Dead Man ‘Reconverted’

(Compass) – Residents of Gurandi village, Orissa, dug up the body of a Catholic man on October 4 and ceremonially “reconverted” him to Hinduism, along with the living members of his family. The incident was triggered when Bala Tulasiga, a 35-year-old Catholic convert, was buried in a Hindu cemetery. Purna Chandra Mohapatra, district president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) encouraged residents to protest against the burial. Rev. Dr. D.B. Hrudaya, general secretary of the local chapter of the All India Christian Council, said Christians had used the common Hindu cremation grounds on earlier occasions, “but this time the villagers objected to the burial at the instigation of the VHP.”