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 Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and the Sangh Parivar – the two continue to draw the attention of the nation. Not for any noble deeds being done for the most backward district in the country but for the innovative methods being adopted by the Sangh Parivar think-tank to lure the illiterate tribals into their fold. The Sangh Parivar is relentlessly engaged in battling Christian missionaries, who have been serving the underprivileged in the district. Now the Sangh Parivar has come up with a new idea - check dams. For all its outward appearance, it is a wonderful idea. But it is not so wonderful once the outer layers are peeled off. Its proposed launch of Shivganga project is to set up talavs (ponds), check dams and stop dams in 131 tribal villages. This is expected to take off on March 8, Shivratri day. But all this comes with a rider. Each village that launches the project must first install a Shivling – a part of Hindutva promotion. Incidentally some of these villages already have sufficient number of talavs and dams. So what! Whether the villages have or not, the Sangh Parivar activists will have check dams and talavs made in each of these villages along with Shivlings installed in their midst. According to Mahesh Sharma, general secretary of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, the Ganga flowed through the jata (mane) of Lord Shiva. “We want the rainwater to stop and the jata of Lord Shiva will stop the water from flowing out of the villages.’’ However, the project organisers are silent on whether Christian tribals will be allowed to reap its benefits. The 131 Shivlings have already been moved from Indore to Jhabua and will be installed on Shivratri. But the Sangh Parivar sees this only as a starting point. Eventually, it wants to extend the programme to around 2,500 tribal villages in the Jhabua-Dhar belt. Recently 20 tribal youths from each village were invited to a camp where they took a pledge to contribute to the success of the project. The tribal youths were asked to do shram daan for two months. The Christian tribals in the area are worried because first of all they cannot take part in the programme to install a Shivling. Then there could be friction if the Hindus try to monopolise the talavs and check dams. The Parishad says it is launching the scheme because the tribals are forced to leave their villages in search of work, as there is a shortage of water for irrigation. But it is only a cover for the hidden agenda. According a senior official in the administration, in every village, there are at least half-a-dozen check dams and talavs already in operation. So there is no need for any more. The Sangh Parivar has become very active in the area after the Gujarat riots. They have been distributing pictures of Lord Hanuman and Ganesha in the villages. Incidentally the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to bag all the five Assembly segments in the 2003 polls. Although infighting saw the party lose the Parliamentary elections in the area last year, it is now confident that talavs, check dams and stop dams would check the trend.
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