austraLasia #2265


India: The facts and figures are shocking!

NEW DELHI: 29th September -- Just a month after the death of a fundamentalist leader that led to an anti-Christian rampage which, it would seem, continues, unabated, the figures are shocking.  All facts and figures below are taken directly from material provided recently by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.  They bear thinking about, praying about, and offering whatever kind of support circumstances allow us to offer.
    The first realisation is that while Orissa has been the focus, it is not alone: 4 churches have been attacked in Karnataka (non-Indians would more easily recognise Bangalore as the location); in the case of St James Church in Bangalore the Eucharistic species was desecrated and furniture and pews destroyed. In Kerala two of the oldest churches in India were vandalised. In Uttar Pradesh a Catholic priest has been murdered, Fr Samuel Francis, leader at an Ashram. The maid at the Ashram was also murdered. In Madhya Pradesh the Cathedral Church (Sts Peter and Paul) was set alight. And then Orissa.....
    In Orissa thousands of Christians have been attacked, rendered homeless, their homes ransacked, looted, burned to the ground. The number of homes now known to be destroyed is well in excess of 4,000, churches and institutions 100 or more, residences of clergy including sisters, 14, people killed 38, those displaced who have found a place in a refugee setting, 22,000 plus, those who have fled to the forests, 40,000 plus. This is persecution on a massive scale with the oft-proclaimed statement on the part of the perpetrators that they wish to eradicate Christianity entirely from the State.
    Two Hindu fundamentalist groups in particular, the VHP and the BD are forcing re-conversion to Hinduism. Christian Dalit and Tribals, the two most vulnerable Christian groups, are forced under threat to meet a reconversion set date. They are told to gather family members who may have taken refuge in camps and bring them to the village for conversion on that date. If they do not accept they are to be tortured and killed. If they do become Hindus they pay a fine of between 1,000 and 1,500 Rupees, but must show a tangible other sign - destroy statues, burn a church, or worse - be involved in the killings.
    Orissa is a State with a population of 40 million. 17% are Dalits (outside the Caste system, non-beings for many in the Caste system). 23% are Tribals. The nearly 1 million (0.9) Christians are largely amongst these two groups. The Catholic Church is the largest by far amongst the Christian groups in this State.  It appears to be communal violence based on religious factors but, says the CBCI, the serious under-current is really Caste conflict. Hindu non-Dalits have been unable to handle the socio-economic growth of Dalits and Adivasis, seeing a threat also to their political status in the light of this growth.
    The Church's essential response to all this has been twofold: relief and welfare measures by way of food, rehabilitation, clothing, special care, education; and social advocacy, working for peace and empowering people. It is this in particular that the Conference's Justice and Peace Commission is focusing on.... collecting information on violations, informing everyone from the President down in regular emails, faxes, phone calls and personal visits where possible; bringing the matter before the UN in Geneva (Human Rights Council); training in peace building, forming peace commissions, creating leadership amongst youths. 
    That is the situation.  It calls on any peace-loving person in the world to react with horror and to pledge at the very least, moral and prayerful support.
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Title: australasia 2265
Subject and key words: S Asia anti-Christian violence in India
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2265