Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: Organiser
Date: May 22, 2005
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=79&page=39
Introduction: Last month, 300 pastors
discussed the threat and lambasted conversion to Judaism as the work of
Satan. But the Bnei Menashe registered a growth of over 50 per cent in
the past few years in Mizoram alone.
Christian missionaries have added
a new dimension to the national debate over conversions with their objections
to an unexpected Judaic threat to their flock in the north-eastern states
of Mizoram and Manipur. With the century-old Church under threat of a mass
exodus, Christian theologians are working overtime to counter the growing
affinity between some Mizo and Kuki tribes with Judaism (Deccan Herald,
April 22, 2005).
Most Mizos were converted to Christianity
in the decades preceding Independence. Sometime in the 1970s, however,
some members of the tribes noticed that their indigenous customs and rituals
closely matched those of the Jews. Both Mizos and Kukis, for instance,
practice the eighth-day circumcision, levirate marriages, altar sacrifices
and Sabbath, all of which are very Jewish traditions. Their suspicion that
they might be of Jewish origin was substantiated by Israel's Rabbi Eliahu
Avichail, who runs the Jerusalem-based Amishav, an organisation devoted
to tracing and helping descendants of Israel's Ten Lost Tribes to return
to the 'Holy Land', a right guaranteed to every Jew under the Israeli Constitution.
Amishav claims Mizos and Kukis descend
from the tribe of Manasseh, which was exiled from Israel's northern kingdom
after the Assyrian invasion in 721 b.c., along with nine other tribes.
The claims have led to Mizos and Kukis designating themselves as 'Bnei
Menashe' or sons of Manasseh, the younger son of Joseph and father of one
of the ten lost tribes of Biblical Israel. Seven thousand have re-converted
to their 'original' Judaic faith and Amishav even helped 800 to migrate
to Israel. The migration was halted in 2003 when Israel's Interior Ministry
expressed doubts about their Jewish origins, but the Chief Rabbinate (apex
religious body) authenticated the claims of the Bnei Menashe on March 30,
2005.
Christian leaders are perturbed
over the exodus from Christianity to Judaism, claiming this will "destroy
the social fabric of both the tribes." Though missionaries have consistently
showed contempt for similar concerns of Hindu organisations, Dr P.C. Biaksiama
of the Christian Research Centre in Aizawl, Rev. Chuauthuama of the Aizawl
Theological College and Rev. Colney of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church
Synod now demand a social movement against conversions.
Dr Biaksiama has gone so far as
to say that not only the Church, but the Central and state governments
should recognise the arrival of the Rabbis as a "religious and cultural
invasion". In a language akin to that of so-called Hindu fundamentalists,
the Christian theologian argues that it is only the promise of "better
living standards" in Israel that is luring many tribals to join the Bnei
Menashe. Perhaps this is a tacit admission that these tribes have failed
to substantially improve their lot after abandoning their traditional gods
and customs and adopting the religion of the erstwhile colonial masters.
Dr Biaksiama warns that "mass conversion
by foreign priests will pose a threat not only to the region's social stability,
but also to national security." People will cease to be loyal to the nation
as they will become eligible for a foreign citizenship. Last month, 300
pastors discussed the threat and lambasted conversion to Judaism as the
work of Satan. But the Bnei Menashe registered a growth of over 50 per
cent in the past few years in Mizoram alone, which has a population of
barely nine lakhs (Hindustan Times, May 7, 2005).
When not at the receiving end, however,
Christian missionaries sing a different tune. In Sri Lanka, US-backed evangelicals
have succeeded in getting the United Nations to intervene in the matter
of the island's proposed anti-conversion Bill, mooted by the Buddhist Jathika
Hela Urumaya (JHU) party and the Minister of Buddhist Affairs. The Bill
is a sequel to the offence caused by foreign missionaries to the native
communities in the wake of the tsunami.
Evangelists, however, managed to
get UN special envoy, Asma Jehangir of Pakistan, who represents the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), to visit Sri Lanka and assess
the status of freedom of religion there. Although the UN Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (CCPR) defines 'Freedom of Religion' as the 'freedom
to pray and practice', missionaries always stretch this to mean 'freedom
to convert'. They are now working overtime to dub the anti-conversion legislation
as a violation of human rights. It remains to be seen how the Sri Lanka
government tackles this menace.
It is high time the Church acknowledged
that its conversion activities are perceived as an act of cultural aggression
and cause deep resentment among target communities. Only last week, residents
of Mangal-warapete village near Mysore, Karnataka, were rattled at Church
authorities preaching hatred against Hindus as worshippers of Satan. Provoked
by the pastor of the Harvest India Church, established by American missionaries,
the entire village revolted and ransacked the Church.
Christian missionaries are insensitive
to the hurt caused by their 'hate' speech and to the misgivings caused
by their close links with foreign missionary bodies. In Nepal, where it
is a crime to convert minors, a Christian couple was arrested on April
27, 2005 for precisely this offence. Babu and Sabitri Varghese were running
a school and orphanage in Birganj city with support from an American missionary
charity, Equip Nepal.
