From John Dayal, Member, NIC, Govt of India

Something to remember

- Demonising Christians

As the Rajasthan Government writes a law against Freedom of Faith in the garb of an Anti-Conversion Act, and hunts for Bishop M A Thomas because of a book he is said to have sponsored, not written, here is what dozens of Hindutva pamphlets, leaflets, calendars and magazines in wide circulation, say about other religions. Not one Author or Distributor has, of course, been arrested.

Bapparawal, a bimonthly Hindi magazine published by the Rajasthan Vanwasi Kalyan Parishad (RVKP) and freely circulated in tribal Rajasthan, in its January-February 2004 edition, carried an article titled "Misuse of the Innocence of Tribals and Endeavour Required to Awaken One's Self", by a Dr. Kashyapnath. Here are some extracts from the writer's conclusion about Christian missionaries, supposedly drawn from interviews of 'converted tribals':
"1. Missionaries convert tribals (to Christianity) forcibly and by exploiting their greed and temptation.
2. The basic objective of education and health-related Christian institutions, which they term as welfare services, is conversion.
3. By instigating separatism, Christian missionaries want to create a separate Christian Homeland like Pakistan.
4. Conversion of religion leads to conversion of the nation - meaning that a person gets away from the culture of the country because after conversion -
a. Christian children are forbidden to have Hindu names.
b. Wearing mangalsutra (a thread worn by a married Hindu woman around her neck as a sacred representation of her marital status and loyalty to husband) is prohibited.
c. Rangoli (a ritual) in the house is banned.
d. Prohibition on (consumption of) beef (of the cow) is exempted.
e. Taking bath before going to a temple is discouraged but going for prayers/churches encouraged.
f. Visiting astrologers is forbidden.
g. Taking part in Hindu festivals is forbidden.
h. The custom of marrying in the courtyard of one's own house is discouraged and marriage at churches encouraged.
i. Following customs like piercing ears...wearing garlands in hair...is discouraged.
j. Beliefs in reincarnation... salvation termed baseless.
k. Hindu gods are declared 'Satan'.
l. Priests preach against worshipping statues.
5. Evil attempts are made to hurt the faith of Hindus by getting false stories published.
6. They talk like 'if you want to do a job, become a Christian, or quit the job'.
7. Christian girls are deployed to entice good and intelligent Hindu youth.
8. They spread propaganda like in Christianity lies your salvation, sins can be gotten rid of only with the mediation of Christ and all your good works are futile without coming under Jesus.
9. They blend superstition to convert innocent tribals."
Their audience is well targeted:

"1. There is a need for a system to cleanse Christianity of its criminal tendency to make sinful and intolerable interference.
2. A law should immediately be enacted in India according to which there should be freedom to be an atheist at personal level but criticising the god worshipped by others should be a punitive crime.
3. Christian missionaries are culpable of so criticising God. There should be some arrangement to punish them. Leaving them unpunished is not liberalism...
4. There should be a ban on Christian educational and health related services that are used for conversion.
5. Propagation of religion by foreign priests should be banned.
6. Government should make arrangements for orphan children and elderly people so that they could not be exploited by institutions engaged in conversion activities.
7. A clear and stringent law should be enacted to stop conversion.
8...Government officers should inquire into the grants given to Christian missionaries by the government.
9. Donations from foreign countries should be banned.
10. Our educational institutions should be shielded from the dominance of foreign missionaries. Schools should never be allowed to be a means for conversion.
11. There should be an intensive survey of Christian families and agencies by the police who should look into the number of converted members, the circumstances in which they were converted and the agencies which were involved in it.
12. We should guide our own conduct and also create an atmosphere in the society to ensure that our children are not enrolled in Christian schools.
13. Missionaries convert tribals by force and enticement; by encouraging separatism they want to create a situation like 'Christian Homeland' as had happened in case of Pakistan; they refuse to give Hindu names to converted children; and, they declare Hindu gods as 'Satan'."

And, this was just one chapter of Bapparawal!

Courtesy: Communalism Combat