HI Kumar,
Thanks for enlightening me on what happened in Goa few centuries ago.
Inquistion was a dark period in Catholic Christian history but u must realise
that its only the Spanish who used religion as a pawn to become rulers of the
place. We have moved from those barbarian days, not that they are
excusable.Please also remember that not all christians are catholics and
Inquistion was primarily a Catholic initiative.It will be a good idea not to
paint all christians with the same brush. Just becasue the catholics did it
doensot mean that all christians resort similar heinous methods
I would like to know if the tribals in Bihar or North east were also forcibly
converted.Because thats what we were debating. My impression is that they were
not. But if you have some info on that I wiil appreciate very much. Because the
Inquistion did not just affect the Hindus in Goa it was an international
affair, as you know. The motive was political than religious.
Yes, but I do agree Inquistion was very very very wrong and should be
condemned. But I am more interested in knowing if something similar happened in
the Jharkhand area.
Cheers
Isaac
S kumar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This post is marked as OFF-TOPIC by moderator - Jharkhand Forum
Verghese
Read what "missionaries" did in Goa and the INQUISITION.
Was there any worse scenerio anywhere.
Both Abrahamic religions are full of massacres and inquisition, beheadings
and burning on stakes throughout the World!!
INQUISITION IN GOA Beginning The first inquisitors, Aleixo Dias Falcão and
Francisco Marques, established themselves in what was formerly the raja of
Goa's palace, forcing the Portuguese viceroy to relocate to a smaller
residence. The inquisitor's first act was forbidding Hindus from publicly
practice of their faith through fear of death. Sephardic Jews living in Goa,
many of whom had fled the Iberian Peninsula to escape the excesses of the
Spanish Inquisition to begin with, were also persecuted. The narrative of Da
Fonseca describes the violence and brutality of the inquisition. The records
speak of the necessity for hundreds of prison cells to accommodate fresh
victims. Seventy-one "autos da fe" were recorded. In the first few years alone,
over 4000 people were arrested, with 121 people burnt alive at the stake[2].
Persecution of Hindus The Hindus of Goa were one of the most affected by the
inquisition. The condemned Hindus were publicly burned at the stake in the
square outside the Sé Cathedral in batches during ceremonies known as auto da
fé (Portuguese: act of faith). Those who confessed to their accused heresy
would be strangled prior to the burning. In this case, heresy was to practice a
faith other than Christianity . Historian R.N. Sakshena writes ".. in the name
of the religion of peace and love, the tribunal(s) practiced cruelties to the
extent that every word of theirs was a sentence of death"[5].
Anti-Hindu laws and prohibitions Laws were passed banning Christians from
keeping Hindus in their employ, and the public worship of Hindus were deemed
unlawful[5].
A large number of restrictive religious laws were enacted, including the
banning of Hindu musical instruments, dhoti, betel leaves and cholis. Many
Hindu temples were converted or destroyed, and Christian churches built in
their place, often from the materials of the temples they replaced. Throughout
this period several important Hindu texts were burned in an effort to saturate
the area with Christian religious texts. Most notably, the Kama Sutra increased
in infamy with its "lewd" alternatives to the endorsed Missionary position.
Orders were issued that Hindu children who were orphaned be "taken
immediately and handed over to the College of St. Paul of the society of Jesus
of the said city of Goa, for being baptized, educated and indoctrinated by the
Fathers of the said College and being directed by them and placed in positions
according to their respective aptitudes and abilities".[3]. The order was
endorsed by the viceroy of Goa, Antao de Noronha and the Governor, Antonio
Moniz Barrette. While the original order applied only to orphans, there were
frequent complaints that Hindu children with parents were kidnapped from their
families and forcibly baptized[3]. Some Hindu families secretly smuggled their
children out of Goa. Other less fortunate Hindus paid extortion money to
Christian priests to keep their children from being kidnapped and baptized[3].
Many Christian priests disagreed with these draconian measures and
sympathized with the Hindus, generating a brief lull in the forced conversions.
However, the "Father of the Christians", upon hearing of this, complained to
the Archbishop and reinstated a new wave of forced conversions[3].
Several anti-Hindu laws were enacted with the expressed intent to "humiliate
Hindus" and encourage conversions to Christianity. The viceroy ordered that
Hindu pandits and physicians be disallowed from entering the capital city on
horseback or palanquins, the violation of which entailed a fine. Successive
violations resulted in imprisonment, Christian palaquin-bearers were forbidden
from carrying Hindus as passengers. Christian agricultural laborers were
forbidden to work in the lands owned by Hindus and Hindus forbidden to employ
Christian laborers[3]. The inquisition guaranteed "protection" to Hindus who
converted to Christianity. Thus, they initiated a new wave of baptisms to
Hindus who were intimidated by their brutality into converting[6].
The inquisition supplied the ecclesiastic Jesuit priests with a strong
state-sanctioned weapon to use against the Hindu population of the region.
Moderate Catholics who tried to build bridges with Hindus were also persecuted.
Even the governor of Goa from 1588-1591 was investigated when he consulted
Hindu clerics about the auspicious dates concerning the arrival of ships[7].
The adverse effects of the inquisition were tempered somewhat by the fact that
Hindus were able to escape Portuguese hegemony by migrating to other parts of
the subcontinent[8].
Use of torture Hindus who were arrested for repeated violations of the laws
were taken in by the inquisition to the "Palace of the Goa Inquisition" for
"confessions". The confessions were attained by various torture techniques.
Techniques included Hindus being tied up and having their feet burned slowly
with sulphur, water torture techniques and racks to which the victims were
manacled and their joints slowly dislocated by stretching.This "strappado"
method was a particular favorite among the inquisitors. Thumb-screws and
leg-crushers called "Spanish boots" were also employed. Often, boiling oil was
poured on their legs and sulphur dropped on their bodies with lighted candles
held beneath their armpits. Another technique involved fixing the victims to
revolving tables and whirling them round until they were nauseous. These
techniques were applied to the victims until they were weakened to the point of
being persuaded to "convert" to Christianity and "confess".[3]
Executions Those who "confessed" were strangled to death and their corpses
burned. Those who did not were burned alive at the stake. All the victims of
the inquisition eventually had their shirts steeped in sulphur. Those who did
not confess had their shirts painted with flames pointing upward. Those who did
had their shirts painted with flamed pointing downward. They were taken from
the palace to the Church during Sunday mass. Then, they were subjected to
ridicule by the Christian parishioners. Once that ritual was complete, the
confessors were strangled and their corpses, together with the living
non-confessers, were "conducted to the Campo Sancto Lazaro" and burned at the
stake in the presence of onlookers.[3]
Persecution of Christians (non-Catholic- Syrian Christians) In 1599 under
Aleixo de Menezes the Synod of Diamper converted the Syriac Saint Thomas
Christians (of the Orthodox faith) to the Roman Catholic Church under the
excuse that they allegedly practiced Nestorian heresy. The synod enforced
severe restrictions on their faith and the practice of using Syriac/Aramaic.
The Kerala Christians of Malabar were independent of Rome. What resulted in it
was the persecution of the Syrian Christians of Malabar. They were first made
politically insignificant and their Metropolitanate status was discontinued by
blocking bishops from the Middle East. There were assassination attempts
against Archdeacon George so as to subjugate the entire church under Rome.
Even the common prayer book was not spared. Every known item of literature was
burnt and any priest professing independence was imprisoned. Some altars were
pulled down to make way for altars conforming to Catholic criteria. St.
Thomas Christians resentful over these acts later swore the Coonan Cross Oath,
severing relations with the Catholic Church. They swore that from that day they
nor their children would have any relations with the church of Rome thereby
raising the first freedom movement against the western powers in India.
In addition, non-Portuguese Christian missionaries who were in competition
with the inquisition were often persecuted even though they were outside the
sphere of influence of the inquisition. When the local clergy became jealous of
a French priest operating in Madras, they lured him to Goa, then had him
arrested and sent to the inquisition. He was saved when the Hindu King of
Carnatica (Karnataka) interceded on his behalf, laid siege to St. Thome and
demanded the release of the priest[7].
Persecution of Jews The Jews in the region were rounded up, together with
the Hindus. Both groups were charged with "paganism", but the Jews were doubly
charged with "Judaism".[9]
The anti-semitic aspect of the inquisition ran parallel to the
contemporaneous inquisitions in Spain and Portugal, working its havoc in Goa,
among other places in the Iberian sphere of influence.[10] There was a large
population of Jews in the Konkan region. The inquisition mandated that
celebrating the Jewish Sabbath in Goa was enough to get an Indian Jew burned at
the stake. The Indian Jews were shackled in irons and imprisoned in filthy
prisons for long periods of time before they were tried and executed.[9]
The Jewish presence in the South Indian state of Kerala has been notable.
Eventually, they sought refuge with the Hindu King of Cochin. In a letter
written by the Portuguese to their king in 1513 permission is sought for their
extermination. They also destroyed the Jewish settlement in Cochin and damaged
the Jewish synagogue as well as their historical documents.
In 1662 CE the Dutch attacked Cochin but were driven out. The Jews were
severely punished by the Portuguese for allegedly aiding the Dutch. In 1663 CE
the Dutch returned and defeated the Portuguese. The Jews were treated more
tolerantly by the Dutch rulers. The Cochin Jews reestablished their links with
European Jews. In 1687 a Jewish delegation from Amsterdam arrived under the
leadership of Mr. Thomas Perera. His report published in 1687 under the name
"NOTSIAS DOS JUDEOS DE COCHIM " details the history of Cochin Jews.[11]
End of the Inquisition Though officially repressed in 1774, it was
reinstated by the Queen Maria I in 1778. The last vestiges of the Goa
Inquisition were finally swept away when the British occupied the city in 1812.
The inquisition has been viewed retrospectively as a failure by scholars of
Christian history, since it failed in its objective of eradicating non-Catholic
societies in India[12].
If you want to read more about cruelties by missionaries in India, I would
post them!!
isaac verghese <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Venkat, how dare you equate a
terrorist attack with Mullah's, marxists and missionaries.Did they organise the
attack? What proof do you have of that? We should beware of guys like you. If
a a bomb blasts in a Muslim area can we blame the Hindu Priests/RSS? I know
where u belong Venkat- in the psychiatric ward, at Kanke.
Instead of thinking how to provide assistance to the victims at Jaipur, with
lightning speed, you took your gun out to shoot the Mullah's, marxists and
missionaries. That's the counterfeit version of Hinduism u follow.Thank god u
r a minority. U r worst than the politicians Venkat, u will seize any
opportunity to push your agenda. U R the terrorist mate.Shame on you!!!
Cheers
Isaac
Jharkhand Forum | Voice for Change | Jharkhand.org.in/forum
ven <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Friends
As I had just finished written in my previous message, we need to face up to
dangers that is confronting India today. Islamic terrorism as the present
attacks indicate, naxalite violence and missionary menace are the three evil
forces operating in India.
Nachiketa as a rabid Hindu hater now has blood in his hands with his constant
deceptions about Hindutva and virtually hands in glove treatment of the real
evil forces that infects India today.
members, we need to work united to take and destroy the mullah, marxist,
missionary dangers or get ready to be destroyed by them. The choice is ours. .
The attacks and killings in Jaipur are a grim reminder of what happens if we
fall for fools and extremist sympathisers like Nachiketa and ignore the
jihadis and violent naxatlites who are the actual perpatrators of violent deeds
on innocent Indians.
Venkat
Jharkhand Forum | An Action for Change | www.jharkhand.org.in/forum
P V Isaac,
Home:9874 1819 Mob 0415 144 981.
" What you resist, will persist"
P V Isaac,
Home:9874 1819 Mob 0415 144 981.
" What you resist, will persist"
