HVK Archives: No threat to Christians
No threat to Christians - The Afternoon Despatch & Courier
A. R. Kanangi
()
January 2, 1999
Title: No threat to Christians
Author: A. R. Kanangi
Publication: The Afternoon Despatch & Courier
Date: January 2, 1999
Christians in India are not under attack. They will never be.
It is the missionaries who are paid and given funds by foreign
institutions who are attracting the anger and disapproval of
Hindu organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang
Dal.
No true Hindu can attack men belonging to other faiths. He has
no reason to do it. Nobody can become a Hindu. There is no
conversion. As the RSS chief Rajju Bhaiya has stated, it is un-
Hindu to attack other religions. The Hindu saying is very
significant: sarva loka sukhi bhavanto (May all people he happy
and at peace).
And God is everywhere. The Hindu believes that God is
omnipresent. This means that God has got to be in a garden, in a
shop, in a church, in a mosque...
Christian invaders
After the Muslims came and conquered and forcibly converted lakhs
of hapless Hindus at the point of the sword, India was once again
exposed to terror from western Christian invaders. Hinduism got
the bashing once again. The ruthless invaders were not satisfied
with plundering the wealth of the country and perpetrating their
rule, they also wanted to change the religion of the people.
They knew they could perpetrate their rule better if they had a
section of people practising the same religion. The conversions
were made in a most savage and ruthless manner. They had the
power to subjugate and make people do what they wanted. The
Portuguese brought the wrack from their country - a dreadful
instrument of torture. The victim is made to lie on it and by
manual operation, the hands and legs are stretched until they
come off. From Goa, thousands of Hindus and Muslims fled but
many were caught and forced to embrace Christianity. Some of
those who refused were put inside cannons and blown off.
And over the years, the methods of conversion became gradually
more merciful. The country was full of foreign missionaries -
from Spain, Italy, Holland, Germany, Britain. They used money
power. They started schools and hospitals. They did charity
work - with strings attached. They had the required means and
hence they could establish hospitals and schools on prime land
and conduct them in an efficient manner. In schools, the bible
classes were held. There were propaganda meetings in every
village. There was a continuing, intensive effort to change the
religion of people. Those in distress, those needing food, those
who were sick got conditional assistance.
After the British left and independence came, foreign
missionaries realised their days were numbered. They closed shop
and went away one by one. They however left the conversion work
in the hands of the Indian clergy. Several paid agents worked
for them. They conducted propaganda over the radio. The Sri
Lanka Radio used to beam a programme to India every day. Even
now, such programmes are done on the radio. There is one such
screaming radio programme from Chennai. AN sorts of false
promises are made. They are offering to cure diseases, make a
lame man walk, make the deaf hear.
They are concentrating on tribals, on "harijans", the poor,
illiterate folks in rural areas. Fifty years of independence
have not ended the agony and misery of the back-ward classes.
Their chances of survival are as dim as ever. They are desperate
and in distress. They are hungry and tossed about by the
masters. No wonder just some offer of food or medicine, or
promise of heaven and false hopes can make people convert. Once
they are converted, they are left alone. The mission is
accomplished. The converted man finds his lot is not changed.
The women either die or slog in the fields or become village
prostitutes. The men take to drink and grope in the dark -
without any crutch.
The Christians are the people of this country who belong to the
same stock as the Hindus, who have the same culture, and the same
heritage. They can deny their roots - they cannot deny their
association with ancient India, with Ramayana and Mahabharata.
We all belonged to the same family and some of us were forcibly
separated and taken away by savage invaders.
Any attack on any Christian will mean an attack on a member of
the family.
Millions of Christians in this country are not associated with
the conversion work. They may not be even aware of what is going
on. So turning on a Christian for what a paid missionary is
doing would be wrong. And attacks on churches are totally wrong
and inexcusable.
The RSS chief Mr. Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) has said so.
"The attacks go against the very grain of Hindu ethos, where all
ways of worship are treated with respect... such attacks are un-
Hindu in nature and must be condemned by all people."
Rajju Bhaiya: 'Things can be amicably resolved and the miscreants
brought to book quickly. Criminals do not have any religion.'
Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Ashok Singhal is also against attack on
churches. He is however quite candid and he is dead set against
conversion. He is of the view that the missionaries create
tensions by going to tribal areas and converting the poor,
innocent tribals. He is not against Christianity or Christians.
He is only against those who carry out conversion programmes. He
is not off the mark when he suggests that money from abroad from
Europe, America and the Arab nations - for carrying out
conversion. What he wants is that other religious groups should
leave Hindus alone.
Mr. Singhal has even suggested that Mother Teresa was promoting
conversion. She used to pick up the dying in the streets of
Calcutta and then while they were about to stop breathing, she
would place a cross on their mouth and thus send them straight to
heaven. All missionaries (and Teresa is no exception) feel that
pagans need to be "saved".
Christian leaders have added fuel to the fire. For some unknown
reason, a minor episode has been blown up and a great deal of
distortion has taken place. For instance, Hindu organisations
were not involved at all in the Jhabua rape incident. Even today
however demonstrations are taking place and accusing fingers are
being pointed at the Hindu, leaders.
They are taking out processions and organising rallies and making
out they are under attack.
A bishop in Mumbai has asserted he must have the right to
propagate religion - and of course carry on conversion. Those
who are involved in carrying on conversion are evidently
disturbed. They know now they are going to have resistance in
this regard.
Minorities in our country should follow the example of the
Parsis. They do not convert people. They have excellent rapport
with the Hindus. They have their own agitaries, their own
culture and rituals. And in all walks of life, they have made
great advance. How come they have no problem with the Hindus?
Grave possibility
There is the grave possibility that politicians will step into
the disturbed scenario and make matters worse. The Congress can
be expected to take a communal stance and proclaim itself as the
protector of the Christians. They will be after the Christian
vote. They must be quite happy that the attacks on churches have
taken place. They can be expected to make efforts to save the
Christians from BJP - the dreadful ogre. The church controversy
should be kept away from politics. And the BJP would do well to
see the damage being done to its image. The party is not in the
least anti-Christian, but if the problem is not tackled properly,
it will be gradually regarded as anti-Christian.
The Christian people should join along with Muslims, the
Buddhists and others the national mainstream. If they are
honest, they will agree that there is no threat at all to them
for practising their religion.
Jesus Christ was great, superhuman and God-like. To be Christ-
like - at least an attempt to be Christ-like - is what makes one
a Christian.
And one does not have to change one's religion and be beptised to
become a Christian.
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