The VHP and the Sangh has a huge representation in many of the 1st world
countries apart from India. And in India it organises meetings in where the
Swayamsevaks in huge numbers pledge their heart and soul to protect Hinduism,
appear in uniform, sporting sticks, doing regular drills. Is the Sangh
organising a military within the Hindu community? Doesn't this project an open
aggression, in action. Hence the branding of a Hindu fundamentalism. Also
carrying out acts like storming the Babri Masjid, the burning of Graham Staines
and his sons, where the volunteers swear to life and death to protect Hinduism,
are all efficient signs of a comparable militant outfit. No one should be
excused if life is harmed for the sake of religion. Religion is a personal
devotion to a belief. But that belief should be ethical and moral. If a
person's belief is not moral or ethical, that is not religion.
Conversions can only be said to be forced if the people do not accept it
willingly. People undertake conversions only when they find that sustainability
in life is not possible with the current ongoing scenario in the society. And
why is it that only the people who are termed as "low caste" undertake
conversions? There have been several instances where the so-called "low-caste"
people are not allowed to mix freely with the society, not enter temples,
cannot draw water from public wells, minor mistakes are dealt with severe
repressive measures, and when they do so, they are harmed, even to the cases
leading to death and the judicial nature is also questionable, where a
panchayat even went to the extent of allowing the rape of a "low-caste" woman
by the "high-caste" men. But does these laws do any good to these people? Why
do we need to separate society and grant priviledges to certain sections of the
society? Isn't it the basic principle of a republic country that all men
are born equal? Then why divide? It is this basic question that leads people
to look for options. Options where they can be treated as equal, where they all
enjoy the same rights, have the same priviledges. Looking forward to a new
society where they can be treated as equals is the answer for them. And if they
want it that way, it is their life.. let them be what they want.. for it is
their identity. We cannot force them an identity. For thousands of years we
have forced them the identity of being "low-caste" and not enjoy certain
priviledges.. and this is what is the outcome now...
Evangelism should be dealt with care. I am concerned about the way people go
about evangelism. For evangelists, it may be the numbers that matter. But what
good would an apple tree be if it is laden with hundreds of fruits, but all are
tasteless. Yes, the quality of religion is enhanced by the integrity of moral
and ethical values, and so evangelists should be aware that if there is no
quality but only quantity it would go no furthur than a few steps. So whether
it is evangelism or a hardcore aggressive movement, all would be having the
same fate... a small life that cannot be sustained.
Common people want to live, build up their lives. Let them do it their own
way. Do not prevent them from growing into a society where they can stamp their
own identity. People want themselves to be know by name and not by what class
or caste they belong to.
v <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
*Local factors led to Kandhamal violence
* ***Ram Madhav*
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/08guest.htm
January 08, 2008
For days, one TV Channel ran visuals of how Christians have been targeted
for violence <http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/26orissa.htm> in Orissa's
Kandhamal district. Several other so-called national channels too joined the
chorus sufficient enough for *Mombattiwalas* (candlelight activists) to
plunge into the ring and declare that 'entire Orissa', if not 'entire
India', is in the grip of violence unleashed against 'innocent minorities'
by 'Hindu nationalists'.
As a senior leader pointed out to me after a heated TV debate, we have
created a funny nomenclature in our country: if you are a Hindu and defend
your faith, you are a 'Hindu nationalist' ? a pejorative reminiscent of
Nazi Nationalism. But if you are a Hindu and use your lung power to loudly
attack Hinduism and Hindus for crimes they never committed, then you are a
great 'secularist'. Both these stereotypes are a creation of our perverted
political discourse.
Thus every incident of the nature of the Kandhamal one will immediately be
dragged into this Hindu Nationalist?Secularist arena and the endless
blame-game continues.
We don't realise that in the process we are not only destroying the image of
our nation but actually perpetrating such violence by not looking
dispassionately into the real reasons behind each and every single incident.
Violence in the name of religion in any form should be opposed by all. It is
unfortunate that we had to end 2007 with one such violent situation in a
district of Orissa. But we must not ignore the fact that Kandhamal is ? for
that matter many such incidents have been ? a localised incident; not a
phenomenon as the Candlelight-*walas* would want us to believe. It is
neither pan-Orissa nor pan-Indian.
*'Many feel conversion is not the church's
business'<http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/13inter1.htm>
*
The trouble in Kandhamal
<http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/27church.htm>started on December
23 when some Christians at Brahmanigoan village wanted
to erect a Christmas gate in front of a Hindu place of worship. This was
resented by the local Hindus who questioned the motive of the Christians in
insisting on building a second gate near a Hindu place of worship while one
gate was already erected at a place where it is done every year on the eve
of Christmas. This led to the initial
clashes<http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/29wk3.htm>.
Since Christians were more in number in the said village the Hindus were at
the receiving end.
As the news of clashes reached Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a selfless
Hindu seer ? working for the socio-economic development of the local people
for over four decades -- he set out for Brahmanigoan on December 24. His car
was attacked by a violent Christian mob in which the seer himself and two of
his followers sustained serious injuries.
Swamiji, 82 years old, has been relentlessly working for the uplift of the
people in the district -- more than 75 per cent of whom are below the
poverty line and illiterate -- since 1967. He has opened schools and
hostels, hospitals and temples to serve mainly the tribals and the
down-trodden.
It was this attack that led to further clashes in the district, as the seer
is highly respected and has innumerable supporters in the district. Four
days of clashes resulted in both sides suffering in various ways -- many
houses were burnt, properties destroyed and physical attacks taking place.
What made things worse in Kandhamal was the open collaboration between the
Christian groups and Naxals. Among those arrested in connection with the
burning down of villages inhabited by Hindus (Brahmanigaon, Jhinjiriguda,
Katingia, and Godapur) were 47 Maoists. Some 20 guns have been recovered by
the security forces from them.
The Kandhamal violence is essentially a localised one, as many such
incidents in the country have been. It is the local factors that play a
predominant role. Animosities were brewing no doubt. But again the reasons
were immediate. There has been a feud between the Kondh tribals and largely
Christian Pana Scheduled Caste people. The Panas, under the leadership of
the local Congress Rajya Sabha member Radhakanta Naik, who is said to be a
convert, have been demanding inclusion of their caste in the Scheduled Tribe
category as they too speak the same Kui language that the ST Kondhs speak.
This argument was rejected by the state government as well as by the courts.
But the agitation in favour of the demand continues under Naik's leadership,
fuelling resentment among the Kondhs who remained largely unaffected by
conversion activity of the Christian missionaries.
However, if there is any one aspect that is pan-Indian in all the incidents
related to Hindu-Christian clashes it is religious conversions. Even in
Kandhamal district, one of the major factors fuelling tensions is the
conversion campaign of the evangelical groups. It is noteworthy that in a
state like Orissa which enacted anti-conversion laws as back as in 1967, the
Christian population in Kandhamal district alone has grown from 6 per cent
in 1970 to 27 per cent in 2001.
The 'aggression' shown by the new age evangelical groups mostly in
predominantly tribal areas in states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Gujarat etc has become a major contributor of religious strife. We can't
overlook the fact that in the entire country Christmas was celebrated with a
lot of gaiety with millions -- a lot of Hindus included -- thronging
churches. Hindus, at the core of their belief, are 'omnitheists'. For a
Christian or a Muslim there is 'one god', but for a Hindu there is 'only
god'. For him god is omnipresent, the entire creation is divine
manifestation only.
Religious conversion is an anti-thesis to this belief. There was a time when
at the end of the British Raj the mainstream missionaries in India had
decided to focus more on humanitarian and developmental activity than
conversions. Many still adhere to that concept, confining themselves to
running schools, hospitals etc and serving humanity at the time of need.
However, for the growing breed of 'aggressive' evangelicals, numbers are
very important. 'Harvesting souls' is god's work for them. Means don't
matter. In a very interesting article in Christian Science
Monitor<http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0401/p01s04-wosc.html>(April 1,
2005) Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict
Management in New Delhi and a renowned intellectual was quoted as saying:
'Aggressive and unprincipled missionary work that exploits the distress and
ignorance of marginalised groups ... can constitute a catalyst to localised
violence, particularly when they are brought into confrontation with other
creeds'.
*External link: A new breed of
missionary<http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0401/p01s04-wosc.html>
*
These 'aggressive' activities of their fellow pastors and fathers have
aggrieved many Christian leaders too. This is what the Christian Science
Monitor article says on those activities:
*After the tsunami, the US National Council of Churches issued a statement
warning against the practice by "New Missionaries" of mixing evangelism and
aid. "Often lacking sophistication about the lure of gifts and money, and
wanting to be generous with their resources, they easily fall prey to the
charge of using unethical means to evangelize. This creates a backlash," the
February statement read.*
*"You get this guy out of Texas who has no idea of the local culture, he is
out to win souls, and he comes with a lot of money," says Bob Alter, former
Presbyterian pastor born and raised in the Indian mountain town of
Mussoorie, and former superintendent of a missionary institution, the
Woodstock School.*
*The problem with these newer churches, Mr. Alter says, is the tone of their
message. "You have Baptists using the Diwali festival [the Hindu festival of
lights], but they come to 'spread the light to those in darkness.' That is
mighty offensive stuff, when you're out to tear down another religion."*
It even quoted one Bishop Chacko, head of the Roman Catholic diocese in
Meghnagar in Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh who said, 'Even the older
Protestant churches are unhappy with the evangelicals. It is said that they
are irresponsible. Consequences don't matter to them. They put the fire and
then they leave it to burn.'
Whether it is Kandhamal in Orissa or Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh or Dangs in
Gujarat, the only pan-Indian question is the evangelical activities of
'aggressive conversion campaign'.
If we argue that conversion is a right, then re-conversion too is a right.
In this melee of conversions and re-conversions violence and strife will
become the order of the day.
Let every religion enjoy complete religious freedom to preach, practice and
propagate. But as our apex court categorically stated, 'Propagate' does not
and should not include 'Conversion'. Let us put an end to the
institutionalised activity of conversions by church agents and instead allow
citizens freedom of personal choice without fear or favour.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
