This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/christian-enclave-in-india-fears-violence-tension-after-religious-conversions/2014/12/17/4a144784-846b-11e4-abcf-5a3d7b3b20b8_story.html?wprss=rss_world
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Christian enclave in India fears violence as Hindus press for conversions | Christian enclave in India fears violence as Hindus press for conversions |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| ALIGARH, India — The trouble started a few months ago, when Hindu nationalists swept into a small village where several families had converted to Christianity more than a decade earlier. They held a fire purification ceremony with the villagers, tore a cross off the local church and put up a poster of the god Shiva. The space was now a temple, they declared. | ALIGARH, India — The trouble started a few months ago, when Hindu nationalists swept into a small village where several families had converted to Christianity more than a decade earlier. They held a fire purification ceremony with the villagers, tore a cross off the local church and put up a poster of the god Shiva. The space was now a temple, they declared. |
| Then right-wing Hindu groups announced a Christmas Day ceremony where they planned to welcome hundreds of Christians and Muslims back to Hinduism. A fundraising flier solicited donations for volunteers to do the conversions — about $3,200 for each Christian and about $8,000 for each Muslim. | Then right-wing Hindu groups announced a Christmas Day ceremony where they planned to welcome hundreds of Christians and Muslims back to Hinduism. A fundraising flier solicited donations for volunteers to do the conversions — about $3,200 for each Christian and about $8,000 for each Muslim. |
| After a nationwide furor, organizers postponed the ceremony on Tuesday. But one of them, Rajeshwar Singh Solanki, said in an interview Thursday they will demonstrate against any church baptisms performed on the holiday. He said his group’s ultimate aim is to ensure that Islam and Christianity “cease to exist” in India. | |
| Christians in Aligarh say they are afraid of what might happen on their holiest of days. | |
| “We just want security from the government, particularly on Christmas,” said Ajay Joseph, 39, a lab technician. | “We just want security from the government, particularly on Christmas,” said Ajay Joseph, 39, a lab technician. |
| His fears echo those of other religious minorities in majority Hindu India, where some Christians and Muslims are worried incidents of religious tolerance will rise with the advent of a new conservative government led by Narendra Modi, himself a fervent Hindu nationalist. In recent days, carolers have been beaten in the Southern city of Hyderabad and a Catholic Church in New Delhi torched by a suspected arsonist. A conservative Hindu group said Wednesday another mass “conversion” event would be held in February. | His fears echo those of other religious minorities in majority Hindu India, where some Christians and Muslims are worried incidents of religious tolerance will rise with the advent of a new conservative government led by Narendra Modi, himself a fervent Hindu nationalist. In recent days, carolers have been beaten in the Southern city of Hyderabad and a Catholic Church in New Delhi torched by a suspected arsonist. A conservative Hindu group said Wednesday another mass “conversion” event would be held in February. |
| For several days this month, India’s secular parliament repeatedly lapsed into chaos as members debated religious conversions and a plan that would have kept students in school on Christmas, normally a holiday, and designate Dec. 25 “Good Governance Day.” The country’s foreign minister also called for naming the sacred Hindu text Bhagavad Gita the “national scripture.” | For several days this month, India’s secular parliament repeatedly lapsed into chaos as members debated religious conversions and a plan that would have kept students in school on Christmas, normally a holiday, and designate Dec. 25 “Good Governance Day.” The country’s foreign minister also called for naming the sacred Hindu text Bhagavad Gita the “national scripture.” |
| “They are feeling nobody can do anything to them because of Narendra Modi,” said Yusuf Dass, a pastor of the Central Methodist Church in Aligarh. Dass, 32, the grandson of a minister, grew up in nearby Agra and is from a family that has been part of India’s Christian minority for generations. He rides a motorcycle to work that says “Glory to God” on the windscreen. | “They are feeling nobody can do anything to them because of Narendra Modi,” said Yusuf Dass, a pastor of the Central Methodist Church in Aligarh. Dass, 32, the grandson of a minister, grew up in nearby Agra and is from a family that has been part of India’s Christian minority for generations. He rides a motorcycle to work that says “Glory to God” on the windscreen. |
| “They were saying this country belongs to Hindus, and India should belong only to Hindus. I don’t know who is misguiding them,” Dass said. | “They were saying this country belongs to Hindus, and India should belong only to Hindus. I don’t know who is misguiding them,” Dass said. |
| Christians comprise just over 2 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population and historically have been targeted less frequently than the country’s Muslim communities. Some Hindu devotees have resented the missionaries who have been coming to India for centuries, saying they use charitable work as a mask for proselytizing, particularly to the country’s lowest caste members. | Christians comprise just over 2 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population and historically have been targeted less frequently than the country’s Muslim communities. Some Hindu devotees have resented the missionaries who have been coming to India for centuries, saying they use charitable work as a mask for proselytizing, particularly to the country’s lowest caste members. |
| “If missionaries are working in a particular place and they are crossing the limits, then only do we get involved ourselves,” said Ram Kumar Ary, a regional director in Aligarh for a firebrand pro-Hindu volunteer group affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist organization where Modi got his start. Many espouse the belief that every Hindu must work to reconvert those who have left Hinduism for other religions because of threats or coercion. | “If missionaries are working in a particular place and they are crossing the limits, then only do we get involved ourselves,” said Ram Kumar Ary, a regional director in Aligarh for a firebrand pro-Hindu volunteer group affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist organization where Modi got his start. Many espouse the belief that every Hindu must work to reconvert those who have left Hinduism for other religions because of threats or coercion. |
| “It’s a constitutional right for a person to choose what religion to belong to, and if somebody is doing it out of their own free will, why is the government bothered about that?” Ary said. | “It’s a constitutional right for a person to choose what religion to belong to, and if somebody is doing it out of their own free will, why is the government bothered about that?” Ary said. |
| India’s 64-year-old prime minister has a troubled history of religious intolerance, opponents say. In 2005, while a state leader, Modi was denied a visa to visit the United States on grounds he had committed “severe violations of religious freedom” by not acting to stop Hindu-Muslim riots in his state in 2002. | India’s 64-year-old prime minister has a troubled history of religious intolerance, opponents say. In 2005, while a state leader, Modi was denied a visa to visit the United States on grounds he had committed “severe violations of religious freedom” by not acting to stop Hindu-Muslim riots in his state in 2002. |
| John Dayal, the former president of the All India Catholic Union and a member of the government’s National Integration Council, said that R.S.S. volunteers (called pracharaks) now have an ally at the top of India’s government and feel emboldened to act more freely now than they have during previous years. | John Dayal, the former president of the All India Catholic Union and a member of the government’s National Integration Council, said that R.S.S. volunteers (called pracharaks) now have an ally at the top of India’s government and feel emboldened to act more freely now than they have during previous years. |
| Dayal said that around 150 hate crimes are generally perpetrated against Christians each year throughout India and that this year they have documented pastors and churchgoers being beaten, prayer meetings broken up and churches vandalized. A Catholic Church in New Delhi was burned earlier this month, sparking protests and an appeal from the archbishop for protection. That case is still under investigation. | Dayal said that around 150 hate crimes are generally perpetrated against Christians each year throughout India and that this year they have documented pastors and churchgoers being beaten, prayer meetings broken up and churches vandalized. A Catholic Church in New Delhi was burned earlier this month, sparking protests and an appeal from the archbishop for protection. That case is still under investigation. |
| “The Christian community is clearly concerned. We are actually scared,” Dayal said. “They are acting with impunity, and the government has done little to stop them.” | “The Christian community is clearly concerned. We are actually scared,” Dayal said. “They are acting with impunity, and the government has done little to stop them.” |
| In Hyderabad Friday, a group of Christian carolers on their way home from a late-night church service clashed with revelers from a local wedding party, according to the pastor, Bheemudu Naik. About three dozen people objected to their singing and began punching and kicking the carolers, Naik said. | In Hyderabad Friday, a group of Christian carolers on their way home from a late-night church service clashed with revelers from a local wedding party, according to the pastor, Bheemudu Naik. About three dozen people objected to their singing and began punching and kicking the carolers, Naik said. |
| “We have been living amicably in the locality for long, but this incident has left us scared. It was God’s grace we survived,” said the pastor, who is still in the hospital. Six others were also injured. | “We have been living amicably in the locality for long, but this incident has left us scared. It was God’s grace we survived,” said the pastor, who is still in the hospital. Six others were also injured. |
| On Wednesday and Thursday, India’s parliament again ground to a halt as members of the upper house demanded Modi appear and make a statement promoting religious harmony. He came Thursday, looking grim. No statement was made. | On Wednesday and Thursday, India’s parliament again ground to a halt as members of the upper house demanded Modi appear and make a statement promoting religious harmony. He came Thursday, looking grim. No statement was made. |
| Opposition members have exhibited outrage over the now-postponed conversion event in Aligarh as well as one that happened earlier this month, when 50 poor Muslim families attended a ceremony where they were asked to chant and throw offerings into a holy fire, then declared converted. The Muslims later said that they were lured to the ceremony by the promise of a government food rations card. Another mass conversion event is now planned for Feb. 6. | Opposition members have exhibited outrage over the now-postponed conversion event in Aligarh as well as one that happened earlier this month, when 50 poor Muslim families attended a ceremony where they were asked to chant and throw offerings into a holy fire, then declared converted. The Muslims later said that they were lured to the ceremony by the promise of a government food rations card. Another mass conversion event is now planned for Feb. 6. |
| Ram Madhav, the general secretary of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, said that the ongoing debate over religious conversions — and whether the country needs a national law to stop forced or coerced conversions — is being fomented by political opponents who are deliberately trying to sabotage Modi’s efforts to reform the country’s economy. | Ram Madhav, the general secretary of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, said that the ongoing debate over religious conversions — and whether the country needs a national law to stop forced or coerced conversions — is being fomented by political opponents who are deliberately trying to sabotage Modi’s efforts to reform the country’s economy. |
| “Why drag the prime minister into this?” he asked. “Modi wants to push through important economic bills, and these people just want to derail his agenda.” | “Why drag the prime minister into this?” he asked. “Modi wants to push through important economic bills, and these people just want to derail his agenda.” |
| Earlier this week in Aligarh, Dass and about 200 Christians gathered at a local banquet hall for the yearly Christmas pageant. As volunteers prepared a traditional Indian dinner of dal and rice and grilled bread, guests watched the program, which featured costumed teens dressed as Mary and Joseph singing onstage with angels in white gowns and the Three Wise Men in foil crowns. Dass said that despite the ongoing celebrations, many Christians are still afraid, and pastors have asked them to keep their holiday observances subdued. | Earlier this week in Aligarh, Dass and about 200 Christians gathered at a local banquet hall for the yearly Christmas pageant. As volunteers prepared a traditional Indian dinner of dal and rice and grilled bread, guests watched the program, which featured costumed teens dressed as Mary and Joseph singing onstage with angels in white gowns and the Three Wise Men in foil crowns. Dass said that despite the ongoing celebrations, many Christians are still afraid, and pastors have asked them to keep their holiday observances subdued. |
| “We have interfered in their agenda so surely they will also try and disrupt our Christmas programs,” Dass said. “Before this we never had a problem. But you see we just pray for them. We can do that one thing. Pray for them who persecutes you. Let God give them wisdom.” | “We have interfered in their agenda so surely they will also try and disrupt our Christmas programs,” Dass said. “Before this we never had a problem. But you see we just pray for them. We can do that one thing. Pray for them who persecutes you. Let God give them wisdom.” |
| Jalees Andrabi and Rama Lakshmi contributed to this report. | Jalees Andrabi and Rama Lakshmi contributed to this report. |