By IANS,
Ahmedabad : The “shabari mahakumbh”, first held in February 2006 to reconvert Christian tribals as Hindus in the tribal Dangs district of Gujarat, is now slated to be held under a new name in Mandla town in Madhya Pradesh from Feb 10, highly placed sources said here Monday.
Hindu activist Swami Aseemanand, a suspect in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts in Haryana and the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad, was the prime organiser of the first “shabari mahakumbh” and had earlier announced that the second edition would be held this year at the same venue.
He is now under arrest in connection with the terror attacks.
Sources close to the Hindu Jagran Manch and other co-sponsors based in Surat said that the decision to shift the congregation away from Dangs has been taken in view of the heightened surveillance by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
To be held under the name of “Maa Narmada Kumbh”, arrangements are afoot to host about 25 lakh people from all over the country and even abroad for the event to be held for three days from Feb 10.
The venue will be spread over 14 square km area and about 20 lakh people are expected to be housed in the area for the event.
While Swami Aseemanand had planned it as a movement to bring tribals who had turned to Christianity back to the Hindu fold, this year’s event is being given a social nomenclature – “Ma Narmada Samajik Kumbh”.
Prominent Hindu religious leaders as well as activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations, besides prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, figure in the list of invitees.
Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, including Narendra Modi of Gujarat, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh, are expected to attend the event