Religious conversion and politics in Kandhamal

None can deny that there is no conversion taking place in Kandhamal. The higher growth of Christians in Kandhamal from 75,597 in 1991 census to 117950 in 2001 census data has been cleverly interpreted by Sangha Parivar to raise an alarm over conversion in this area. While Sangha Parivar accuses missionaries for their fraudulent means used in the conversion process, Christian missionaries’ hint back to the caste exploitation of Hindu society as the major reason behind conversion and accuses Sangha Parivar for their forcible re conversion. In such a situation, religious conversion which has happened more in Panas (SCs) then Kandhas (STs) in Kandhamal, has been trapped between these two extremes. While focusing upon the role of Christian missionaries and VHP in the conversion process in Kandhamal, this paper, based in intensive field work in Kandhamal, tries to understand the actual religious conversion from the convert's point of views for which it has taken help of snowball method. By doing so, this paper examines the positions of both Sangha Parivar and missionaries on this issue.