Author: Vir Gupta
Publication:
Date: August 29, 2002
I do not know whether these kind
of activities by missionaries can be branded illegal in India. Any activity
which leads to communal disharmony should be forbidden by law. I know that
there will be hue and cry by Christians and dalits (who are main targets)
but I believe knowing how aggressively they are pushing this conversion
amongst Hindus and Buddhists (they do not touch Muslims and probably will
not touch Sikhs in future), our constitution should allow some curbing
of their activities. I am sure majority Hindus, Sikhs and Jains (and probably
Buddhists too) will vote for it so long as it does not violate the fundamental
rights of Christians to practice their faith. In USA, Hindu preachers are
routinely harrassed by promulgating local ordinances. Many a time Hindus
were not able to buy a land for a temple because zoning was not approved
or it was considered against the harmony of local people. When local people
objected, even gathering of Hindus was forbidden. Many cultural centers
hide their identity by not writing any name which may irk local people.
For example, in Springfield, Illinois, India Religious Center is simply
called IRC. Many temples are damaged by local to harrass Indians from worshipping
there. At Hari Om Mandir in Chicago, miscreants did a lot of damage some
time ago and they had to install cameras. A few years ago, a Thai Buddhist
temple was raided and all Buddhist monks were murdered.
