#bastar

Bastar the piglin

Instead, the family was subjected to heckling and intimidation – influential members of the village, egged on by right-wing leaders had decided to take advantage of their vulnerability. They decreed that Shyamlal’s funeral would be allowed in the village on one condition: the family had to convert from Christianity to Hinduism and conduct the last rites according to Hindu rituals.

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The grieving family were mobbed by right-wing supporters who told them they had no access to the cemetery in the village where the burials have been happening for all these years. “We are being targeted only because we chose to follow a particular faith. But you can follow whatever religion you want to follow. I have read that in the news,” says Sukmiti.

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What’s more, “they wouldn’t even let us bury Shyamlal in our backyard,” she adds. “That’s where we had buried his grandmother. We thought the two could rest next to each other. But we were told we couldn’t do it because we stood up to them and refused to convert.”

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Right-wing groups are targeting families that have lost their loved ones. One gram sabha even passed a resolution which disallowed cremation for the people following Christianity within the boundary of the village. Shyamlal’s last rites seemed like mere logistics. It was rushed through. “It felt like we didn’t send him off properly,” says the family.

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“This is largely a post-covid phenomenon,” says Benjamin. “Before that, the right-wingers attempted to convert Christians to Hinduism using various methods, but death was respected by and large. Sadly, not anymore.”

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The family stood its ground. Nag insisted on not giving into majoritarian pressure. “We own a three-acre farmland and what we do on it is our business,” he says. “We decided to bury her over there. We wouldn’t have it any other way.” The members of the Bajrang Dal eventually backed down and the burial went through without further disruptions. Even then, people were distracted, looking out for one while giving Aayati a respectable send-off. “Is it too much to expect peace while conducting last rites?” he asks. “Yes, we won that battle. But we don’t want our children growing up in this atmosphere. Even the village heads didn’t stand by us.”

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The marginalisation of tribal Christians has been going on. “We aren’t allowed to fetch water from the common well in the village anymore,” Kosha says. “We have to do it clandestinely.”

Back in Arracote, Sukmiti says the family were not allowed to go to a wedding in a neighbouring village because it was a Christian family getting married: “The family had to throw away the food they had prepared for the guests because nobody could reach there.”

Despite the Constitution (Article 25) stating that “Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion,” tribal Christians are facing hostility and intimidation.

Brown stains on the concrete pavements

A smell so pungent of sulphur

Scattered splinters shining in the faint light

A few empty magazines and a tear-gas shell

Sobs of street-dogs and moles and rats

A blazing postal van and letters

Destined to be read by that teen,

To whom power lies at the gun’s barrel,

A dream to rid dinners of ant-eggs

In the brown plains of Bastar

Invaded by the ore-sharks

And pervert gangs of men in uniforms,

But all that lay on the concrete is a brown stain.

Lajja Gauri is a Hindu Goddess associated with abundance and sexuality, interpreted by some as the Creator deity.  Her worship is prevalent throughout India, especially in tribal regions of Central and Southern India.  Her power is emphasized by symbolic representation of the vulva.