Posted on 03/21/2006 10:38:57 AM PST by NYer
Ahmedabad (AsiaNews/UCAN) – The nationalist Hindu government of Gujarat has decided to stop sisters from working in a hospital for lepers, terminating a contract that has lasted for more than 60 years.
But the decision has been opposed by patients. Many of the sick people said they will follow the sisters wherever they go. “They are everything for us,” Babban Sitapur. "Not even our family members take such care of us."
The Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate took up the administration of the Leprosy Hospital in 1949. Gujarat then was part of Bombay state, which was later divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. The government invited the nuns to run the hospital in Ahmedabad after many criticisms labelling it one of the country's worst-run institutions for leprosy patients.
The government used to renew the five-year contract routinely, but things began to change in 2001, soon after a government led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state.
Fr Cedric Prakash, the Jesuit who helped the sisters to renew the contract in 2001, said they managed to do so only with “great difficulty”. Already then, he could discern what the government intentions were. The renewal of the contact became a “vague and remote possibility”. On 21 February, the government announced it would not renew the contract with the sisters, which expires on 1 April.
The hospital stretches across a 10-hectare plot of government-owned land and houses some 40 inpatients while treating hundreds of outpatients. The nuns' residence is on the premises.
Fr Prakash said the decision to send the sisters away came from the state Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Ashok Bhatt, both known for their anti-Christian stance.
As news of the government decision spread, the patients gathered under a tree to discuss what to do. "We will go to the government and plead," said one of them, but another waved him down with his bandaged hand and said, "They will not allow us to even enter the compound."
Joseph John, a Catholic patient, suggested they go on a hunger strike, but that too was turned down. Sister Karuna, who is in charge of the hospital, stood at a distance; she said what the patients feared most was the discrimination they may face in contrast to the welcome they experienced within the premises. "People come here hesitatingly, but would not leave this place afterward. Back home they are hated, isolated and some are even thrown out.”
Chinga Powar came from a government hospital in neighbouring Maharashtra. In that hospital, he said, doctors would "not even come near us. The nurses would give out tablets in a plastic bag tied to a stick. The toilets were never cleaned, because lepers used it. We were treated worse than animals."
Eventually someone told him about the Ahmedabad hospital. "I didn't know the place, but I knew it was managed by Christian nuns, which was enough inspiration to come here," he continued. One night he left the Maharashtra hospital. He covered all his wounds, used a shawl to hide his face and rode in the back of a bus to Ahmedabad. He later helped two other patients from the hospital in Maharashtra to come to Ahmedabad.
Cinga Powar said he would not know where to go if the nuns left. He said the best thing to do would to request the government to allow the nuns to stay.
Minaben Patel, 81 years and a Hindu, has worked with the sisters for the past 50 years. She said the "real aim" of not renewing the nuns' contract could be to take over the land. Thanks to the development of the city, the value of the property has increased. She said there was no one ready to replace the sisters. "The government may gain some land, but they will lose these wardens of the poor permanently,” she said.
The secretary of the state's Health Department, S.R. Rao, said the decision not to renew the contract was “purely administrative”. The government owned the hospital, he continued, and was thus free "to decide whom to hand over the administration”.
The Health Minister said the government had plans to expand the institution's services and the termination of the sisters’ contract had nothing to do with ideology.
The contract stipulated that the sisters should shall not “do any preaching of the Bible or carry on any proselytizing activities among patients of the hospital as well as on the premises”. The sisters said they have never violated these stipulations.
Almost a year ago the government permitted them to start a house for HIV-positive patients in the same compound. Christians saw this decision as an expression of the government's appreciation for the sisters' service. Today, some HIV-positive people live in the hospital and around 500 receive medicines and treatment.
So far, the sisters have not yet received any official communication from the district health commissioner. They have only received some information from the Health and Family Welfare Department. (www.ucan.com)
Father Prakash failed to mention that Mr Modi is from a so called lower caste!!!
Well, I agree we need the Hindus on our side if possible. But I don't think it makes much sense for them to close down a leper colony that has taken good care of these people for a long time. Hopefully this can be quietly worked out.
The Hindu right is the biggest ally we have in india. The islamists and the commies are intent on pushing india closer to china and have always taken an anti US stance. Sadly some of the christian right are increasingly pushing the hindu right to take an anti US stance too.
Working and promoting christian values is one thing but bad mouthing hinduism will inevitably lead to a back lash. Remember India has a muslim president, a sikh prime minister and catholic leading its ruling party. It is the hindus if any who should feel disenfranchised!!
Thank you for clarifying that. It's true that some deeply ingrained, long-held cultural or religious ideas cannot be overcome just by changing the law. Look at female infant death rates in India. Infanticide is of course illegal, but it's a much longer history of leaving girls to die, and it's still going on because the ratio of girl to boy babies is around 7/10, drastically different than the naturally occuring statistic of slightly more females in a given population. Clitorectomies on infants are of course illegal in the U.S., but every year several immigrants are arrested for performing this culturally-acceptable procedure on their girl babies at home, often with a crude pocket or kitchen knife. Americans just don't realize how barbaric and backward some cultures really are. Which is why "multi-culturalism" is not always (ever?) good.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1507163/posts
India's RSS urges war against 'evil' of casteism
IANS/ The Times of India ^ | Saturday, October 22, 2005 02:14:11 pm | IANS
NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over caste-based political and social conflicts, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has urged Hindus to "get rid of this evil at the earliest".
"Hindu society should take all necessary measures to ensure entry and access to every Hindu, irrespective of his caste, to their homes, temples, religious places, public wells, ponds, and other public places," a resolution adopted at the three-day national executive meeting of the RSS said.
Around 350 RSS volunteers met in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh to brainstorm on several issues, including its ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been dogged by infighting.
After discussing the issue of casteism on Friday, the first day of the meeting, the organisation concluded that "caste-based untouchability" and "feelings of high caste and low caste" were the main evils haunting the Hindu society.
"Unfortunately, such incidents occur in society even to this day, manifesting the worst form of caste discrimination," the resolution posted on the organisation's website said.
"Hindu society will have to get rid of this evil at the earliest," it said.
Appealing for social harmony and Hindu brotherhood, the organisation warned the community against the political parties, which it said had been drawing "political benefits" out of casteism.
"Inventing caste based new conflicts in the Hindu society for the sake of political benefits has become a trend of many politicians these days."
"Treacherous elements are also joining hands in this. To create the vote banks, these politicians are encouraging caste-based rivalries, which result in creation of various caste based clashes," the resolution said.
The RSS also has urged the political parties to keep away from "caste politics" which caused "deep divisions" in the society and to give an "Indian culture" to the democracy.
Citing instances from the Hindu epics it said the religion always stood for lower caste people.
"No religion or sect is inferior to others. The whole society should be aware that every sect and caste of Bharat has a glorious history."
The national executive has appealed to all sects and castes that they should not look down on other sects and castes. "The entire society should fully realize the essence of 'Na Hinduh Patito Bhavet' (No Hindu shall ever come to grief)," the resolution said.
Interestingly, the RSS has been criticised by secular Indians for its Hindu supremacist philosophy and its frequent campaign against other religions, particularly Islam and Christianity.
There are also many Christians (Syrian/ Protestant IIRC) in India (Kerala State) who frown upon marriages among members of their community between members of other Christian denominations/religions, usually Catholics.
In their eyes, they are "purer/truer" Christians because their ancestors were converted by St. Thomas, the Apostle, whereas the newer Christian converts (usually the Catholics) were converted by "mere mortals".
We're deviating from the issue -- the Gujarat govt is kicking the nuns out, IMHO, purely because they are Christian. That's wrong. period.
Minaben Patel, 81 years and a Hindu, has worked with the sisters for the past 50 years. She said the "real aim" of not renewing the nuns' contract could be to take over the land. Thanks to the development of the city, the value of the property has increased. She said there was no one ready to replace the sisters. "The government may gain some land, but they will lose these wardens of the poor permanently,” she said.
I'd say we need more sources for this incident.
But why not just move the leper colony elsewhere.
Land is expensive within the city limits, I guess.
The nuns were performing acts of true Christian charity.
Selfless love!
Narendra Modi is nutz he should have long been ejected from the BJP and tried for his criminal role in the Gujarat riots.
Well, you can admire the Hindus all you like. And I'm not insulting them, I'm discussing their action as reported in this column.
If they kick out a group of nuns who have taken wonderful care of lepers who were abandoned by their own people, then they will deserve our contempt. It's entirely up to them.
could be corruption, that's true. But with Modi's track record of demagoguery (Dangs etc.), I wonder.
I think it's wrong to say "The hindus" because the majority of hindus have condemned violence against Christians -- pretty vocally. a blanket statement helps no-one. This is not like islamofascism, where we SEE that more than 3 quarters of the slamic population support such acts.
You have a point. But remember land prices/ rentals have sky-rocketed in those parts of Gujarat, in recent times. There's money to be made (plenty) by leasing it out.
In Bangalore, the Church which holds huge amounts of British-handed city-centre prime real estate, leases land to commercial organisations on regular, renewable long-term basis. I don't know about Gujarat. I think it is similar there too.
The a-holes in the government should have allocated land to the relief centre elsewhere, at the minimum, in the interest of those whom it serves.
The local government has eminent domain provisions in Gujarat. The compensation issue is tricky considering the fact that most of such land was not confiscated post-Independence, contrary to other pre-Independence public properties.
Especially the posessions of the rulers of the erst-while Princely States of India. Most temples come under them, and thus became government property automatically.
Ping to #37
Dear Freepers in Christ,
These are the two articles that I was talking about along with their URL'S.
All I have to say is this that Rajnath Singh is mentally retarded or has gone bonkers if he thinks that "Christian Missionaries" pose a grave threat to the unity and security of the country.
There are not many Tribals converting any more in large numbers as they used to 20-25 years ago -- yet the B.J.P. and other Extremist Hindu Groups have this opinion that Christian Missionaries are a threat to this country rather than Islamists and their Fundamentalist Supporters.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=4&articleid=21920062131466402192006213130843
Mumbai, February 20, 2006
BJP seeks law against conversion to Christianity
Party chief sees clear and present danger from Christian missionaries
IANS
Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday urged the Central government to frame laws to prevent conversions to Christianity.
"There is a threat to this country from Christian missionaries who in the name of development and welfare activities are converting poor people, especially in tribal areas across the country," BJP president Rajnath Singh said at a modest rally in Assam's main city Guwahati.
Singh, who was here with other senior BJP leaders including Pramod Mahajan to kick-start the party's campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in April-May — claimed large-scale conversions, could threaten the social and the religious fabric of India.
"We have requested the Central government to frame new legislation to ensure that nobody can carry out conversions by luring people with development and welfare activities."
Chief Ministers of all states ruled by the BJP had been issued specific instructions to stop any attempts at conversion, he said.
"We have warned all states ruled by the BJP not to allow any form of conversions that are bound to affect or threaten the social structure of the country," Singh said.
Referring to the coming state polls, he said, "We need to work hard to achieve our goal of capturing power in Assam. We can do it if we are determined.
"And if we manage to come to power in Assam, we shall definitely be able to hoist the saffron flag in all the northeastern states in the future."
Except for pockets of Assam, the BJP has no sizeable presence in the northeastern states.
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=18548
Indian Christian leaders seek gov’t help in attack on Catholic bishop
2/1/2006
UCANews (www.ucanews.com)
MUMBAI, India (UCAN) – Christian groups across India protested strongly after Hindu fanatics attacked a Catholic bishop and four priests in a western state. They sought federal help to arrest the perpetrators.
The Indian bishops' conference, several lay groups and a cardinal have condemned the Jan. 29 attack as an incident that shamed India's claims to being a secular nation. They asked the Maharashtra state and federal governments to act against the culprits.
In the attack a group of people shouted slogans and threw stones at Bishop Thomas Dabre of Vasai and the priests, who had gone to Ghosali village to open a hostel. One priest and a person on hand for the program were injured.
Bishop Dabre told UCA News Feb. 1 that police arrested 18 people a day after the incident in Thane district, 1,280 kilometers (about 800 miles) southwest of New Delhi, but released them on bail the same day.
On Feb. 1, diocesan officials and leaders of various religions met Archana Tyagi, the district collector, or top government official in Thane. Earlier, lay groups demanding the arrest of the culprits had approached Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Narrating the incident, Bishop Dabre said he and the priests had gone to the village to open a hostel his diocese built for tribal students.
About 200 people gathered outside the building and shouted slogans like "Christians go back" and "foreign dogs get out." They also verbally abused those attending the program.
Bishop Dabre said he and the priests ignored the shouting, since they did not want to aggravate the situation. The mob appeared to have retreated, but returned later with more people, many of them carrying sticks.
The mob surrounded the building, shouting slogans and effectively trapping the bishop and others inside for almost three hours.
Bishop Dabre, who has initiated several social works projects, said he has never come across such an incident in his 16 years as a bishop. "The situation is now under control," he said.
The spokesperson for the Indian Bishops' conference, Father Babu Joseph, told media in New Delhi that the incident was an example of how fanatical groups continue to intimidate and harass Christian missioners for undertaking welfare programs among the poor.
The "shocking and shameful" incident shows the fanatic groups are active against the church, he said. Certain groups are afraid that the church's works among the poor would destabilize the hold of upper-caste Hindus over India's socioeconomic sectors, the Divine Word priest added.
Condemning the incident, he asked the state and federal governments to initiate steps to arrest the culprits and take measures to ensure that similar incidents are not repeated.
Cardinal Ivan Dias of the Archdiocese of Bombay issued a statement in which he termed the attack "a barbaric and unwarranted outburst of violence."
The incident was "indeed a disgrace to our Indian culture of respect and tolerance, and it sadly reveals a serious lack of a sense of civilized democracy in the politico-religious groups which instigated it," the cardinal said. He added that such events "endanger communal harmony and wreck the secular fabric of our dear motherland."
Vasai Diocese was created in 1998 from Bombay archdiocese with Bishop Dabre, who had served as a Bombay auxiliary bishop since 1990, as its first Bishop.
Abraham Mathai of the All-India Christian Council and Joseph Dias, president of Catholic Secular Forum, visited the scene of the attack.
Lay leader Dias reported that some people had suspected trouble and informed police about the possibility of an incident three days in advance. "But they did not take any steps to prevent it nor did they arrive on time despite repeated appeals for help," Dias told UCA News. He noted that attackers kept the bishop, priests and others trapped for three hours before police arrived.
Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, who works for human rights in neighboring Gujarat state, charged in a statement that the attack was part of a strategy to create fear among Christians.
Hindu groups are organizing a mid-February fair in a tribal area of Gujarat with an explicit anti-Christian agenda such as converting Christian tribal people to Hinduism.
"The strategy of the fascist forces is not to attack any Christian or Christian institution in Gujarat itself for fear that a law-and-order breakdown can severely hamper their whole program" there, Father Prakash said.
John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union, is calling for the federal government to intervene as Christians reel under what he called the "January of terror" by Hindu fanatic groups, thugs and communalized police.
Dayal, who is also a member of the government's National Integration Council, issued a statement appealing to federal Internal Minister Shivraj Patil to "take decisive steps to instill confidence in the Christian community, which is reeling under a combine of violence."
His statement cited attacks on Christians in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan, besides the attack on Bishop Dabre. He said he has a list of about 100 cases of violence against Christians in 2005. Urgent steps are needed to restore confidence and check the violence, he maintained.
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