Tribals to remove Virgin Mary’s statue if attire isn’t changed

Ashadh Krushnapaksha 13, Kaliyug Varsha 5115

Ranchi (Jharkhand) : Members of the Sarna faith have decided to forcefully remove the statue depicting a 'tribal' Virgin Mary which was unveiled in May this year at Singpur village in Jharkhand's Ranchi district unless it's attire is changed.

Talks between church representatives and the Sarna faith have broken down and the Sarna elders have set August 24 as the deadline for their demand to be met.

The statue shows a dark-complexioned Mary in a white saree with a red border, her hair in a bun and bangles around her wrists. She is carrying the infant Jesus on a sling, just as tribal woman do.

Bandhan Tigga, dharmguru of Sarna society, said, "We have invited all the people of the Sarna religion from across the country to join us for a massive protest at Singpur on August 25. We are expecting lakhs of people, particularly from Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, will turn up to join our protest."

The Sarna society is made up of 32 tribes — including Oraon, Munda, Ho, Santhal and Kharia — that worship Nature, especially trees.

"We have been organizing meetings at various places to inform the people about how the church is trying to confuse our people into believing that Mary was a tribal. I will be organizing another meeting on August 9 at Santhal Pargana about the same. A hundred years from now, people here would start believing that Mother Mary was actually our tribal goddess. It's an attempt to convert Sarna tribals to Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct," he said.

A meeting between the representatives of church and members of Sarna society was organized on July 22 in which the church rejected the demand of Sarna society. Tigga said, "We got only one reply: The church is not trying to convert any tribal and they would not remove the statue. We have no other option left but to remove the statue ourselves."

TOI tried to contact Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, archbishop of Chhotanagpur, but he was not available for comment.

Source : TOI

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Mother Mary statue in tribal attire stirs row in Jharkhand

June 19, 2013

Ranchi (Jharkhand) : The statue of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth, has been creating controversies in the city for the past few days. A procession was taken out by the Sarna society against this statue on Monday.

The statue was unveiled by Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo in a church at Singpur village in Dhurwa recently.

Dharmguru (priest) of Sarna society Bandhan Tigga said, "Anybody can wear a white sari with red border but making Mother Marry wear it seems to be a tactic to convert the Sarna tribals into Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct."

The Sarnas worship Mother Nature or Maa Sarna. Tigga said the Christians are trying to establish Mother Mary as Maa Sarna to confuse the people of Sarna society. "Red border means a lot in Sarna dharm. Our women wear white sari with red border during auspicious times. If the idol of Mother Mary is shown in the getup of a tribal woman then 100 years from now people will think that Mother Mary was a tribal from Jharkhand," he said.

Sarna society is demanding the removal of that particular statue. Tigga said, "We do not want any kind of conflict between the two communities. All we want is that either the statue should be removed or the attire should be changed so that Mother Mary doesn't look like a tribal woman. If it is not done then we will intensify the protest."

While talking to a section of media a week ago, Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo, (who is now in Rome) said the controversy is a result of politics.

"It is a policy of divide and rule. Elections are coming up and there are some people who are acting to get advantage. They want a conflict between Christians and non Christians," he said.

The Cardinal also said they (tribal Christians) have equal rights on the sari with red border like the Sarna community.

He said, "Who are we to convert anybody to Christianity? L K Advani studied from a Christian missionary school but did he convert? Even Jairam Ramesh studied at St Xavier's School Doranda but he did not convert."

He added, "We are tribals by birth but we chose to convert. There is no difference between us and the Sarnas."

Source : Times Of India