Dindori (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly 150 families in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district have sought permission from the district collector to convert to Christianity, alleging that they have been ostracized by the Rathore community of the village for over a century.
On Tuesday, members of the community reportedly touched the feet of Collector Vikas Mishra, seeking permission for conversion and told him that the Rathore community had ostracized their ancestors about 150 years ago after one of their ancestors married someone from outside the community. They also alleged that the Rathore community breaks the marriage arrangements of their daughters and threaten to break the legs of their boys if they try to take part in social work.
The matter has been reported from Dhanua Sagar village of Dindori where the victims reached the public hearing with their children on Tuesday. They said that they are tired of complaining to the officials and sought permission for the conversion. One of the representatives said, “If there is no reconciliation in the society then we will adopt Christianity. Its responsibility will lie on Rathore community officials and district administration. If the administration cannot integrate us into the society then they should allow us conversion.”
Collector Vikas Mishra at Jansunwai |
Seven generations ago...
Recounting his woes, Bihari Lal told the Collector, “Seven generations ago our ancestors had mistakenly married a woman from outside the society. Since then our family has been ostracized. After a lot of requests, the then Sarpanch Ram Prabha and the Panches held a meeting on March 13, 2022. They took us back to the society after we agreed to donate two lakh rupees in the name of Ganga bath, Ram Kirtan, Bhandara, social feast and Dharamshala.” However, things changed after Krishna Parmar became district president in 2023 and they were again ostracized.
Meanwhile the Collector said that he will visit the village in this matter. “Those having such thinking should understand that this is not right at all. It is illegal to isolate someone from society in this way. Both the parties will be counseled after visiting the village. If they don't agree even after this, then we will consider taking legal action,” he said.
Added to society after taking money, later kicked out
According to Bihari Lal, when Krishna Parmar became the district president in 2023, he again ordered a boycott. The people of the community did not listen to him. On January 8, 2024, they reached the Kirtan program at Sunder Rathore's place in the village. Here Parmar announced through the mic that whoever invites these 150 families to a social program or maintains a ‘roti-beti’ relation with them will also be separated from the society. “After this people stopped calling us due to fear,” he added.
'Someone is misleading them'
On the other hand, Krishna Parmar, district president of Rathore community, said that someone is misleading these people and he has no idea about the money that they mentioned in Jansunwai. He said, “150 families in Dhanua Sagar village have been ostracized from the society for 150 years. They belong to the Rathore community, but we never had a 'roti-beti' relationship with them. To whom did these people give money and what did they do, we do not know. Why should we exclude them from society? On the other hand, we help these families. Someone is misleading them."
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