Author: Dr C.I. Issac
Publication: Organiser
Date: January 9, 2005
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=59&page=12
An eleventh commandment is the need
of the hour so far as Christianity as well as other Semitic religions are
concerned. Their God had failed to make such a command in the past. It
has prompted the gods to safeguard their endurance because in an era of
a competition of gods for survival, the existence of a particular God was
being challenged by other gods. So the gods of the Semitics were forced
to limit their commandments to ten. That is why He hath issued some harsh
ordinances like, "Condemn to death anyone who offers sacrifices to any
God except to me, the Lord" [See Exodus Ch. 22, Aphorism 20]. But in India,
it has been much different to the Semitic situation. Here for thousands
of years, one type of worship or way of realisation of God never infringed
upon other gods. It was because of this reason that the Indian mindset
was moulded/shaped by the rishis [great teachers] who presented a worldview
of lokah samasta sukhino vabantu and proclaimed the unity and oneness of
God. That is why there are four authoritative texts of the Hindus-Vedas,
adhering to the message of monism/Advaitam/unitarianism or the strong foundation
of monotheism. Hence, each Veda proclaimed the message of monotheism of
first degree without any obscurity: Rig Veda proclaims pranjanam Brahma;
Yajur Veda highlights aham Brahmasmi; Sama Veda announces tatvamasi; and
Atharva Veda confirms ayammathma Brahma. Above all, the Rig Veda mantra
of eakam sat vipra bahuta vadanti became the basis of the Hindu approach
to other faiths. Thus, in the light of this Hindu approach, let us examine
the recent controversies on the question of proselytism.
On November 6, 1999 Pope John Paul
II in his sermon at the Sacred Heart Cathedral of New Delhi, openly stated,
"Just as in the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe,
and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that
in the third Christian millennium, a great harvest of faith will be reaped
in this vast and vital continent [Asia]".
We should take this call on its
face value as the Pope is the head of a big Christian faction. No doubt
this call was an open challenge upon the sovereignty of a democratic country
and its people, while considering the political statuesque of the Pope,
i.e. the head of another sovereign country [even though its area is below
250 acres], the Vatican city. No doubt it was part of a conspiracy going
on in Christendom all over. On the basis of the sermon of Pope, we should
see the American President George Bush's Asian Christianisation project
worth one thousand crore dollars. The World Christian Encyclopaedia, Vol.
I, 2nd edition, 2001, p. 366 of OUP, New York reads on India as follows:
"Christians and Muslims will probably both find room to grow in the mosaic
of India's peoples so that by 2025, Christians account for 7.4 per cent
and Muslims for 12.2 per cent while Hindus decline under 73 per cent [down
from 80 per cent in 1900]... With sustained growth over the next few decades,
Christianity could grow to nearly 10 per cent of India's population by
a.d. 2050. Hindus will potentially decline as a percentage of India's population
as other religions continue to win adherents over the next few decades."
In the light of all these, we must try to see the question of conversion
going on amongst the Hindus of India in general and particularly of the
Hindu jatis in Kerala.
The society of Kerala is highly
literate and that is why the Christian/Islamic stratagems on proselytism
are entirely different from the rest of India and are multi-faceted. In
the light of this insight, one should see the Hindu antipathy over the
minority approach of en masse dismemberment of a community/culture. No
doubt this proselytisation process is suicidal insofar as a civilisation
is concerned. Under the guise of charitable service, a Kenyan national,
Brother Bernard, on a visiting visa and some nuns of the above missionary
organisation in an economically backward Hindu settlement, were opposed
and blockaded at the entrance of the hamlet by some youth hailing from
all non-communal political parties. This piece of news is being vocally
debated upon in the mainstream newspapers of Kerala. One year back another
US citizen, named Rev. Joseph Cooper, with a visiting visa, publicly ridiculed
and belittled Hindu gods and goddesses in a Christian convention at Kilimannoor,
near Trivandrum. The public however managed to control the situation and
the state government along with the ruling and opposition front paved the
escape route for the missionary, who violated visa norms from the eyes
of law as had happened in the case of Brother Bernard recently. Both were
engaged in conversion of Hindus, but those who are responsible to bring
them before law, closed their eyes wilfully.
Kerala, no doubt is the cape of
suicides and number one in the world. In this suicidal cape more than three
dozen farmers opted for the path of suicide on account of their mounting
insolvency. A good number of them were Christians and belonged to the cash
crop rich area of Wyanadu, a place near the nuns of Missionaries of Charity
who are labouring in the Hindu hamlet of Calicut. They could find no time
to console the families of the ill-fated Christians or extend any relief
to the kith and kin of the unfortunate victims. Possibly the 'messiahs
of service and charity' bypassed the sorrows of the poor, traditional Christians
because they have already been granted rooms in heaven. No, diluting the
grief of the traditional Christians is never a profitable business as far
as the agents of conversion/ proselytism are concerned. So they are now
on the doors of the needy Hindus with their 'charity'.
Sister Nirmala, the Mother Superior
of the Missionaries of Charity, who pretends to respect secularist values,
clearly explained their approach towards other religions in the following
words: "Christianity is the only religion which is totally true; the other
religions are true only partially." The CMI, the monastic order of the
Catholic church, in their document relating to their education policy published
in 1991 for private circulation, states that the ultimate aim of their
education service in India is "to grant acquaintance with the persona of
Jesus Christ and His Gospel" to the Hindu boys. It is interesting to see
that Francis Xavier, who was responsible for the establishment of the 'Holy
Inquisition of Goa', in which Hindu women were raped and immolated alive
and Hindu places of worship were desecrated, has been elevated to sainthood,
and Christian educational institutions in India are being established in
his name. The same Francis Xavier wrote to his monastic authorities at
Portugal about his 'heroic deeds' in India in the following words: "I order
everywhere the temples to be pulled down and idols broken. I know not how
to describe in words the joy I feel before the spectacle of pulling down
and destroying the idols." [Kanayalal M. Talreja: Holy Vedas and Holy Bible,
p. 18].
Jawaharlal Nehru pictures the vulgar
face of the 'Holy Inquisition' in his work Glimpses of World History, p.
191 as follows: "About this time, the Inquisition, that terrible weapon
which Roman Church forged to crush all who did not bow down to it, was
established in Spain. Jews, who had prospered under the Saracens, were
now forced to change their religion, and many were burnt to death. Women
and children were not spared." See how cruel the Christianity was as practiced
by the 'angels of service'.
The first Dalit conversion in Kerala
took place on September 6, 1854, that is exactly 150 years back, and one
Daivathan was converted to Christianity and christened as Habel. Now, the
Christian, source certify that there are three million Dalits converted
to Christians, who reside in Kerala. Their social as well as economic status
is very pathetic and they are destined to the savarna Christian's ostracism.
Their journey to paradise was no doubt like the old saying that goes 'from
the frying pan to the burning fire'. Now their social position is between
the devil and the deep sea. That is why the progenies of the first converted
Dalit [Daivathan/ Habel] returned to poorva dharma, i.e. Hinduism. Let
us quote an Anglo-Indian novelist of contemporary Kerala, Nirmala Aravind:
"Their church had started out by encouraging converts from low castes,
but after some time the Syrian Christians [savarna Christians] could not
stomach the former untouchables sitting side by side with them on the same
pews, and there had been a cleavage. Now there are separate churches in
some places, though converts are still admitted." The plight of the poor
Dalits, once converted to Christianity, is horrendous. Father Chavara,
the blessed, a CMI padre, was a pioneer in the field of Dalit conversion
to Catholic faith in the 19th century. Large numbers of Dalits was converted
to the Catholic church through him and he constructed a church and a school
for them. In the deluge of time they were kicked out from the church and
the school, worth one hundred million rupees, by the savarna Catholic Christians
and the poor converts now satisfy themselves with 25 cents of cemetery
meant exclusively for the converted Christians. It is relevant to quote
J.C. Kumarappa (an Indian Christian) that "before these Christian missionaries
landed in Africa, the Africans had their land with them, but not the Bible.
Now they have their Bible with them, not their land." [The Hindu, March
13, 2001, Open Page, Kochi edition]. Prof. Joseph Pulikunnel, a veteran
Syrian Catholic social reformer, comments, "There are about 150 Christian
colleges in Kerala [now its number is double], but you will not find any
Dalit working there." [Organiser, April 29, 2001].
Secular Hindus and the progressive
media usually raise the question that why do we fear the conversion. Particularly
when even after the conversion, the same person leads a life without any
difference from the earlier one. Now that the Hindus are more than 85 per
cent, why do we worry about the majority status of Hindus? These all are
positive questions immediately generating positive answers. But actually
what happened in the yesteryears of the republic of India? It is interesting
to see that the Muslims of India during the days of Bengal's Partition
in 1905 were Muslim nationals who fought against the divisive attempts
of the British Raj. The Muslims fought this battle shoulder to shoulder
with their Hindu brethren and uttered the same slogan of Hindus, 'Bharata
Mata ki jai' without the fear of loss of their religion. Again they never
forgot to celebrate the holy Deepavali, Raksha Bandhan, and other national
festivals and tie rakhee on their wrist with a feeling/sense of nationalism.
But what happened in the year 1947? The number of Muslims in 1901 was 2,91,02,000,
i.e. 12.209 per cent of the total population and thereafter in 1941, this
population rose to 68.24 per cent and reached 4,26,45,000, i.e. 13.380
per cent of the total population, so they demanded a separate nation for
the Muslims. There are several factors which led to the division of India
and amongst these several factors, the population factor was very vital.
On the basis of the population factor, Muhammad Ali Jinnah raised the same
question to justify the 'two-nation' theory that he placed before the Father
of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. At present, several regions in India have
begun to stomach such an abnormal level of Muslim/Christian population
growth and all these places are becoming the epicentres for divisive as
well as subversive activities.
Islam has now begun to show its
true face. But the Muslims of India are nowadays reluctant to stomach a
non-Islamic faith. Let us quote M. Riaz Hasan, a UK-based Muslim NRI, who
has worked and travelled widely in Muslim countries. In his own words:
"Islam is now a religion of paradoxes and its practice is totally inconsistent
with its preaching. The Indian Muslims including the Kashmiri Muslims are
perhaps the most fortunate religious minority in the world today because
they live in a truly secular, pluralistic democracy in the world.'' [The
Hindu, Kochi, Open Page, dated November 27, 2001]. While disseminating
their intolerance, they are not properly accounting for the reality revealed
by M. Riaz Hasan. Muslims, wherever they be, are still under the old Arab
psyche. Let us quote Will Durant: "The immigration of two hundred Meccan
families created a food shortage in Medina. Mohammed solved the problem
as a starving people do by taking food from where it could be had. In commissioning
his lieutenants to raid the caravans that passed Medina, he was adopting
the morals of most Arab tribes in his time. When the raid succeeded, four-fifths
of the spoils went to the raiders, one-fifth to the Prophet..." [The Story
of Civilisation-The Age of Faith, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1950,
Book II, Chapter VIII, p. 168.]
Just think what happens in Nagaland?
The brave Nagas fought a consistent war against the British Raj. Nobody
can question the genuineness of their national commitment and their fight
for the cause of our national freedom. But what happened in the subsequent
days? The British used their missionaries and converted one person after
another and gradually the national spirit was extinguished amongst them
all. By 1951 the Christian share of the total population of Nagaland was
46.04 per cent. It gradually enhanced and reached 52.97 per cent in 1961
and thereupon the progenies of the same old Nagas of 1900s who stood for
the national cause turned against us and now treat the rest of Indians
as foreigners [not reproducing the obscene phrase that is used by the Naga
separatist mentality to identify we Indians]. Now the Christian population
comes to 85 per cent. The case of Mizoram is not much different from the
situation in Nagaland. The missionaries of 'charity and service' altogether
dismembered the Hindu population and now its Christian population is 85
per cent. In 1951, Meghalaya's Christian share was only 22.66 per cent
and at present it is 55 per cent. [Population data other than for 2001
is reproduced from Arun Shourie's Missionaries in India.] All the Christian-dominated
states of north-east are labouring for the cause of our national disintegration.
What a paradox it is! In short, one thing is clear that wherever in India,
minority religious groups secure a decisive role, they turn against the
national interest.
On taking into consideration all
the above-mentioned facts, one thing is clear that the minorities' chief
priority is not the nation but their religion, paradise and a worldly State
of their exclusive own. They cannot digest other faiths. Their religion
and God is not for peaceful coexistence. Let me quote the Bible: "Think
not that I am came to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father; and
the daughter against her mother; and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
[Mathew, Ch. X, Aphorisms 34, 35]. Christianity is looking too smart with
its concealed biting teeth, posing a potential threat, seemingly different
from that of Islam. They are not ready to reread their theology on the
basis of time and space. This means they are not ready for any compromise
on the question of conversion. This is also very clear from the words of
the Pope. Now the Christians have a 31 per cent share in the world population,
Muslims have 19.6 per cent and the Hindus have 14 per cent. Both of them
are targeting the Hindus-the most unorganised religious/ethnic section
in the world.
It is better to quote Samuel P.
Huntington, who says, "Muslim nationalism is becoming more extreme. It
now takes no account of other national sensibilities; it is the property,
privilege and political instrument of the newly predominant nation... The
main result of this new Muslim nationalism is a movement towards national
homogenisation... Increasingly, Islamic religious fundamentalism is also
gaining dominance in determining Muslim national interests... In the emerging
era, clashes of civilisations are the greatest threat to world peace, and
an international order based on civilisations is the surest safeguard against
world war." [The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order,
1997, p. 270.].
For an international order that
guarantees peace and tranquillity to the world, Semitic religions must
add one more commandment to its didactics, that is, an eleventh one which
must ensure world peace and teach its faithfuls to respect other gods and
religions. When in an age gods were in competition for survival, they limited
the commandments to ten, including "worship no God but me". [Exodus, Ch.
20, Aphorism. 3]. But now the same Semitic gods need not worry because
they have got a sufficient number of Christians [31 per cent] and Muslims
[19.6 per cent] in the world population. The most liberal Hindu gods are
now destined to remain satisfied with only 14 per cent of Hindus.
(The author is Head of the PG Department
of History, CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala and can be contacted at Chavanickamannil,
Vadavathoor, P.O. Kottayam, Kerala-686 101; e-mail: ciissac@sancharnet.in;
visit: www.christiansofkerala.com)
