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MANOHARPUR, INDIA, January 22, 2004: Surrounded by dense forests and ramshackle hovels, Manoharpur looks like any other remote tribal village, says this article by Bibhuti Mishra. However, it came into the limelight five years ago when Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two minor sons were killed in front of the village church there. The murder brought the issue of conversion to the fore, as many tribals were converted to Christianity, thanks to the missionaries. Three years ago, the Puri Shankaracharya reconverted many of them to Hinduism. Mochiram Hembrum a reconvert says, “A couple of years back I fell seriously ill and Pastor Rolia Soren of the Baptist Church told me that I would be cured if I go to church and offer prayers to Jesus. I did, but nothing happened. So I decided, along with seven members of my family, to get back to Hinduism. I spoke of my wish to Nishikanta, our village headman. I donated a pig, a goat and 20 kilos of rice. The villagers had a feast and we returned to the fold,” he says. Most of the tribals are very poor. They say they had first converted because they were told that Jesus would cure them of their illnesses, reports Mishra.