Epaper
The one issue that is currently occupying the main page headlines is ‘conversions’.
Thanks to sentiments being whipped up by either Party on this issue, the matter has now conveniently become a tool for political blackmail.
Representatives of the Dhangars -a caste of herders from Agra and nearby regions who were recognized in 1950 as Scheduled Caste -held a mahapanchayat in Agra on Sunday and declared that if they were not given SC certificates in a month’s time, they would convert en masse to Christianity.
They said the state government had done little for them. The community had received little help by way of education and employment; they had no pucca houses, and did not so much as have a certificate to show that they were an SC group.
Dhangars have a strong presence in the Braj region and across the state. Community chiefs said about 1.5 lakh people could join the Christian fold if the caste certificates were not forthcoming.
The decision of the Dhangar community is open to representation. Will the ‘Dhangar’ community stay back in Hinduism if they were to be recognized as a forward caste or would they need only an ‘SC’ status?
Religion here is not a question of faith; it is only a tool for survival and blackmail for some. One thing has to be admitted though: ‘Neither Ram nor Allah matters much on an empty stomach’.
