An anti-Christian plan is being carried out across India, says Catholic activist

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union, warns in not so many words that Hindu nationalists are no longer limiting themselves to random attacks against Christians but have prepared a well-thought-out plan that combines terror and intimidation against minorities and that they are currently implementing across the country.

For Mr Dayal, state political and administrative leaders as well as the justice and law enforcement systems are prejudiced against minorities, instilling fear and insecurity amongst ethnic and religious minorities who are forced to live in terrible conditions.

He writes: “You [i.e. Prime Minister] are of course aware of the single-minded pursuit of a communal agenda by the Government of the State of Rajasthan, both in the case of the Emmanuel Mission as also in bringing the so-called Freedom of Religion Bill [sic].”

To illustrate his point, Mr Dayal brought to the prime minister’s attention two grave episodes. First, the “naked display of armed might by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu paramilitary group] in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh” during state elections in defiance of “civil authorities and [. . .] the Arms Act”, an act that did not elicit any response by the same authorities despite the fact that Uttar Pradesh is not even governed by India’s largest party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who are the RSS’s political masters. What would happen, he asks, if the BJP actually ran the state?

Although different in nature, the second episode is even more disquieting and violent. It concerns the confiscation by the state of Gujarat of a leprosarium in Ahmadabad and the sacking of six Catholic nuns in charge of the institution and their eviction from the Ave Maria Convent which was their home for the past 60 years.

The nuns’ link to the place dates back to 1949 shortly after independence when Bombay authorities invited a Jesuit clergyman, Father Villalonga, to help stop leprosy in the city of Ahmadabad. With the help of Franciscan sisters from Kumbakonam, led by Sister Naemi, he set out building the facility. The authorities and the local bishop signed a five-year, renewable agreement, setting up a government-funded leprosy hospital.

After 60 years, the nuns’ work has become legendary and in all of this time the agreement was always renewed without problems . . . until last month that is.

Dayal explains that whilst the sisters had no reason to suspect anything untoward when the local Health Commission requested a review of the permit, they knew something was really wrong when the government sent them a letter informing them that a lay doctor would take over the management of the facility giving them two days to vacate the convent. In a letter formally announcing that the permit was not being renewed, the Health Commission said that the decision had come from a higher authority.

Even though the “victims are not the nuns, but the hapless patients,” writes Dayal, “it is clear why they were sacked, dispossessed of their home and thrown out of the hospital. For their religion! [. . .] A leprosarium is hardly the place for evangelization.”

In concluding his appeal, Dayal writes: “Dear Prime Minister, the time has come for a serious look at this pattern of hate against Christians. This is not the average communal riot or victimization which sporadically bursts out, and then dies out. This is a sustained terror campaign against our community, even if each incident is separated from the next in space and time. May I request [. . .] that the Union Government [. . .] consider comprehensive political and administrative measures that send out the correct signals to the guilty, and extend assurances to the victims.”

Evangelists' half truths

Apropos the article, "Bashing Christians yet again, (Think pad, March 25), by Dominic Emmanuel, the outlandish claims of persecution of Christians vis-à-vis the Haqeeqat controversy, the pressure tactics from abroad by attempting to involve international agencies and US Senators and the pretence of righteous indignation are all too familiar. The present scenario has the makings of yet another fraudulent campaign aimed at camouflaging the nefarious activities of Christian missionaries. The reference to the Gujarat riots (which did not involve Christians) and the Shabari Kumbh Mela (which has no direct bearing on the present controversy) reveal the agenda of the clergy: defame the growing influence of Hindu organisations in communities they see as fertile ground for evangelism.

It is important to revisit the so-called anti-Christian acts which were reported in the Indian media in 1998-1999, and zealously propagated overseas by certain sections of the Indian diaspora. One case involved the rape of four nuns in Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh), while another indicated that Christian priests had been attacked and the Bible burnt in Wynad (Kerala). In each of these cases, the media with the help of the Christian community was quick to implicate Hindu extremists and deliberately project a wider anti-Christian vendetta.

Investigation revealed that the culprits in the Jhabua rape episode were in fact Christians and the Wynad incident was more fiction than fact. By the time these details were available, the vilification campaign against the Hindu groups had served its purpose - a clever ploy, no doubt, but morally repulsive.

Reverting to the present incident, the bishop and the archbishop stand convicted by the words of their own spokesman: "Their only crime is that they allowed the book to be kept on shelves for sale." In other words, they were active hawkers of this hate manual, a crime in itself. When a non-denominational entity like a bookstore carries a controversial book, freedom of expression can be invoked and justified. But when a religious organisation sells a book that denigrates another, the intention is but malicious. This violates the basic tenet of secularism that demands that religions respect one another. Punitive action is certainly warranted in this case.

By use of the phrase, "some denigrating remarks", the spokesman for the Emmanuel Mission appears to make light of the whole affair and indicates a blatant insensitivity to Hindu feelings. Mr Kanchan Gupta in his article, "Abusing freedom, falsifying gods" (March 25) meticulously details the numerous offensive remarks the book, Haqeeqat contains. Gauge the toxicity of anti-Hindu venom: "Naked sanyasis are worshipped by (Hindu) women. The moment (Hindu) women see naked sanyasis, they fall on the ground and prostrate themselves before the sanyasis. (Hindu) women pour water on the sanyasis' penises and then happily drink that water. Linga devata is gratified when he sees all these repulsive things and feels empowered... These people... do not know the difference between... right and wrong." (p 93)

Rather than trying to defend a hopeless case with the aid of half-truths and distortions, the Emmanuel Mission must accept their mistake and apologise to the Hindu community. Hindus would respond positively as they are tolerant and magnanimous by nature. Tolerance until now has been exclusively a Hindu trait. In future, the Government must ensure that all religions conform to a common code of civility. Failure to do so will only fuel Hindu extremism and make a serious dent in Indian secularism.

The Pioneer. Estd. 1864.

So what else is new? Persecution of Christians in India is an old story.

There have been murders of priests, rapes of nuns (some of whom were forced to drink their own urine), church burnings, attacks on Christian schools and prayer halls, and other incidents. Missionary Graham Staines and his two little boys were burned to death while they slept in their jeep by a mob of Hindus chanting "Victory to Hannuman." Missionary Joseph Cooper was beaten so severely by the Hindus that he had to spend a week in an Indian hospital and then he was thrown out of the country. These things happen with impunity, generally. In fact, the rapists of nuns were praised by one of the major Hindu organizations, the parent of one of the major political parties, in India. Police broke up a Christian religious festival with gunfire. Several states have med it illegal to convert from Hinduism to any other religion. Such a law is being considered nationally.

http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=7870&section_id=3

50% quotas in Indian universities likely

Press Trust Of India
Posted Thursday , April 06, 2006 at 15:35
Updated Thursday , April 06, 2006 at 19:12

New Delhi Reserved seats in education institutes funded by the central government will increase to almost 50 per cent when the government decides to have a quota for other backward classes (OBCs).

The decision will impact 20 central universities, the IITs, IIMs and colleges supported by the government. The government is considering accepting the Mandal Commission’s suggestion of 27 per cent reservation for backward classes in Central government educational institutions and the quota increase is a part of this.

The new policy, if implemented, would take the overall reservation in the Central government-funded higher education institutions from the current 22.5 (for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students) to 49.5 per cent.

HRD Minister Arjun Singh said on Wednesday that his ministry would announce the decision after Assembly polls end in five states. The government wants to increase reservation following the passage of the 104th amendment, which enables the Centre to go up to 27 per cent reservation and the States according to their need.

The Centre has already directed state governments to increase reservation for backward categories in the state-level institutions.

Singh has written to the states to frame laws in the light of the 104th Amendment, passed in the winter session of Parliament, which gives them the right to take steps that would ensure advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in private educational institutions as well.

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