Well, I am back. Ready to provide the high level of insight and
interesting stories you’ve come to expect. So, buckle up; here we go!
The title for this blontry refers to an interesting development we’ve
had since about the first of the year. In December and in January. Several
Christian Churches were attacked or vandalized. One day, I noticed that in
addition to the usual guard, there was a police officer sitting outside our
chapel. I didn’t think that much about it but I noticed that whenever I went by
the Church, no matter the day or time, there was always a police officer,
sometimes two.
So, I turned to the fount of all knowledge: our driver Robinson.
He said that because of the vandalism of Christian churches, the police had
assigned officers to each church and they were providing coverage 24/7. I asked
what the churches were charged for this coverage and he said nothing. I assumed
this would last a few days to a couple of week. It has now clearly more than a
couple of weeks and still the guards are there.
So, once again to Robinson for the 411. He said, they say the
police are there for protection but really they are there to spy on who comes
and goes and to gather information. At some point the government will take over
all the churches and try to force Christians to convert or return to Hinduism.
First, yes Robinson does have a paranoid streak. He is more than
willing to assign mal intent to the actions of any number of groups or
individuals, including the Modi government. Second, he was a strong supporter
of the Congress party that has ruled India at the national level since
independence. So there is reason to discount what Robinson said. However, it
turns out there is at least a little fire with this smoke.
Prime Minister Modi’s party, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has a strong faction that believes India should be of and
for Hindus. Some believe that Modi himself believes this, despite running, and
so far governing, with a focus on increasing economic power and efficiency of
India rather than religious purity. These people point as evidence to a major
incident that occurred 2003 in the State of Gujarat, while Prime Minister Modi was
Chief Minister.
There were a series of attacks between Hindus and Muslims over a several
week period. Ultimately 800 Muslims and 250 Hindus were killed with over 2500
more seriously injured. There are over 200 people that have never been found.
Modi is accused of 1) orchestrating the riots to reinforce Hindu supremacy; or
2) at least failing to try to control the attacks on Muslims making the
casualties much worse than they had to be if he had acted. Because of concerns about his involvement, the
US government refused to give a Visa to Modi until he was elected Prime
Minister. It should be noted that while the reality of the deaths is not
questioned, Modi’s involvement has never been established.
What is not questioned is that there is a strong faction within BJP for
whom Indian means Hindu. Most of them also include religious practices that had
their origin in Hinduism: Jains, Buddhists, etc. but religions that don’t share
that common origin are viewed as dangerous or second class. Of course there are
variations of belief. Some think citizenship and associated rights should be
exclusive to Hindus. Some think that government jobs, admission to university,
appointment to the military should be restricted to practicing Hindus.
Muslims and Christians are particularly viewed as problematic since
Hindus have been converting to those religions. In fact, there are mass
conversions, ghar wapsi (roughly translated as homecoming), during
which groups of Muslims or Christians are gathered and put under psychological,
economic, and family pressure to denounce their adopted religion and recapture
their Hindu roots. Every week or two there have been articles in the news about
these sessions. There is also an act pending in Parliament that makes religious
conversion illegal. These laws exclude reconversion to Hinduism; that right is protected. Such laws
already exist in some Indian states.
There are obvious parallels with movements in the US that want to declare
America is a Christian country. Actually like America, India was founded
politically on the idea of religious neutrality or pluralism. Our Bill of
Rights clearly states "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof...." Likewise the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of
religion under Article 25. Accordingly every citizen of India has a right to
profess, practice and propagate their religions peacefully. How do these strong
traditions in both our countries square with efforts to create religious
preference if not purity? Paradoxical at best.
Namaste
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