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POPE PROMULGATES A HOLY
CRUSADE
By Sandhya Jain
The Pioneer, via News Plus
http://members.xoom.com/newsplus
Wednesday, November 10, 1999
As anticipated by leaders across the
Hindu religious spectrum, Pope John Paul II has abused this country's fabled hospitality
and doggedly projected conversions as the Church's sole agenda in India and Asia. Of
course, he has made polite noises about our legendary religious tolerance, but it has been
too scanty to disguise his contempt for Hinduism as a religion and civilisation, and his
grim determination to annihilate it in its own land.
Annihilation is a strong word, but I use it advisedly, for the Pontiff unleashed a
multi-pronged assault on India's religious and cultural values, its foundational ethos.
India's unique spiritual genius, which has inspired respect from nations as far apart as
Greece on one side and Japan on the other, is under siege. We must understand the nature
of the threat in order to defeat
it. Interestingly, as I shall discuss later, the Papal agenda directly conflicts with the
United Nations precepts on human rights diversity, and heritage, and the Vatican is a
member-state of the UN.
The
Pope launched Mission India with the beguiling demand that freedom of belief must be
respected, and asserted that conversions are a matter of human rights. He declared that
for Christians, affirmation of faith is synonymous with making conversions, and exhorted
bishops to spread Christianity across Asia, and even sink their cut-throat denominational
differences in this endeavour (The Pioneer, November 7). His statements must be understood
for what they truly mean, as they constitute a serious danger to genuine freedom of
religion. They are also a thinly-veiled threat to disrupt peace and amity in the
sub-continent till such time as the Church has its way, and it ill-behoves a religious
leader and state guest to conduct himself with such gracelessness.
Beginning with the demand for freedom of belief and the right to convert as a basic human
right, the Papal utterances are soaked in duplicity. For instance, the Hindu notion of
freedom of worship means equal freedom for all religions to practice their faith. Hindus
have created this freedom for persecuted communities Parsis, Jews, Syrians, Christians,
and Muslims. John Paul II, however, has little use for such catholicity. The freedom he
seeks is to preach his faith to believers of other creeds without resistance, and to erase
all other religions and belief systems from this land, and the world.
In
this vein, the Pope his directed his bishops to spread the faith throughout Asia. Now Asia
is no barren land waiting to be peopled by the bearers of the gospel, but a continent with
large and populous nations such as India and China, with rich ancient, and living
civilisations.
Propagating the Bible here involves a direct, offensive, and even violent confrontation
with these faiths, as I have argued in a previous article (The Pioneer, October 26). In
India, it involves telling Hindus that their religion is a sham, their gods are false, and
that they must convert to Christianity to save themselves from hell and damnation. And
this odious tirade against the world s most cultured tradition is termed a basic human
right to choose one s religion! The discerning reader may question whether Hindus, in
turn, have the basic human right (sic) to choose to adhere to their own faith and tell the
missionaries to go home. Of course they don't. Because they worship gods who are not God,
as the US Southern Baptists have stated with such refreshing candour.
Although logically it is educated people who can understand and make intelligent and free
choices between different belief systems, Christian missionaries do not waste time trying
to proselytise the rich and educated classes (perhaps because these are also the people
who can tell them to get lost). From the time William Carey failed to save Raja Rammohun
Roy's soul, conversions have targeted the depressed and deprived, the soft underbelly of
Hindu society. There is a double injustice here that the Government would do well to
redress.
When conversions target poor, illiterate groups in isolated hamlets in
far-flung areas (such as tribes in the jungles of Orissa), the latter become victims of
undue influence, as they have unequal power to resist blandishments and inducements. Such
missionary activity, backed by foreign funding and a muscular determination to convert the
hapless tribal, is violative of human rights, freedom of religion and freedom of choice.
We should no longer deny this truth. Investigations into the murders of Graham Stewart
Staines and and Father Arul Doss have revealed the deep resentment and anguish of tribal
groups at their aggressive conversion methods, which denigrate and decimate tribal culture
and beliefs. The point is that if a lamb is discovered to have fangs, may we not be
justified in calling it a wolf? Christians who are quick to squeal about their minuscule
numbers would do well to appreciate that in law, the fact that the bully is small does not
exonerate him.
The most disturbing aspect of the Papal visit, however, is his call to Christian sects to
collaborate in the Christianisation of India. He did not show this tolerance in the
various Christian nations where he targeted denominations stealing his flock. Since it is
inconceivable that he has changed his views, this appears to be a version of the White
imperialists Open Door policy in China, where all countries were allowed a share in the
Chinese pie on the explicit understanding that no portion of that country was to be left
free. In our context, this means that India must be made Christian at any cost, no matter
who undertakes the conversions in the first instance. It is a disturbing thought.
However, since such an ugly assault on Hindu civilisation at a time when it
is undergoing a powerful renewal cannot but elicit an equal reaction, I believe the Pope s
visit will help crystallise issues that have been brushed under the carpet since
independence. For instance, we need to consider how the Constitution can define minority
without defining majority, when the two are inextricably linked. We need to ponder why
minorities have been given the
explicit right to protect their religious identity when it was not under any threat from
the rest of society. Is this a tacit admission that religion is intrinsic to individual
and community identity? Once we answer this question, we will realise the extent of the
dishonesty Jawaharlal Nehru and his heirs have perpetuated in the name of secularism.
President K. R. Narayanan's
characterisation of those fighting forced or induced conversions as a lunatic fringe is
part of this anti-Hindu tradition. To say the least, it is highly unbecoming of a Head of
a State.
Fortunately, Hindus too can now take their battle to larger forums. Though not widely
known, the United Nations is currently observing the International Decade of the World's
Indigenous People, which in India means our tribal population. Its objective is to focus
on indigenous peoples contribution to the world s diversity and their enrichment of the
planet through their unique relationship with the earth. Acknowledging the suffering of
indigenous peoples around the world, the UN Secretary General has pledged that the next
century will be different... we recommit ourselves to ensuring that these ancient
traditions enter a new age an era not only of survival, but of revival.
Hindu-Adivasi leaders can put it to him to redeem his promise and save them from Papal
aggression and annihilation.
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