Dear Mr Venkat and friends:
In a situation where literally millions of India's children, especially those
of a lesser god are starving, as the latest figures on world hunger were
released a few days ago, one wonders what use to them Sanskrit education will
be.
Funny, also, how more innocent and devout people were killed in temple
stampedes in the past few months: 215 in Jodhpur, 147 in the Naina Devi temple
in Himachal, 6 in Vijayawada than in the bomb blasts, because the organisers of
the events in the temple managements did not take the trouble to make the
necessary crowd control measures. The RSS and other champions of the Hindu
cause would do well to look to these urgent calls on their expertise; in other
words, work with a positive agenda for, rather than against, the public
good.
Mr. Venkat, glad that you noticed that the Press release was dated 2004. It has
been in the public domain since then. But I felt that when senior Central
Government officials, citing thier official positions, give unsubstantiated
data seeking to "prove" that "conversions" are a task being carried out by
nefarious persons with all kinds of unsavoury agendas, it would be good to
share information on how those of a majoritarian persuasion go about thier
business. Even though the hyperlinks given in the original were deleted, I hope
the information would have given a clear picture of the methods used. From my
limited exposure to the RSS cadres, I do agree they were quite well-behaved. I
wish we could say the same about the activists of the Bajrang Dal, the Ram
Sena, the Dharma Raksha Manch, and sundry other Vedikes and fronts used by
the Hindutva groups on the ground.
And as for whether any communal activity between 2003 and 2007, I call to your
attention the series of over 56 attacks in Jabalpur, MP alone in a few months
in 2006 by the Dharm Raksha Sena, and the rape of two Christian women tribals
in Khargone on 28th June 2006, which the MP govt. failed to act upon, causing
the Christians to appeal to the governor of the state. Only a massive
mobilisation by the entire sizeable Christian population of Jabalpur who came
to the street in an unprecedented protest on Easter sunday of 2007 caused the
Dharm Raksha Sena, who were the main group carrying out the violence, to give
pause. There were a series of 6-7 murders of Pastors in AP in 2005-2006.
These are only a few of the more notable communal, anti-Christian incidents in
the pre-2007 period in parts of India other than Orissa and Karnataka, where
also, of course there were many such instances we can cite, all of which have
been reported in the press including the print media and are in the public
domain.
Trust this addresses the questions you have raised.
Mr. Murthy, I appreciate that you have seen the distinction between religion
and faith, though sorry that you see the clarifications I have offered to
complete the picture as vilification - I have been clear in presenting
facts but never used any pejorative terms as far as I know. My focus is not
on religion per se. Rather, I feel it is important to counter, with verifiable
information, the kind of propaganda which will do harm to the social and
communal fabric of our nation, and go counter to the Human and Constitutional
rights of the citizens of our country, especially those marginalised from
mainstream discourses.
Regards.
Cynthia
Cynthia Stephen
Independent Researcher and writer
Bangalore, India
