Indians have trouble reading I think.
Religious Intolerance
Hindu-Christian violence in India
1996 "Freedom of Religion Bill"
Mangalprabhat Lodha, a member of the Bharatiya Janatha party, introduced a "freedom of religion" bill in 1996-DEC to the Maharashtra State Assembly. The bill appears to be poorly named, because its prime aim is to prevent religious conversions and severely limit people's freedom to proselytize in that state.
Lodha claimed that Christian missionaries have set as their goal the conversion of 100,000 Hindus to Christianity. The bill, if made into law, is clearly unconstitutional. The Indian constitution guarantees all of its citizens the right to select and change their own religion, and the right to communicate their religious beliefs to others.
Maharashtra state has a population of about 80 million and includes the city of Bombay.
Examples of Hindu violence towards Christians:
Some Hindus have accused Christian missionaries of offering money and goods to Tallit (a.k.a. untouchables) and other lower caste Indians as an inducement to convert to Christianity. Although the caste system has been officially outlawed for many years, it is still followed by many citizens -- particularly in rural areas. There are accusations that some low caste Indians have converted to Buddhism or Christianity in order to escape from the caste system. This is viewed as a destabilizing force by many Hindus.
Christians experienced increased oppression after the nationalistic Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)came to power federally in 1998. Violence continues, even after the BJP was replaced by the Congress Party in 2004. Some examples of inter-faith violence:
1999: Graham Staines, an Australian Christian missionary had worked for 30 years with leprosy patients in Orissa state for three decades. In 1999, he and his two young sons -- Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, were trapped inside a car by Hindu fundamentalist militants who set fire to his vehicle. All three were burned to death. In 2003, 13 men were convicted of mass murder. Dara Singh was sentenced to hang; his 12 accomplices, were sentenced to life in prison. 1
2000: During the first half of the year, there were 35 violent incidents in which Christians were victimized. These include bombings, church arson, beating deaths, and assaults. Roman Catholic Archbishop de Lastic stated: "There is a definite strategy and plan at the national level -- these forces at work want to intimidate Christians."
Some Protestant and Catholic leaders blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). This is a Hindu spiritual group, from which the BJP political party grew. The All India Christian Council wrote that Christians are "sick of the statements and are not fooled by the utterances of the central government." 2 Herod Malik, spokesperson for the United Forum for Catholics and Protestants said: "We are scared. We have to go to international organizations because we have no faith in the Indian government." 3
Federal government leaders denied that the RSS is responsible. They accused Pakistani security forces. 1
2007: During the Christmas holiday period, about 10 people died, 90 churches were burned and 600 homes were destroyed in Orissa state. 4
2008: Clashes continue in Orissa state. The Baptist World Alliance claimed in August that the death toll had reached at least 25. They reported that more than 600 churches had been demolished and that 4,000 Christians had been forced to flee from their villages.
The Associated Baptist Press reported in 2008-AUG-27:
"A nun died and a pastor was hurt when fire swept an orphanage in the Bargarh District. Apparently none of the 21 children housed there died."
"In an Aug. 26 e-mail to the BWA, Swarupananda Patra, General Secretary of the All Orissa Baptist Churches Federation, said, 'All Christian villages [are] empty in Kandhamal as Christians, old and young, sick and pregnant mothers [are] hiding in forests exposed to the non-stop monsoon rains without food. Kandhamal is the hardest hit, with at least eight Christians killed and almost all Christian homes demolished,' he reported. 'I appeal to the governing authorities in India to intervene to save the lives of the many who are being victimized in the current crisis,' BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said in a press release. 'Respect for the principle of religious liberty and the sacredness of human life requires nothing less'." 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
"Hindu given death for killing missionary," The New York Times, 2003-SEP-23, at: The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia
Religion Today news summary, 2000-JUN-13
Religion Today news summary, 2000-JUN-14
Robert Marus, "BWA officials condemn violence against Christians in Indian state," Associated Baptist Press, 2008-JAN-04, at: Associated Baptist Press - Home
"Reports: Several dead in India after Hindu-Christian clashes," Associated Baptist Press, 2008-AUG-27, at: Associated Baptist Press - Home
Religious Intolerance
Muslim-Hindu religious intolerance in India
Examples of Hindu-Muslim violence:
1992: Some Hindus burned down a 16th century mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya. Their plan was to build a Hindu temple on the site, which is sacred to followers of both religions. This action has resulted in the occasional outburst of rioting:
1993: Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) caused the deaths of 800 people.
2002-FEB-26: 58 people died during a fire on board a train in the western state of Gujarat. Most of the victims were Hindu pilgrims. Initially, Muslims were blamed for attacking the train and setting it on fire. However, subsequent evidence has shown that the fire was the result of an accident.
Belief that Muslims were responsible for the carnage motivated some Hindus to retaliate. Within five days, 499 people had been killed -- mostly Muslims. Many were burned to death. According to the New York Times, during the week of 2002-APR-22:
"... more than 40 people have perished in the continuing violence, in the western state of Gujarat. The official death toll in the last two months has risen to 900. More than 100,000 people, mostly Muslims, are estimated to have fled to relief camps. On Tuesday, [2002-APR-30] Parliament will debate whether the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party -- which has led a national coalition government for most of the last four years and controls the state of Gujarat, its last major state stronghold -- has been complicit in the carnage. ..."
"Indian officials were particularly stung by the leak of a confidential assessment by British diplomats who estimated the death toll at 2,000, more than twice the official tally, and said the anti-Muslim violence had been planned and carried out with the state government's support."
Many Muslim victims have testified:
"that the mobs were led by people from the Bharatiya Janata Party and other organizations in its Hindu nationalist family, particularly the World Hindu Congress and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal."1
2002-SEP-24: Radical fundamentalist Muslim extremists attacked the Swaminarayan temple. This Hindu temple is located on a 23 acre complex in Gandhinagar, the state capital of the Indian state of Gujarat. This temple is particularly popular to Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, because it houses scriptures of all of the major world religions in its Hall of Harmony. It is a well-known cultural center visited by over two million people each year. By selecting this temple for attack, among all of the Hindu temples in India, the radical Muslim terrorists might have been aiming a blow against the concept of religious tolerance, rather than simply hoping to kill Hindus at prayer. Two extremists invaded the temple and murdered people indiscriminately. The total death toll was about 30, including the two terrorists, one Indian commando who died in the counterattack, and four chldren. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, his deputy Lal Krishnan Advani and opposition leader Sonia Gandhi quickly visited the temple together stressing the need for religious harmony and the avoidance of revenge attacks against Indian Muslims. The Hindu fundamentalist World Hindu Council has called for a state-wide strike. 2
References:
"Discord Over Killing of India Muslims Deepens," New York Times, 2002-APR-29 at: The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia
Sanjeev Srivastava, "Eyewitness: Gujarat's nightmare," 2002-SEP-26, at: BBC NEWS | News Front Page
