==Concern expressed on the role of missionaries in tribal society ==Said- Birsa Munda chose the path of self-respect by opposing missionary influence. Jamshedpur: Former MP Shailendra Mahato has expressed his views on conversion in Jharkhand, activities of Christian missionaries and incidents related to the life of Lord Birsa Munda by sharing a detailed post on social media platform Facebook.
In his post, he has claimed that during the British rule, a large-scale campaign of religious propagation and conversion was carried out by missionaries in the tribal areas.
Mahato wrote that after the establishment of British rule, the activities of foreign Christian missionaries intensified. According to him, the missionaries who came from Germany in the year 1844 started their work from Kolkata, but later made Ranchi and surrounding tribal areas their center.
He alleged that conversions were promoted by taking advantage of the poverty, illiteracy and social challenges of the tribal society.
In the Facebook post, the former MP also said that the missionaries tried to distance the tribal society from its traditional cultural and religious identity. He claimed that under this process an attempt was made to give a separate social identity to the converted community.
Mentioned the life of Birsa Munda
In his post, Shailendra Mahato mentioned the student life of Lord Birsa Munda and said that he came in contact with Christian missionaries while studying at the Mission School of Chaibasa. He wrote that after disagreement with missionary ideas, Birsa Munda abandoned Christianity and later came in contact with Anand Pan and got involved in religious and social activities.
According to Mahato, it was during this period that Birsa Munda started organizing people and later led the struggle against British rule and exploitation. He said that Birsa Munda emerged as a symbol of tribal self-respect, cultural identity and freedom consciousness.
Discussion broke out on social media
After this Facebook post of the former MP, discussion has started on social media regarding the ideas of religious conversion, tribal identity and Birsa Munda. However, the views expressed in the post are the personal views of Shailendra Mahato and historians and various socio-religious groups also have different views on this topic.
(This news is based on views shared by former MP Shailendra Mahato on Facebook.)
