Dangs District, India - The much hyped Shabari kumbh mela, organised by the Sangh parivar outfits in this tribal district, ended today with Sangh leaders calling upon the people to ''awaken'' for the cause ''dharma, saskriti and rashtrabhav'' (religion, culture and nationalism).
In a resolution adopted at the 'Dharma Sabha' (religious convention), the religious leaders attacked the Christian missionaries for ''carrying out conversions'' of tribals and asked the people to thwart ''the designs of forces who are trying to divide the Hindu samaj''.
Stating the Shabari Kumbh was a more social movement unlike the Prayag kumbh which is a religious one, Shankaracharya of Jyotir Mutt Vasudevanand Saraswati Maharaj told the sabha that it should be organised every three years in various corners of India. ''It is a kumbh for social upliftment of the poor and the down-trodden,'' he said.
In her address, Religious leader Sadhvi Rithambhara, who had come here from Hardwar, launched an anti-conversion tirade. ''We cannot be mute spectators to what the missonaries are doing. No one can divide the country and if anybody tries to do so, has no right to live here.'' She also said,''We are not opposing any community. But we must stop people who are indulging in coversions by giving the poor allurements.'' RSS leader Mohan Bhagat said this was not the end of Shabri Kumbh, but actually the beginning. ''We must remain firm in our ideology and face the challenge of conversions. It is wrong to say that Kumbh disturbed the tranquility of region. For kumbh, lot of development works have been undertaken. Check dams have been built for preservation of water.'' He said it was a challenge to organise the Kumbh where there was no mobile network ''But we have proved it with blessings of Shabari mata. No one can stop us from organising this sort of an event in the name of environment,'' he added.
He also said Shabari Kumbh has a special significance as it honoured Shabari, referred in the Ramayana as a tribal woman, who had waited for 80,000 years to get a glimpse of Lord Rama.
About four lakh devotees had come from various parts of the country to participate in the mela. Police said no incident of violence was reported during the three-day extravaganza, which had begun amid Christian apprehensions about their security.