A book on ‘Religion, Conversion and Identity: A Sociological Study of the Uraoñs of Chotanagpur’, authored by Dr. Joseph Marianus Kujur, Director, Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi was unveiled here on Saturday. “This book will be greatly useful to a broad spectrum of people including technicians, researchers and political sciences. It is how identity is not static and ever evolving”, said Dr. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University during the launch of the book.
The book launch saw an attendance of local littérateurs and learned people, who discussed the situation of the Uraoñs of Chotanagpur in detail. Fr. Xavier Soreng, Superior XISS gave the welcome note while Fr. Pradeep Kerketta, Assistant Director, XISS gave the introduction of the speakers.
Talking about the study done on the Uraoñs and citing examples from the history, during the book release function, Dr. Kujur said, “In the denial of tribal identity to Uraoñs Christians, there are negations of rational choice of the subject.” He also said, “The main concern of book is ‘identity’ and Religion which is the single most powerful force of human history.” He traced back to the legislative history pertaining to conversion laws during the colonial times. He also mentioned that at present conversion related study in India seems to have resurfaced in polemic literature as much as in the scholarly discourses.”
The 327 page book, comprising eight chapters has been published byPrimus Books, Delhi, priced at Rs. 1295, focuses on different aspects ofcomplexities of the triangular relationship among tribal Christians, tribal Sarnas, and others. The book is available for a buy at Amazon as well.
During the launch, Ranendra Kumar, IAS, Director, Dr. Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute, Govt of Jharkhand too shared his views on the book and stated,”Whenever a problem happens, all tribals, irrespective of religion, get together, they do not care who is sarna and who is missionary” he also said, “ hierarchy of hindus is quite different to that of Uraoñs.”, and “even if an Uraoñ worships Shiva or hanuman, that does not mean he is Hindu; this thought needs to be inherited by us”
Moving further, Dr. Joseph Bara, Professor Emeritus, Department of Historical Research, JNU delved further into the scenario of fragmented relationship between Christians and Sarna where even after conversion they are a Scheduled tribe by virtue of being ‘Uraoñs’, and that calling the UraoñSarnas ‘Hindu’ is self-contradictory. He also highlighted the topic furthermore with, “People provide a very telescopic review, from a distance, but understanding the people you are studying is a very meticulous task which is done in this book.”
Dr. KK Bhagat, Faculty XISS also shared his views on the book followed by Jasbir Singh Khurana, Vice-Chairman of Alumni Association of XISS. Aayurshi Sahay, Staff XISS proposed the Vote of Thanks.