-year-old Nangru Korram of Remawand village, just as the lone bulb in his mud hut’s courtyard went out, with a power cut plunging the village into pitch darkness.
“When we were beaten up and kicked out of our homes last year, we went to Chandan Kashyap and Minister Kawasi Lakhma. Mr. Lakhma laughed us out of his office and Mr. Kashyap said he could not do anything to help. We have even complained to the Benur police station about not being allowed to collect forest produce and sort our paddy yields in time for government purchase cycles, but nothing has happened,” Baiajnath Salam, 42, another resident of Remawand said.
Awaiting farm loan waivers
But even as the Vishwasis of Remawand find it difficult to trust the ruling party’s promises to ensure their safety, they say the Congress coming back to power in the State might not be that bad for them, given the loans they have been buried under this year due to deficient rains ruining their paddy crop.
While Mr. Korram and his wife have a combined loan of around ₹35,000 they need to repay, Mr. Salam has about ₹51,000 in loans. Neither of them have any way to get out of debt unless the Congress party forms the government and makes good on its promise of waiving farm loans like it did in 2018. The BJP has made no such promise in its election manifesto.
“But then again, the BJP was never an option for us,” Ms. Salam said.
