Hindu group alleges bias in listing India on 'Watch List'

Washington : The decision of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to place India in the 'Watch List' of countries along with Russia, Afghanistan and Cuba raises questions of bias and flawed methodology, a Washington-based eminent Hindu group said here.

"USCIRF's decision to club India in with a dozen or so of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world, while overlooking others, again raises questions of bias and flawed methodology," Prof Ramesh Rao of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) alleged.

"The Commission's censure of India in 2011, despite that country's celebrated pluralism and absence of any significant recent religious discord -- despite provocative terror attacks -- seems based more on a disagreement over some states' effort to monitor coercive and forced conversions," Rao said.

The USCIRF decision, however, was not unanimous.

Commissioners Felice Gaer and William Shaw dissented, describing the listing of India on the watch list as "ill-advised and inappropriate".

HAF was the only organization invited to testify by USCIRF that demanded India's removal from the watch list, and its arguments were echoed by the two commissioners in their public dissent.

Besides Rao, the author of HAF's annual Hindu human rights report, Suhag Shukla, HAF's Managing Director and Legal Counsel testified before the USCIRF Commissioners in Washington last month arguing that India did not belong on the watch list due to its robust human rights mechanisms and independent judiciary that comprehensively probed incidents of inter-religious violence.

They insisted that the "predatory proselytizing" supported by many US churches vitiates inter-religious harmony in India as well as other countries and must be considered in any comprehensive analysis of international religious freedom, a media release said.

"We are disappointed that the compelling evidence we presented did not move the majority of commissioners away from their deeply flawed assumptions about India," Shukla said.

"But continuing to call out bias within quasi- government bodies, such as USCIRF, that lack Hindu, Buddhist, or Sikh representation and bringing to light the damaging role that predatory proselytization plays in inter-religious relations around the globe are guiding principles and imperative for HAF," Shukla said.

Shukla and Rao offered evidence of the Constitutional and legal accommodations provided to India's minorities, including the existence of separate personal and family laws for Muslims and Christians, governmental subsidies for the annual Haj pilgrimage for Muslims and the right of all religious communities, except Hindu, to independently control their respective places of worship free from government interference.

They also highlighted India's affirmative action policies and reservations in government and educational institutions, intended to afford economic and social advantages to religious minorities.

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Tribal Christians attacked in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: A group of unidentified men barged into the homes of Christian tribals at Dasturipada in Palghar during Easter celebrations late on Sunday and attacked them with sticks. One of the tribals sustained a fracture in his hand, said an eyewitness. The Palghar police have registered a case.

The attack comes three days after a mob disrupted Maundy Thursday prayer service at Devkuppada in Palghar. No arrests have been made in both the cases. Following Thursday's incident, police forces have been deployed in large numbers at Devkuppada, which is only 2 km from Dasturipada.

Abraham Mathai, vice-chairman of the Maharashtra state minorities commission, said, "Ever since a newspaper carried a report on mass conversions, tribals are being assaulted."

Said one of the tribals, "I have not stepped out of my house since the attack on Maundy Thursday. We are living in fear."

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15,000 Christians Protest on Good Friday in India

Around 15,000 Christians walked, many barefoot, for six hours in the streets of Mumbai, India, on Good Friday enacting Jesus’ walk to the Cross and condemning growing attacks on the minority community.

This 24th Annual Lenten Walking Pilgrimage was held especially to give hope to and express solidarity with the persecuted Christians, the event’s chief organizer Joseph Dias told The Christian Post.

The gathering comprised of Christians from evangelical as well as mainline Protestant churches “apart from the Catholics, who formed the majority,” said Dias, who leads the organization behind the rally, Christian Revival Oriented Social Service.

“The mammoth serpentine procession of devotees wended its way through the city fasting and praying, some walking bare-foot and thereby embracing pain, to commemorate the first and final walk Jesus undertook over 2000 years ago,” said Fatima Corriea, the media assistant of CROSS.

Dias said around 10,000 Christians joined the march as it began from Sacred Heart Church in Khar in the suburb of Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the base of India’s film industry Bollywood, at 10.30 a.m. (local time). “Christians kept joining along the way and the numbers swelled to around 15,000 at the end.”

The Christians marched acting out the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and finally His passion at the cross. “The likes of such a penance which normally happens in the Philippines or Latin America, came alive as the Passion Play of Christ was dramatized.”

“However, no one inflicted pain on their bodies; they just fasted and walked barefoot,” Dias clarified. The objective was to highlight the “increasing and continued attacks on Christians, including their organizations, institutions, property and businesses, and especially the plight of women and children who suffer more than the direct victims in the aftermath of persecution.”

Dias, who also heads the Catholic Secular Forum, a group which fights Christian persecution in India, pointed out that the incidence of anti-Christian violence was high mainly in the states of Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai.

In these states, Christians also face false charges under anti-conversion legislation and other laws, Dias complained. Freedom of religion acts, known as anti-conversion laws, are in force in five Indian states. Vaguely defined, some of these laws require prior permission from authorities for any religious conversion.

Christians, around 2.3 percent of the country’s population of over 1.2 billion, came under attack after the Rightwing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party won the 1998 general election. The attacks were part of a BJP’s strategy to compel the people to vote along communal lines and thereby gain an edge over the Grand Old Party, the Indian National Congress, which has traditionally seen religious minorities as their vote-bank.

Although the BJP lost the following elections in 2004 and 2009, Christians do not seem too happy with the Congress party either. The Good Friday rally was also to protest the ruling government’s “apathy” towards Dalit Christians, Dias said.

The Indian constitution gives affirmative action rights to the millions of people who are “low caste” as per the caste hierarchy in the Hindu society. However, if a Dalit converts to Christianity or Islam, she or he loses those rights.

India has over 17 million Dalit Christians and they have been demanding restoration of their rights, but the incumbent government led by the Congress party remains non-committal.

Dias also pointed out that a Dutch missionary, Father Jim Borst, had been asked to leave India, “after almost 50 years of selfless service” in Indian Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region. He added that southern and north-eastern parts of the country which had been peaceful vis-à-vis Christian persecution until recent years had also become hostile to the Christian minority.

Since 2008, India has witnessed between 100 and 200 attacks on Christians, including rape, arson, murders and mass killings, every year.

But the persecution needed to be fought prayerfully and peacefully in line with the spirit of the Lenten season, Dias stressed. “Our rally offers thousands of Christians, who partake in the procession, an opportunity to deny one’s self of daily comforts and do penance on an auspicious day.”

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Maharashtra government orders inquiry into tribal conversions

After the state government last week asked police to inquire into reports of large scale conversions of tribals to Christianity in Thane district, Christian groups have asked the state home minister to take action against those who made the allegations.

The findings of the inquiry are expected to be placed before the state assembly, which is in session, this week. The inquiry was ordered after a front page report in a Marathi daily said that in the last 10 years, lured by gifts of cash or fear of god, a large number of tribals have converted to Christianity.

The Maharashtra State Minorities Commission has written to state home minister RR Patil to take action against people responsible for the allegations if the inquiry fails to confirm the report. The inquiry was initiated to inquire into allegations about conversion centres, the holy pilgrimage, prayers meetings and sale of property to finance the pilgrimage. The investigation was to be done by the superintendent of police, Thane (rural).

The report pointed at villages that form part of the constituency of minister of state for tribal development Rajendra Gavit as places where the maximum religious conversions have taken place. It said that the main centres for religious conversions were two healing centres where cash was offered as reward for changing the religion.

Dr Abraham Mathai, vice president of the State Minorities Commission said, “I have met some of the people who are supposed to be travelling to Israel. None of them have a passport.”

Protestant groups working in the area denied there were mass religious conversions. They also denied that conversions were carried out in places advertised as centres of healing.

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Profiling of Christians in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh conducting survey of Christians

Bhopal: Is the Shivraj Chauhan-government in Madhya Pradesh profiling the Christian population in the state?
NDTV has accessed a shocking state government circular issued in March this year. Distributed by the police headquarters, all 50 districts in the state have been asked to submit details on each member of the Christian community in that district.
These details include:

• Financial status
• Foreign income, if any
• Political leanings
• Criminal record, if any
• Total strength of the community
• Break up of Protestants and Catholics
• Number of churches - existing and upcoming
• Number of Christian schools
• Number of Christian teachers

The Christian Community in the state is wary of this new development. "There is some hidden agenda behind it otherwise such sort of profiling I don't think a democratic country permits," says Father Muttungal, the spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh.
"I went to meet the DG, the delegation of all people, and DGP says he has no information about this and he told the people concerned to immediately stop it," he added.
The state's intelligence agencies are completely denying the circular and the Law & Order department says it has no clue who sent it out.
"Neither the state government wishes this type of profiling, nor the police headquarters. We are looking into who issued it," Ashok Kumar Saini, Inspector General Intelligence in Madhya Pradesh Police, told NDTV.

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Madhya Pradesh orders survey of all Christians in state

Bhopal : An official survey ordered by the police headquarters here seeks to find out details about the Christian population in Madhya Pradesh, including their total strength, the political patronage they enjoy, the source of funding of Christian schools and the number of churches in the state.

The order, issued by police headquarters on March 22, asks officers-in-charge of police stations to file reports within “10 days”. The survey, at the district and tehsil level, must include:

Number of Christians, with a break-up of Catholics and Protestants, where they stay, and their economic status.

Details of schools run by Christian bodies — numbers of staff and students, source of income, whether they get foreign funding.

Number of existing and under-construction churches, with details of the fathers/ bishops heading them.

A list of Christians involved in criminal activities, with details about whether they enjoy any political patronage, and their clout.

Details of annual functions held at district and tehsil level, including venues, organisers and funds.

Areas which are sensitive because of their Christian population.

The matter became known after officials of Ashta police station in Sehore district reportedly threatened to arrest a priest who refused to cooperate in the survey.

Members of the Christian community met senior police officers, and were assured that the survey would be immediately stopped. But two days ago, the police approached the office of Fr Anand Muttungal, spokesman of the Catholic Church, in Bhopal, seeking details about the community members in his area. When he asked them the purpose of the survey, they showed him a copy of the circular.

“Are we criminals that the government is profiling us,” said Fr Muttungal.

The community approached Director General of Police S K Raut, who reportedly said he was not aware of any such exercise.

Additional DGP R K Shukla told The Indian Express that orders had been issued to stop the survey. “There will be no profiling of the community,” he said.

Minister of State for Home Narayan Kushwah claimed that he was not aware of the survey.

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Hindutva groups planning attacks on Christians in Karnataka

Hindutva right-wing organisations are planning raids on Christian institutions across the state in backward districts such as Bijapur, Bidar and Raichur.

They are intrigued by the large presence of students from Mangalore living in such institutions. They have many questions for which there are no answers from government officials.

“Our questions to the social welfare department have not been answered. The department officials have not found out why such large number of children are coming to Mangalore from great distances and why they are lodged here in hideous places without basic facilities,” said district president of Bajrang Dal Jagadish Shenva.

“In the coming days, our colleagues in Bidar, Bijapur and Raichur will investigate into the en-masse movement of children to Mangalore,” Shenva said.

Teachers of these institutions have the answer to their questions.
“We’ve found that they are the children of first generation religious converts in backward districts. They were sent here for Christian upbringing as their parents are illiterates and ignorant. They might have been converted due to social needs but their children should not suffer poverty, hunger, ignorance and ill health like their parents did,” said a teacher serving in one of the congregations.

Lynette AC, provincial superior, Apostolic Carmel, Karnataka Province, said Stella Maris Orphanage is managed by the sisters of Apostolic Carmel Congregation and the 41 children were the inmates of Stella Maris Orphanage, Kotekar, and that they hailed from Bidar district. They are also the students of Stella Maris Primary School managed by the sisters.

The child welfare committee constituted by the social welfare department found that the children were indeed bonafide students of Stella Maris School. The chairperson of the committee Asha Nayak had given permission to the children to go to Bidar for being with their families for summer vacation. But the deputy director of the social welfare department Shakuntala Gowda had not permitted the children to leave without further enquiry into the
incident.

Sister Lynette said, “We have incurred a loss of `25,000 paid to the transport company towards hiring a bus to take the children to Bidar.”

In the meantime, the assistant commissioner of Mangalore Prabhulinga Kavalkatti went through the rule book and found out that such mass movement of children for educational purpose or otherwise needs to be cleared by the deputy commissioner of Bidar district and a document to that effect was not available with the children’s escort Sister Jyothi Maria.

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Bajrang Dal denounced for targeting Christian institutions in Mangalore

A panel of leaders from various communities has condemned the attacks and raids on Christian charity homes in Mangalore district. In protest against the action by the child welfare committee and social welfare department, allegedly on instigation by the Bajrang Dal, people from different communities are planning to hold a meet in front of the district office on Monday.

“Social service, charity and brotherhood are hallmarks of Christianity which takes up the uplift of the poor and destitute who are not taken care by the society. But the Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva groups are unnecessarily out to tarnish the image of the community,” said a panel of community leaders in condemnation of the attacks and raids on the Christian charity homes by the child welfare committee (CWC), and social welfare department on the instigation of Bajrang Dal.

Mariamma Thomas, convenor of the panel, said that the attack on Christian institutions would have a negative impact. “If every Christian institution doing social service is attacked, a day will come when there will be no individual or institution to take care of the poor and destitute. It is very rude to ascribe motives to individuals and institutions when they are doing real social work. Mangalore has become a convenient centre for creating state-wide communal tensions,” she said.

Suresh Shetty, a social worker, said CWC and the social welfare department were being guided and led by Bajrang Dal. “Together they have framed a few Christian institutions and individuals including the owner of Jillus Caterers, Ebenezer prayer hall in Haleyangady, Lancelot Pinto and the recent attack on Stella Maris School children near PVS Circle were all pre-planned and targeted to damage communal harmony,” said Shetty.

Leaders of Ahinda, Karnataka Dalit Sangarsh Samithi, CITU, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha and Karnataka Christ Union termed the attacks as a design to foment communal tensions for political gains.

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BJP backed Karnataka's anti-Christian strife

PANAJI: A copy of a report condemning attacks on Christians in Karnataka by communal forces in 2008 was handed over to the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Ferrao, on Tuesday.

The report was prepared by Justice (retd) Michael Saldanha, formerly of the Bombay high court, who relied on the findings of the independent people's tribunal into the events that had occurred.

"Incidents of anti-Christian violence in Karnataka in 2008 were representative of the hidden agenda of the party in power, the BJP, driven by a very strong casteist force," the report stated.

Saldanha said that the matter had raised a national debate on the credibility of judicial commissions. It may be noted that the Justice Somasekhara commission, appointed by the Karnataka state government, exonerated the RSS from the incidents.

Saldanha visited over 400 places and examined almost 3,000 witnesses/victims besides relying on forensic evidence and media reports to draw his conclusions.

"Every one of the attacks and incidents which took place were instigated and pre-planned. They were state-sponsored and were not only supported by the state but were covered up for by the state. The responsibility for this devolves squarely on the home minister B V Acharya and chief minister B S Yediyurappa," stated the report.

"In all the incidents involving violence, the principal culpability rests with the state machinery namely the police department. Not a single instance of violence - be it lathi charge, use of teargas, smashing of vehicles and church property or religious objects - can either be condoned or justified. These are all rank criminal offences for which the concerned officers and staff deserve to be prosecuted. I have named some of the police officers who have crossed all conceivable limits, who, even at this stage, deserve to be suspended, an enquiry held, and dismissed from service and prosecuted. The same applies to the then DC, Mangalore,' the report stated.

'The use of lethal and toxic gas which emanated from teargas shells which were beyond the expiry date by 4 to 6 years was not only criminal but life threatening, and is reminiscent of the use of fascist methods by the Nazis who gassed six million Jews to death. The procurement of pebbles, the arming of the saffron militants with lathis and other deadly weapons and use of these persons against members of the minority community was totally unjustified and criminal,' it further stated.

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Catholic Priest attacked in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal : 30/03/2011, A catholic priest, Fr. Sebastian Kaiparambil aged about 45, was attacked in Badwha, Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place around 2.30 am in the early morning of today. He was sleeping in his room while three unidentified persons entered in his room. They beat him up and he is admitted in Chauitram Hospital, Indore. He is under going treatment for head injury. The culprits have stolen around fifty thousand rupees and two mobiles too.

Public Relation Officer of the Khandwa Diocese, Fr. Philip Kadthanam who visited the incident site said, “incident is very serious, he is very badly beaten.” He said that there is also an anxiety that whether a dismissed teacher a day before is involved in the incident. While beating him they were asking him to hand over the documents, but they did not specify what documents they are looking for.”

The principal of the school Sr. Rita said, “the teacher was dismissed upon the numberless complaints from the parents and teachers. He has been served notices many times but we are not sure whether he is involved in the incident.”

He is the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church and manager of the St. Mary’s Convent School in the Diocese of Khandwa for the last just one year. Bishops Dr. Durairaj, while condemning the incident said that Father Sebastian is a very active missionary, his relations with people are very good.”

Town Inspector, Mansingh Takur, told, “we are looking into all possibilities, even though the name of the doubtful teacher is not mentioned , we are also investigating the matter. We are also taking all steps possible to nab the culprits. We will also give sufficient security to Christians.”

Meanwhile Archbishop Dr. Leo Cornelio, Chairman of the Bishops Council, M.P, has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister sitting present beating up of the Priest and the recent incident of Statue break at Jhabua (18/03/2011),where so far no one has been arrested. We are not sure of the persons involved in the incident of beating up of Fr. Sebastian but we are worried about the incident. It is to be noted that every time during the major Christian Festivals we face these types of incidents so we have approached the administration to nab the culprits and provide security to Christians in the State.

It is to be recalled that the Bishops Council of Madhya Pradesh, Fr. Anand Muttungal, has already filed a cases in the Madhya Pradesh High Court asking to take action on the erring officials in taking action against the people who attacked the Christians in the State for the last five years. The Council is thinking of brining theses incidents to the notice of the Court if the police fail to take proper action on the culprits.

Fr. Anand Muttungal

PRO & Spokesperson

Catholic Council of Bishops, M.P

12 tribals arrested for conversion in Orissa

Twelve tribals were arrested today for allegedly undergoing religious conversion in an illegal manner in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district while efforts were on to nab two pastors and another tribal.

The arrest came three days after a case was registered on Saturday against 15 persons - two Baptist pastors and 13 tribals - for alleged involvement in illegal conversion in, Mayurbhanj district, police said today.

The case was registered after it was found that 13 tribals of Rasgobindpur area had been converted in an illegal manner by the two pastors, Inspector In-Charge of Rasgobindpur police station, Santosh Das said.

The 12 tribals arrested from Rasgobindpur area were produced before a court here which sent them to jail, while the pastors and another tribal were yet to be traced, he said.

The pastors, identified as Samuel Mohapatra and Manuel Mohapatra of Balasore, as well as the tribals were found to have violated the provisions of Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, he said adding permission of the district authorities is mandatory for undertaking any religious conversion.

The conversion of the 13 tribals, belonging to four villages, had taken place during the last two-three days, police said.

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Manoj Pradhan out again

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Friday granted bail to BJP MLA Manoj Pradhan in the Kandhamal riot case. Justice Sanju Panda granted conditional bail to Pradhan on a personal bond of `20,000 and two sureties.

The bail was granted on certain conditions like Pradhan would not leave the country without the permission of the trial court and refrain from influencing the evidences and witnesses related to the case. This is the second time the high court has granted him bail.

The G Udaygiri MLA had surrendered at a Phulbani fast track court on March 9 after the Supreme Court set aside the bail granted to him by the Orissa High Court. The MLA was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by the fast track court on June 29, 2010, in connection with the murder of Bikram Nayak during the Kandhamal communal riots.

Nayak was killed at Barepanga village within Raikia police limits on August 27, 2008. Pradhan had moved the high court against the order and secured bail on July 7, 2010. However, Nayak's widow Kanakrekha, moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. The apex court on January 25 had withdrawn the bail granted by the high court. After surrendering, the MLA had once again appealed for bail in the high court.

"The high court granted bail to Manoj Pradhan on the condition that he will not influence the witnesses and leave the country without the permission of the trial court," Pradhan's counsel Sarbeswar Behera said.

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Archbishop Concessao backs Justice Saldanha report

New Delhi 24/02/2011

Welcoming the report released by Justice Saldanha in response to Justice Somasekhara report about the attacks on Christians in 2008 in Karnataka, Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao has asked the government of Karantaka, not to close its eyes to the atrocities on Christians based on the biased Somasekhera Commission report.

Noting that the B.K. Somasekhara report giving a clean chit to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar was eyewash, Archbishop Concessao expressed his total disappointment with the report which smacks of communal underpinnings and only adds insult to injury to the already battered Christian Community in the country.

Retired Judge of the Karnataka High Court Justice Michael Saldanha while calling the Somasekhara Committee report a sham pointed out that the interim report of the same Commission had earlier indicted the Karnataka government. He held that he had enough evidence to prove that the state police had colluded with the right wing Hindu fundamentalist attackers.

In solidarity with the Archbishop of Bangalore and 18 other bishops of the region as well as sharing the pain of the whole Christian community of Karnataka, Archbishop Concessao is also appealing to the Karnataka government to immediately release the innocent Christian youth arrested on the false charges of being involved in communal violence. “We must all have the courage to accept the truth rather than find excuses to cover up our mistakes. This kind of report only emboldens the perpetrators of violence on minority communities”, said Archbishop Concessao.

--Issued by:

Rev. Fr. Dominic Emmanuel

Spokesperson Delhi Catholic Archdiocese

New Delhi -110001

Next Sangh ‘Kumbh’ in Chhattisgarh

After Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh it will be the turn of Chhattisgarh, another BJP-ruled state, to hold the next ‘Kumbh’. The announcement was made on the occasion of the three-day Ma Narmada Samajik Kumbh that concluded on the banks of the Narmada on Saturday. Chief Minister Raman Singh was handed over the mantle for the next event that will be organised keeping in mind the tribal population of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The Sangh Parivar has already declared that the first event held in the Dangs district of Gujarat was a huge success, as the pace of reconversion of Christians to Hinduism gathered momentum after 2006.

At the Mandla meet, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that the Sangh Parivar did not have enough penetration in Orissa where Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was murdered in 2008 and alleged that conversions to Christianity had increased since then.

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Shabri Kumbh was a success: RSS

The RSS on Friday claimed the Shabri Kumbh held in the Dangs district of Gujarat was a success because the pace of reconversion of Christians to Hinduism had gathered momentum in the area over the last four years.

Besides thousands of ordinary converts who came back to the Hindu fold since 2006, as many as 70 pastors embraced Hinduism and are now busy wooing back those who they had converted to Christianity, Sharad Dhole, the West-South India chief of the Dharma Jagaran wing of the RSS, said.

Dhole said Dangs had been chosen for the first Kumbh because it was the only district in the country to show “an abnormal 200 per cent growth” of the Christian community. He said the former pastors hold the reconversion ceremony every December 25.

The main focus of religious gatherings like these, he said, was to increase awareness and religiosity among people. Lack of religiosity was the main reason for conversion, and not backwardness, he claimed.

To shore up his argument, Dhole cited the examples of two engineers from Maharashtra who had allegedly converted to Christianity in the hope of getting the Green Card because the US government had become very strict after 9/11.

The Sangh is operating more than 10,000 Dharm Jagaran Samitis, Dhole said, adding every village in Mandla, where the three-day Ma Narmada Samajik Kumbh began on February 10, would have such religious committees. The Sangh claimed that about 15,000 Christians had reconverted to Hinduism in the tiny southern district of Gujarat. The Sangh has identified 55 districts in the country where the growth of Christianity and Islam had shown an ‘abnormal’ increase in the 2001 census.

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CM Chouhan assures protection to Christians during Narmada Samajik Kumbh

New Delhi, 9^th February, 2011: The Archbishop of Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, Vincent M. Concessao has welcomed the decision of Madhya Pradesh High Court directing government to provide security to Christians in Mandala, on the eve of the Narmada Samajik Kumbh which begins tomorrow. On a petition filed by Fr. Anand Muttungal in the light of the looming forceful ‘re-conversion’ of Christian tribals in the state by Sangh Parivar, the court has passed the instruction.

A fact finding team which toured the Narmada Valley areas in Mandla district in Madhya Pradesh has found that the Christian community of the entire region encompassing Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring state of Chattisgarh, have strong reasons to fear an outbreak of violence against them during or after the event from cadres of the Sangh Parivar.

The Sangh Parivar has left no one in any doubt that the main reason for organizing the Kumbh, at which they expect two million people is to purge the region of “Christian Missionaries”, whom they accuse of carrying on large scale conversions of tribals, mostly Gonds.

The church leadership in turn had sent urgent representations to the Governor and Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh apprising them of the sinister developments and calling on the State to ensure that they are not persecuted and that there is no outbreak of violence. Sources from Jabalpur area reveal that there will be a major “ghar wapsi” (or re-conversion) to Hinduism of local Christians.

The Christian community, being a minority in the state and country, urged the administration to take timely action of preventing places of worship, institutions and religious personnel. “The administration would be entirely and wholly responsible in case of any undesirable eventuality”, said a memorandum signed by priests, representatives of the Christian community to the State Governor, with copies to the Chief Minister, the divisional and district authorities.

After discussions with office bearers of Isai Mahasangh, the Catholic Bishop of Jabalpur, Rt. Rev. Gerald Almeida was assured by the Government of Madhya Pradesh that no conversion will take place and full security would be given to Christians in Narmada Samajik Kumbh Mela, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan conveyed through National Integration Council Vice-chairman.

--

Issued By:

Fr. Dominic Emmanuel

Spokesperson Delhi Catholic Archdiocese

Protests as taxpayer money is diverted for RSS ‘reconversion’ programme in M.P.

Minority communities and representatives of tribal people see it as a religious conversion event

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh has diverted massive public resources to spruce up physical infrastructure ahead of a major Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) programme in the State this weekend.

The three-day ‘Maa Narmada Saamaajik Kumbh' is being organised by the Dharm Jagaran Vibhag (Religious Revival Department) of the RSS from February 10 to 12. The RSS hopes to mobilise tribals in large numbers from all over the country.

According to Home Department officials who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, the State government has allotted a whopping Rs.250 crore to the Mandla district administration for developing new roads, repairing existing ones, and ensuring uninterrupted drinking water, electricity and health services during the kumbh in this backward tribal-dominated region.

Though he disputed this figure, Mandla Collector K.K. Khare acknowledged that the State administration was pitching in to ensure that the RSS event went off smoothly. The total funds allotted to various departments in the context of the kumbh were Rs.38 crore, he told The Hindu.

The RSS programme has raised concerns among minority communities and representatives of tribal people, who see it as a religious conversion event. And some in the administration are also worried. Reconversion events such as the ghar vapsi (return to the home-religion) were “certain to be held during the three-day kumbh” and might cause tensions, an official said.

The RSS itself will be spending Rs.6 crore on food, Rs.2 crore on tents, and about Rs.1.5 crore on stationery and promotional items such as religious lockets for distribution among the Adivasis.

Police sources said the RSS had made arrangements for 3,000 buses to bring in tribals and Hindu devotees from all over the country to Mandla.

The tribal Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP) and Christian religious leaders have expressed concern over the event and have approached the State government for security arrangements.

“The kumbh, which has no place in tribal cultures, is being used by the RSS to bring tribals under the fold of organised religion. Moreover, we have proof that part of it is being financed with money meant for tribal welfare,” GGP general secretary Amaan Singh Porte told The Hindu.

Two public interest litigations filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court have alleged that massive public money has been diverted for the event by the ruling BJP government, and have requested the court to stop the kumbh from being held.

“In the name of a social event, RSS activists have been delivering hate speeches, distributing inflammatory pamphlets and calling for reconversion of tribals in the region,” said Father Anand Muthungal, spokesperson of the Madhya Pradesh Catholic Church.

However, Inspector-General (Balaghat range) C.B. Muniraju said tight security arrangements had been put in place and there was no need for worry.

“We are watching people and all sensitive areas, including minority areas, closely. A force of 4,000 constables, four SPs, eight Additional SPs, 30 DSPs, and 150 inspectors and sub-inspectors have been deployed as part of the security arrangements,” he said, adding: “There is no communal angle to this event and I am sure everything will go on smoothly.”

According to local news reports, propagandist pamphlets about the activities of missionaries and posters bearing pictures of Mother Teresa and B.R. Ambedkar with inflammatory messages were being distributed among tribals and Dalits by activists volunteering for the event.

The event is a follow-up of the Shabri Mahakumbh held in the tribal-dominated Dangs district of Gujarat in 2006 under the leadership of controversial religious leader Swami Aseemanand, who was recently connected to the Samjhauta Express blasts.

The meet forms part of a series of such “social congregations” planned to be held over the decade by the RSS along the tribal belt running from the West to the East, as was publicly stated during the Gujarat event.

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MP Christians demand ban on objectionable literature in Mandla

Bhopal, Feb 8 (PTI) A Christian organisation here todaydemanded stopping distribution of pamphlets portraying thecommunity in poor light in Mandla where a three-day HinduSamajik Kumbh will begin on February 10.

"We fear that the distribution of pamphlets may triggeroff another Kandhamal like situation in the tribal-dominatedMandla," Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh convenor, Father AnandMuttungal, told reporters here.

He also objected to the distribution of declarationforms ahead of the Kumbh among the tribals with the intentionto convert them to Hinduism which he said was against MadhyaPradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
"We welcome the Kumbh but want that anti-Christianliterature including that against Mother Teresa should bebanned and seized to ensure that no tension is caused amongthe two communities," he said.
Muttungal said that they wanted to put up a medicalhealth services camp at the Khumb adding the Christians haveorganised such camps in Hindu gatherings in the past inMadhya Pradesh.
In the prelude to the Kumbh, Muttungal said thatdeclaration forms were being distributed among the tribals toconvert them to Hinduism.
He contended that to change religion, one has to seekpermission from the Collector according to the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act which was not being done.

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Kandhamal twin courts set the pace on fast track to justice

Kandhamal : In 2008, a mob led by Manoj Pradhan, the current BJP MLA from Kandhamal, chased down the family of Parikhita Digal, a Dalit Christian who was then 31, and butchered and burned him in front of his wife and two daughters.

A fast-track court in Kandhamal sentenced Pradhan to seven years in jail last year but he got bail from the Orissa High Court, before the Supreme Court last week cancelled the bail, questioning the “favourable treatment” given to the MLA.

For Digal’s wife Kanakrekha Nayak, 28, justice has come in under three years, a record of sorts considering the pace at which cases normally move in the country. “I am satisfied that my husband’s killers have been convicted. I wish others who were part of the mob too had been convicted,” she said.

For many other Dalit Christians scarred by the Kandhamal communal riots, justice has been as fast, with two special courts convicting 279 people, mostly Hindu tribals and non-tribals, in the last two-and-a-half years. Even the National Human Rights Commission has noted how the Kandhamal convictions have outnumbered decisions in all other riot cases in the last 10 years.

The riots had raised so many questions about Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s secular credentials that he severed ties in 2009 with the BJP, till then the Biju Janata Dal’s ally. But what may have gone a longer way in restoring those credentials is his decision, taken the previous year, to start the two fast-track courts for the 800-odd riot cases.

Of 828 FIRs lodged, 790 cases were found to be genuine; of these, 475 cases have had chargesheets filed, with 157 decided and the 279 convictions coming in 58 of these. There is time left to file the chargesheets in the other cases.

“The fast track courts have sped up justice in Kandhamal. Before the end of this year, chargesheets will be filed in the remaining cases,” says V Jayashree, director of public prosecution.

A comparison with the progress in cases elsewhere gives a measure of the pace in Kandmahal. In the Gujarat riots of 2002, the police filed 691 cases, of which 414 were “without merit”. There was just one conviction till 2009, before the trial finally started gathering momentum after the Supreme Court ordered that fast-track courts be set up for retrials in 14 significant cases.

In the November 1989 riots of Bhagalpur, where over 1,000 people were killed and 68 mosques destroyed, trial began only in 2001. Over 300 people have been convicted but 31 cases remain pending.

Police officials and prosecutors said that after the riots, a 50-member police team from the state CID with the help of local police took up the cases, most of them of arson.

“What stood out was the determination of the victims and the support of people who helped in collecting evidence. We were just facilitators,” said state CID chief Abhay. “Though initially people were unwilling to appear as witnesses, they gradually started coming.”

Two additional sessions judges started working from April 2009 and the first conviction came on July 1 that year. Chakradhara Kanhar Mallik, 58, was sentenced to jail for setting fire to the house of Loknath Digal. The convictions that followed included that of BJP MLA Pradhan in two murder cases. Of the 14 cases he was being tried for, four are now pending.

Several others who followed Pradhan’s orders, killing people and burning houses, are in jail. “With the convictions, fear has set in among the rioters,” says Hemant Nayak, a Dalit Christian leader of Raikia.

Some, however, feel the judgments have been coming too fast. Manguli Patra, an RSS leader and state coordinator of the Dharma Jagaran Sammukhya, alleged the same people have been accused in different FIRs at different places at the same time. “How can the same person be present at the same time at two different places which are 45 km apart? The judgments have been a little too fast and intentional,” said Patra, referring to the case of Narayan Mohanty, who has been accused in a nun’s rape as well as the murder of a Dalit Christian the same day.

Home department officials agree that in some cases, people have gone overboard and filed FIRs against people whose names they picked randomly from the voters’ list. Some of these FIRs have been quashed; others accused have been acquitted for lack of evidence.

Even Christian organisations say the real culprits have gone scot-free in some cases and some innocent people been convicted.

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Fast track court convicts 12 in Kandhamal riots case

PHULBANI (ORISSA): Two separate fast track courts here sentenced 12 people to rigorous imprisonment and penalty after convicting them in cases of house burning during the Kandhamal riot in 2008.

While disposing a case relating to house burning of minorities at Lengisuga village under Baliguda police station area during the riot, the fast track court judge C R Das pronounced four years RI and Rs 3,000 penalty to 10 persons of the same village and acquitted four others due to lack of proper evidence.

Similarly, the fast track court-I judge S K Das pronounced three years RI and Rs 3,000 penalty to two persons after finding them guilty in setting fire on the houses of minorities at Ghodabisa village under G Udaygiri police station area.

Both the house burning cases were reported on August 27, 2008, barely four days after killing of the VHP leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati.

Above 4,000 houses were burnt and 38 people killed in the Kandhamal riot in the aftermath of Saraswati's killing.

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