What's new

Jagdish Bhagwati | The false alarm over Christians in India

Bang Galore

ELITE MEMBER
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
10,685
Reaction score
12
Country
India
Location
India
Alarmist views about Indian Christians being under threat are overplayed and must be forcefully exposed as such


A recent opinion piece by Julio Ribeiro, the much-admired scourge of Khalistainis, complains plaintively that he is on “a hit list” today from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) because he is a Christian. Similar alarmist views on Christianity are common in India today, simply because of the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the decimation of the Congress by the BJP. They are being spread by church leaders; for example Catholic Archbishop Anil Couto is reported to have even celebrated the defeat of BJP in the recent Delhi elections as if a calamity for Christians had been averted. But they are so ridiculous and libelous to the prime minister, and even the BJP generally, that they must be exposed forcefully as such.

Before I do that, let me establish my credentials concerning the issue at hand. I come from a family that is impressively pro-Indian-minorities. My wife, Padma Desai, has converted to Christianity (in a moving ceremony described by her in her memoirs, Breaking Out, published by Penguin/Viking in India and MIT Press in the US). Two of my nephews have married Christians: one is from Mumbai and is a multiple-award-winning psychiatrist practising in London and periodically in Mumbai, whereas the other is a Syrian Christian from Kerala. Another niece is married to a Parsi (who, of course, belongs to a still smaller, and equally beloved minority as Christians in India); and yet another almost married a Muslim young man. My only daughter’s significant other for years was a Christian and indeed an American-Indian on his mother’s side.

Abid Husain, my closest friend of over 40 years, whom I met in Turkey when we were both working there, was one of India’s most distinguished reformers and a pioneer in community development programmes. He was a Muslim and had married a brilliant Parsi intellectual. Indeed, the other equally close friend for over half a century has been former prime minister Manmohan Singh, a devout Sikh (yet another minority much loved in India except for the awfully heinous massacre, indeed a pogrom, of the Sikhs in Delhi by some Congress party men in 1984 after prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards).

Most of all, I went to St. Xavier’s High School in Bombay. I got excellent education there, and I expressed my sentimental bond with the school when I was chosen recently to receive the coveted Xavier Ratna award. On a lighter side, with discipline a high point, we used to joke how strict the school was because they even had a guy nailed to the wall.

So, if there was anything to the Christian fears today, I should be the first to join the protests. But the truth is that these fears are totally groundless and are, at best, a product of a fevered imagination.

First, we now know from the admirable investigative report in Firstpost (Crying Wolf: The Narrative of the ‘Delhi church attacks’ flies in the face of facts, 17 February) by Rupa Subramanya that there is simply no evidence for the six alleged attacks on Christian churches and one Christian school. This turns out to be a case of the “monkey say, monkey repeat” phenomenon that converts false allegation into a fact.

Second, Ribeiro resents the remark of Mohan Bhagwat of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that Mother Teresa was interested in conversions to Christianity, not just in the welfare (as distinct from the spiritual salvation) of her flock. But surely, Christians do believe in conversion, as do Muslims; does Ribeiro deny that? Again, what is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander. If Christians can convert non-Christians to their faith, what is wrong with Hindus doing the same? In fact, being a religion that does not normally convert, only a minuscule number of Hindus will do this whereas a far higher proportion of Christians and Muslims will.

Moreover, Ribeiro is offended that Mother Teresa is not respected as a saint by Bhagwat. But he is clearly ignorant of the fact that Mother Teresa may have won the Nobel Peace Prize but many doubt her bona fides, including the late Christopher Hitchens whose scathing critique of her was not the only dissenting voice on her, as recently recounted by the Washington Post reporter Adam Taylor (Why, to many critics, Mother Teresa is still no saint, 25 February). Since Hitchens followed this with a scathing attack on Hillary Clinton (an icon mostly to herself), I must confess that when he was coming out of a television debate on Hillary Clinton and I was going in to do a debate of my own, I could not resist telling him: Christopher, you did not say that Hillary Clinton was no Mother Teresa.

Ribeiro, the Archbishop and other Christians also forget that Sonia Gandhi is a Roman Catholic. To my knowledge, many have objected to her leading the country because she was born abroad (much as Americans disbar foreign-born citizens from becoming the president), but hardly anyone, in BJP or elsewhere, has objected to her because she was a Christian.

US President Barack Obama’s speech in India where he talked of Mohandas Gandhi’s legacy of respect for all religions has been self-servingly appropriated by anti-BJP and anti-Modi critics (such as my former Columbia University student Siddharth Varadarajan) as a chastisement of their alleged communalism. But this interpretation is absurd since the president clearly had in mind the difficulties that the US itself is having with such issues. In fact, on returning to the US, he proceeded to tell Americans that Christianity itself had been guilty of serious lapses over many centuries.

Ribeiro and the Archbishop are good men who have allowed themselves to be dragged into politics that plays on fear and partisanship. I only hope that they will join those of us who would like to see religious harmony, not the religious discord that can only subtract from our humanity.

Jagdish Bhagwati is University Professor (economics, law and international affairs) at Columbia University.

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/lNKcsuArsta4yushnlQ9cI/Jagdish-Bhagwati--The-false-alarm-over-Christians-in-India.html?utm_source=copy
 
'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks
Cheat Sheet | NDTV.com | Updated: March 31, 2015 00:42 IST
barkha-jagdish-bhagwati-650_650x400_71427740656.jpg

Economist Jagdish Bhagwati speaks to NDTV

New Delhi: With the government facing criticism over attacks on churches and Christians who say they are feeling insecure, renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati has spoken out in the government's defence. Speaking to NDTV, he says why call them communal attacks when they could be routine crime. He also says if Christians convert non-Christians, then why can't Hindus?

Here are the top 10 quotes from Mr Bhagwati's interview to NDTV:
  1. I think the PM did go on, as you pointed out, to make statements like the one he has made in Kerala to reassure the Christian community. Leadership requires if some community is actually upset and worried you go ahead and reassure them because that's the only way to function in democracy. Delighted that PM went ahead and did what he did.
  2. Objectively speaking, I have looked at all assertions by the people you mention and particularly Julio Ribeiro, who is widely regarded and respected. When I saw now he feels (he is) on the hit list, I could not believe what I was reading.
  3. I thought one needs to bring some sanity into this discussion. The principle of monkey say something and monkey repeat - so if you keep repeating again and again that the Christians are under attack, then a lot of Christians will begin to believe it.
  4. When Mr Ribeiro says he is on a hit list and says Hindus are now doubting his Christianity, his loyalty, and actually ends his article by saying number of people came up to recognize him somewhere in Lonavala and said "Oh Mr Ribeiro", he is contradicting himself. How come people say such nice things to him if Hindus are turning against him? So, I just wanted to introduce a little contrary point of view so that we have a reasonable debate and argument.
  5. There are a few crazy people on the Hindu side who feel we should re-convert. How much does it amount to? Very little. I urge these Christian leaders to look into their own history of conversion... Hindus are not into conversion in any substantial way at all. I would just clarify and say look at your own history and relax a bit.
  6. (On RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat) There are cockeyed people everywhere. I don't think the PM or I or anybody can defend statements like that, because they are bigoted statements - like people should return to Hinduism. I'm happy to condemn it then... We cannot be responsible for every crazy statement made by somebody, no matter how influential he might be.
  7. (On Ghar Wapasi) Ghar Wapasi is not the way to think about modern India. I would certainly be against Ghar Wapasi. People have different religions and if people go from one religion to another and some guy will say you have to return to my religion that's what Ghar Wapasi means. To me it seems ridiculous way to think about the issue. People are free to choose their religion.
  8. I admire the Christian community but how many people are aware that the Catholic Church has been defending assault on young boys, right, pederast basically, so do I say that Catholics should continuously denounce that? I'm not interested in who says what. We really need to relax a bit.
  9. If you think you can convert, why do you object to other people saying they can convert? I don't believe in Hinduism that converts. Hinduism in my view is inclusive, not exclusive.
  10. It is very interesting that when Dr Ambedkar, who is one of our most revered constitutional lawyers, decided to have the Dalits change their religion, why did he not pick Islam or Christianity? He instead picked Buddhism because Buddhism is not into conversion in the way in which these two religions are.
'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks

'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks
 
any video of this ?I want to see the face of barkha dutt when she hears there statements
 
'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks
Cheat Sheet | NDTV.com | Updated: March 31, 2015 00:42 IST
barkha-jagdish-bhagwati-650_650x400_71427740656.jpg

Economist Jagdish Bhagwati speaks to NDTV

New Delhi: With the government facing criticism over attacks on churches and Christians who say they are feeling insecure, renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati has spoken out in the government's defence. Speaking to NDTV, he says why call them communal attacks when they could be routine crime. He also says if Christians convert non-Christians, then why can't Hindus?

Here are the top 10 quotes from Mr Bhagwati's interview to NDTV:
  1. I think the PM did go on, as you pointed out, to make statements like the one he has made in Kerala to reassure the Christian community. Leadership requires if some community is actually upset and worried you go ahead and reassure them because that's the only way to function in democracy. Delighted that PM went ahead and did what he did.
  2. Objectively speaking, I have looked at all assertions by the people you mention and particularly Julio Ribeiro, who is widely regarded and respected. When I saw now he feels (he is) on the hit list, I could not believe what I was reading.
  3. I thought one needs to bring some sanity into this discussion. The principle of monkey say something and monkey repeat - so if you keep repeating again and again that the Christians are under attack, then a lot of Christians will begin to believe it.
  4. When Mr Ribeiro says he is on a hit list and says Hindus are now doubting his Christianity, his loyalty, and actually ends his article by saying number of people came up to recognize him somewhere in Lonavala and said "Oh Mr Ribeiro", he is contradicting himself. How come people say such nice things to him if Hindus are turning against him? So, I just wanted to introduce a little contrary point of view so that we have a reasonable debate and argument.
  5. There are a few crazy people on the Hindu side who feel we should re-convert. How much does it amount to? Very little. I urge these Christian leaders to look into their own history of conversion... Hindus are not into conversion in any substantial way at all. I would just clarify and say look at your own history and relax a bit.
  6. (On RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat) There are cockeyed people everywhere. I don't think the PM or I or anybody can defend statements like that, because they are bigoted statements - like people should return to Hinduism. I'm happy to condemn it then... We cannot be responsible for every crazy statement made by somebody, no matter how influential he might be.
  7. (On Ghar Wapasi) Ghar Wapasi is not the way to think about modern India. I would certainly be against Ghar Wapasi. People have different religions and if people go from one religion to another and some guy will say you have to return to my religion that's what Ghar Wapasi means. To me it seems ridiculous way to think about the issue. People are free to choose their religion.
  8. I admire the Christian community but how many people are aware that the Catholic Church has been defending assault on young boys, right, pederast basically, so do I say that Catholics should continuously denounce that? I'm not interested in who says what. We really need to relax a bit.
  9. If you think you can convert, why do you object to other people saying they can convert? I don't believe in Hinduism that converts. Hinduism in my view is inclusive, not exclusive.
  10. It is very interesting that when Dr Ambedkar, who is one of our most revered constitutional lawyers, decided to have the Dalits change their religion, why did he not pick Islam or Christianity? He instead picked Buddhism because Buddhism is not into conversion in the way in which these two religions are.
'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks

'Look at Your Own History and Relax a Bit': Jagdish Bhagwati Takes on Christian Response to Attacks
No body willlisten yaar. Its not in accordance with Indian Secular Logic.
 
It's time for Christians to leave India. They are not welcomed there.
 
Burkha dutts face,,, priceless :D

I think she invited him to hear him speak her language but got a shocker instead...so she had another interview today...and this time she made it sure that she invite the loony ones.
 
I think she invited him to hear him speak her language but got a shocker instead...so she had another interview today...and this time she made it sure that she invite the loony ones.

Similar sequence of events have transpired earlier. I don't she feels comfortable without an echo chamber with her panelists parroting her own views for long. A low level propagandist.
 
Back
Top Bottom