HVK Archives: Conversions: Bearing false witness
Conversions: Bearing false witness - The Pioneer
Sandhya Jain
()
January 19, 1999
Title: Conversions: Bearing false witness
Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 19, 1999
At least one Biblical injunction-Thou shalt not bear false
witness against the neighbour-has been so badly mauled in
Gujarat that one cannot but feel the urgency for a mature debate
on conversions, as suggested by Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. Thankfully, church leaders have not refused to
discuss this increasingly sensitive issue. however, the haste
with which the Left and secular politicians and intellectuals
have sought to rubbish the call is distressing. Discerning
citizens would have noted their concerted attacks on the BJP-led
Government, and the nonchalance with which they overlook
sustained provocation of helpless tribals.
Thus, even as a visiting dignitary counsels viewing the
incidents in the context of the "real size and volume of India",
our Cassandras yearn for heavy-handed international pressure,
merely to embarrass the leadership. Clearly, there is more to
the issue than meets the eye, and if we are to serve Truth, we
must pierce the smokescreen thrown by the national Press over
the actual incidents.
Two highly respected Gandhian leaders, Mr Ghelubhai Nayak and Mr
Chunnibhai Vaidya, whose demand for a legal ban on conversions
triggered of the Prime Minister's call to debate the issue, have
testified that the incidents are a "reaction to conversion" (The
Hindu, January 6). They claim that the immediate provocation
for the December violence was an alleged attempt by missionaries
to force a nephew of the Bhils' ex-Raja to marry a Christian
girl, in an attempt to convert him. The man was allegedly
publicly beaten up on his refusal and Nayak is a signatory to
the police report filed thereafter.
The veteran Gandhians reveal that while the VHP and its
affiliates have no worthwhile presence in the Dangs, the church
has imported as many as 500 missionaries in recent years to
speed up conversions. They charge that "during the last five
years, nearly two dozen idols of Lord Shiva and Hanuman, revered
by all tribals, have been desecrated or broken. The ancient
beliefs of the tribals have been mocked at openly and every
effort has been done to browbeat and harass them into
submission." Tribal resentment, they say, has for long been
simmering, and merely came to a boil on December 25 when
Christians began stoning a Hindu Jagran Manch rally.
Mr Nayak and Mr Vaidya accuse the missionaries of using
"unethical means", and cite the case of a missionary who
infiltrated Sabarmati Ashram carrying a book, Gandhiji's
Favourite Bhajans, which was found to contain only Christian
Psalms, and not a single Gandhian reference. In fact, the two
Gandhians themselves rebuffed conversion overtures, after which
the missionaries tried to forcibly evict them from their office
in the Missionpada area of Ahwa. Blaming "vote bank politics"
for the situation, they recalled Mahatma Gandhi's opposition to
conversions, and pointed out that Vinoba Bhave held that a legal
ban on conversion would not adversely affect secularism. It is
notable that in the wake of the Dangs, the Dalai Lama has also
opposed conversions.
A number of issues arise out of this lengthy expose. First,
despite cries of "We, poor lambs are victims of majority
communalism", the minority community has been the consistent
aggressor against the tribal way of life. Second, the aggression
includes physical assault on their gods. Indian intellectuals,
who shamelessly project Hindus as perpetrators of atrocities on
"peace-loving" Christians, should take an honest look at the
ground reality in the district.
A scrutiny of the concerted response to the Gujarat events is
equally enlightening. The nation-wide chorus of condemnation
against the VHP, despite contradictory reports by the local
Press, was a shade too organised. The Congress conducted the
orchestra skillfully, playing up Ms Sonia Gandhi's visit to the
Dangs by alluding to her alleged reluctance to identify with
"her community". She then went on to meet members of "one
community". though it is possible that the others are to be
blamed for not coining to see her. There followed un-sourced
reports of American interest in violation of religious freedom
in India. And, of course, it is no accident that the Congress
tried to link Gujarat with the Babri issue for only a successful
clubbing of minorities can give it the solid communal vote bank
it needs to ensure its political future.
Finally, CWC members demanded referring conversions to the
Supreme Court while Ms Sonia Gandhi, attending a Ramakrishna
Mission function, propounded that "India remained secular
because Hinduism, both as a religion and a way of life,
respected other religions and people. Truth is one, the wise
pursue it variously." Surely, Ms Sonia Gandhi realises that
people need freedom to pursue the truth variously; that attempts
at conversion deny this basic freedom; and proselytisation,
however subtle or coarse (as in the Dangs), is ultimately an
assault on the integrity, and dignity of other faiths.
Some other points merit attention. Women through the statements
of church leaders speaking against the unrest in the Dangs is
one powerful refrain - that in threat to Hindu society is not
from the minuscule Christian community, but from the social
taboos and hierarchies which oppress the lower classes. Father
Dominic Emmanuel, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Delhi, alleges
that the attacks are the "handiwork of high caste Hindus who
were afraid that the Church's work among the poor would erode
their status." Such statements betray a deep hatred of Hindu
society, and a determination to proselytise at any cost.
Clearly, despite talk of "seeking a new understanding with the
cultures of Asia and Africa" the church actually lacks respect
for other faiths and ways of life.
It also needs to be emphasised that despite its tall claims, the
church has in reality done little or nothing to elevate the
status of tribals and other oppressed sections of Hindu society.
Emmanuel says missionaries make people aware of their dignity
and encourage them to demand equality. But the existence of
separate churches for Dalits in Kerala makes a mockery of these
claims. The Church-led demand for reservation benefits for the
church-created category of "Dalits Christians" further proves
the hollowness of these assertions.
Another mischief in this current affair is the deliberate
projection of conversion as the conscious choice of individuals
who fully understand and accept the tenets of the proposed new
faith. The truth, however, is that such conversions are slow,
rare, and dicey, as prospective converts often slip away, as was
the case with Raja Rammohun Roy, who turned around and fathered
the Indian renaissance, to the disappointment of William Carey.
The church, therefore, only propounds platitudes while using
questionable means such as those outlined above to induce whole
groups and communists to convert.
One final point may be made. A number of writers have alluded
to the rise of sects in Hinduism and their activities to win
adherents (converts), and demanded that minorities be accorded
the same freedom. To begin with, sects do not have the same
meaning and connotation in the different traditions. In the
Sanatan Dharma, a new sect reinterprets and renews the tradition
as a whole, and is neither a split nor a challenge; it is in
fact intrinsically enriching.
In Christianity and Islam, however, a sect implies a schism, a
deviation from the single truth as perceived by opposing
orthodoxies. In such a mindset, sectarianism is viewed with
horror, as cardinal sin or heresy. This fundamental difference
of idiom needs to be appreciated if there is to be honest debate
in the country, something that is becoming increasingly
difficult in an atmosphere vitiated by our intellectuals.
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