|
|
||
| a r t i c l e s o n c o n v e r s i o n | ||
|
Church
braces for baptism of fire as new Indian state is born RANCHI, India, Nov 12 (AFP) - Christian missionaries, who see India's infant state of Jharkhand as one of their fortresses in South Asia, fear possible persecution after Hindu nationalists come to power this week. Initial euphoria over Jharkhand's creation has now been replaced by concerns that sectarian tensions could spiral in the region of 20 million people, of which 17 percent are Christians. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist BJP party is poised to take control when Jharkand -- carved out of the eastern state of Bihar -- formally becomes a state on November 15. Indian Christians say attacks on their community by right-wing Hindus have increased significantly since the first BJP coalition government came to power in New Delhi in March 1998. The Roman Catholic church -- a major force in Jharkhand -- has warned that it will not stand idle if missionaries find themselves persecuted in the new state. "Jharkhand is God's gift," Archbishop Telesphore Toppo said of India's longest statehood drive, which began with a tribal uprising against the British Raj in 1765 -- 80 years before the first European missionary arrived in the region. "No party can survive as a political entity in Jharkhand if it has a religious agenda," the archbishop said, adding that the Church was braced for a "baptism of fire" under the new state's administration. "We will side with the government, but if we are persecuted then we will go with the people." The missionaries, who are present here in several denominations, run hundreds of convents, schools, collages, orphanages, and centres of advanced studies. Right-wing Hindus accuse the missionaries of forcibly converting tribals, or enticing them to change their faith with offers of free education and healthcare. The Church strongly rejects both charges. "Our agenda is there for all the world to see," said Archbishop Toppo, while stressing that the Indian constituion permitted freedom of religion. "And so evangelical work will take place," he said. The Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra (Tribal Welfare Centre), a front of the right-wing Hindu RSS organisation, warned the Church to keep itself in line. "The church is alarmed that it may not go further with conversions and that has made it more aggressive, with the Christians projecting themselves as the champions of Jharkhand," said Kendra chief Pranay Dutt. "The church, particularly the foreign missionaries here, has always been trying to divide the people on ethnic lines and the Indian missionaries are simply parroting the lines of their overseas patrons. "The church is against the interests of Jharkhand and this could be suicidal for the church," Dutt said in a grim message. "Our message to the church is: 'Do not disturb the social fabric here,'" he added. Jharkhand's most respected tribal leader Niral Enam Horo, a Christian, conceded the church was nervous with the BJP assuming power in the mineral-rich state, which is estimated to have around 7,000 priests and nuns. "If the BJP, which appears set to take power, uses force then there will be reactions --- Christians will take to arms in Jharkhand and that will spill across India," Horo predicted. The firebrand archbishop of the Anglican church in Jharkhand, James Terom, said unlike other states the Hindu nationalists would see their ideological clout blunted here. "We will play a substantial role in Jharkhand's governance as it was the church which championed its inception," he said, adding that international pressure would be brought to bear on the BJP if local missionaries were obstructed. "If the BJP works against the interest of Christians the church will not be a silent spectator. If things are not in our favour then we will side with the tribals," he said.
|
||
|
|
Copyright © 2001 - All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
a r t i c l e s o n c o n v e r s i o n |
||
|
|
||
