Source: Rediff on the Net
TRIPURA, INDIA, Aug, 29, 2001: Tribal Hindus in Tripura have formed vigilante groups to thwart attempts by separatist militants to convert people to Christianity at gunpoint, community leaders said. “It is a very serious threat to Hinduism with armed militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura forcibly converting tribal villagers to Christianity,” said Rampada Jamatia, a leader of the Jamatia tribe. “We believe up to 5,000 tribal villagers were converted to Christianity by the NLFT in the past two years,” Jamatia said. Tribals constitute about 30 per cent of Tripura’s population of 3.19 million. Christians form a meager 10 per cent of the total, while the majority are Hindus. Community chiefs and religious heads of 19 tribes have now formed the Tribal Culture Protection Committee to counter the threat posed by the NLFT. “The forum would discuss ways and means to tackle the threat to our religion and culture,” Bikram Bahadu Jamatia, a tribal chieftain said.