Posted on 04/01/2005 6:36:23 AM PST by wesley_windam-price
Kochi (AsiaNews) – A gaggle of Hindu fundamentalists assaulted Christians who were watching a screening of The Passion of the Christ inside the Kanai Church, the oldest church in the state of Kerala (south-western India). One Christian was seriously wounded and scores of others were beaten and injured, including women and children.
The incident occurred on Easter Eve in Chalakud Taluna when 25 militants from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—the paramilitary wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—disrupted the viewing of Mel Gibson’s movie and started attacking the spectators, one of whom George Kutty, was seriously hurt. Kanai Church members are followers of Canai Thoma, who reached Kerala from Persia in 425 AD.
Speaking to AsiaNews, John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union, said that “these anti-Christian attacks are probably designed to discredit the Congress Party” which currently rules Kerala. The Chief Minister, Oomen Chandy, is Christian.
Concern is also growing among Christians and the Church in Maharashtra, the most secular Indian state and under a Congress Party administration, where State Home Affairs Minister Sidharam Mhetre presented an anti-conversion law. It follows the main lines of a similar bill already presented in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Should it become law, the bill would, among other things, require anyone changing religion to submit an affidavit to the authorities.
Human rights activists have often said that anti-conversion laws are used by Hindu fundamentalists to persecute non Hindus.
In Tamil Nadu the anti-conversion bill has been withdrawn after a prolonged campaign by opponents.
Dolphy D’Souza, president of the Bombay (Mumbai) Catholic Sabha (assembly), said the proposal by Congress-led Maharashtra was shameful.
“The Bombay Catholic Sabha is anguished and pained at the response of Mr Sidharam Mhetre,” Mr D’Souza said.
He added that “if the government thinks it can pass a law against the people, we can tell him that we and other organisations shall launch a campaign” against the anti-conversion law.
Maharashtra’s Chief Minister had already publicly stated that such a law was not necessary. (NC-LF)
The Hindus and Muslims ripped their own country in two. The poorest and lowest castes tended to Islam because Islam saw equality in humans. Islam conquered by force, but if the caste system hadn't been imported by those ancient Vedic conquerors, India still might be the huge subcontinent it was 60 years ago, WITHOUT any Islam that mattered. Just a thought.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with nationalism or religious fundamentalism. The former binds a nation together and promotes ITS interests. The latter is just one group's belief -- and there's nothing wrong with that either.
Militants, however, are a pain in the rear in all cases and in all societies. Hanoi Jane Fonda was one. She finally grew up but did MUCH damage while she was being a militant asshole.
I think the 'Indians' referred to here are the ones from India, not America.
And does no one here know of Christian 'militants' in India's north-east?
This may not be a credible source, but here's a link I found on Googe®
http://www.swordoftruth.com/swordoftruth/archives/byauthor/shamolimitra/riactine.html
Rising Islamic And Christian Terrorism In North East
The North Eastern States of India, which have been categorically deprived of significant development during last few decades of Congress Rule, are now facing a new kind of danger. Recent upsurge of Islamic and Church-funded terrorism has given birth to possible havoc in the North eastern states. Especially Assam and Tripura have become the main victims of this kind of religious extremism and widespread terrorism.
Recently PTI published that After its failure in Kargil, Pakistan is now attempting to separate the entire northeast from the rest of India by cutting off the 'Chicken's Neck' area between northern Bengal and Assam. The task of chopping off the Chicken's Neck portion has been assigned to the Inter Services Intelligence and has been planned along the lines of the Kargil operation. It is being fully supported covertly by the Pakistani army.
The Chicken's Neck area, a narrow alley between Srirampur in Assam and New Jalpaiguri in north Bengal, connects the northeast with the rest of the country. Pakistan plans to control the area which would make it easier for them to cut off the entire northeast and also spread terrorism in other parts of India. It has been reported that to execute the operation, about 24 active Islamic fundamentalist groups have been formed in Bangladesh, Nepal and India. These groups have been trained on the pattern of the Lashkar-i-Tayyaba and Taliban militia.
Some of these terrorist groups are known as Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA), Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (MULFA), People's Liberation Front (PLF), International Liberation Army (ILA), Muslim Security Force (MSF), Liberation of Islamic Tiger Force (LITF), Muslim Security Council of Assam (MSCA), United Liberation Militia of Assam (ULMA), Minority Peoples Action Committee (MPAC), Muslim Volunteers Force (MVF), Mujahid Vahini and Jubo Command. Many of these organizations have active connection with Kashmiri Islamic terrorist organizations and enjoy financial and moral support from International Islamic fanatics like Osama Bin laden.
Assam has witnessed a sharp increase in Islamic Terrorism in last two years. On numerous occasions, Muslim fundamentalist leaders were arrested by Indian Police on account of promoting active terrorism in the state. On September 12, 98 a top-ranking leader of the All-India Muslim liberation Front (AIMLF) was arrested in Assam. The police apprehended the terrorist, Kamrul Haque Barbhuyan quite accidentally at the Jorhat railway station on September 3 for travelling without a ticket. A through checking of his belongings led to the recovery of a large number of incriminating documents including propaganda literature of the AIMLF, following which he was brought to Guwahati, where he is still under interrogation. Police reports have even linked Barbhuyan to the murder of cassette king Gulshan Kumar, as also to the serial blasts of Mumbai of 1993. The police also said that the ISI was sending batches of trainers to Assam through the porous borders to motivate Muslim youths. Some Muslim youths of Assam have also undergone training in arms in Manipur, where one or two Islamic militant groups are active.
Soon after that incident, Union Minister Lal Krishna Advani released a white paper, which detailed the grand plan of ISI in Assam. Among other things, it pointed out that the ISI wanted to use infiltrators from Bangladesh to destabilize the North East. It also provided sanctuary to Punjab terrorists in Pakistan to revive militancy there. In pursuance of its objectives, the ISI wanted to spread tentacles of terrorism not only in Jammu and Kashmir but also in Punjab, Assam and Nagaland by carrying out subversive propaganda on Islamic fundamentalist and communal lines. Today Government believes that Assam about 40-lakh illegal Bangladeshi Muslims are living in Assam alone.
Patterns of Islamic Terrorism and revealed facts about ISI's plan make it very clear that Pakistan will concentrate on North Eastern States of India in near future and will try its best to spread the same kind of mayhem and destruction that Kashmir has been witnessing for last two decades. It appears even Chief Minister of Assam has started to realize it and asked Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to immediately initiate measures to solve the problem of terrorism in the state. Mahanta informed the Prime Minister about militant activities and steps so far taken by the state to curb militancy. The Prime Minister assured full cooperation to solve problems of the state.
In a separate incident, outlawed terrorists belonging to All Tripura Tiger Force in Tripura shot dead 17 people, including two women, injured 11 and abducted four others at Panchabati in West Tripura on November 15. The police said that the terrorists were equipped with sophisticated weapons. Suddenly the terrorists rained bullets on the people, killing seven on the spot. Several others suffered injuries, of which 10 succumbed in two government hospitals. Eleven people, most of them critical, were being treated at the G B Hospital.
It was reported that combing operations to nab the militants had been launched by the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles, Tripura State Rifles and state police. The BSF had been asked to tighten vigil along the Indo-Bangla border to prevent the terrorists from crossing the border. Although Chief Minister Manik Sarker of Tripura asked the police and civil officials to make all efforts to nab the militants, earlier incidents show that the Communist Government of Tripura and Catholic Church of North East have direct connection with the terrorists belonging to All Tripura Tiger Force. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have demanded the resignation of the CPI-M-led Left Front government for their failure to curb militancy.
This sounds like a isolated incident in a country of a few hundred million that was was more of a fight or scuffle then anything else.
Agreed. These "scuffles" sometimes DO stay at that level. Let's hope they do here.
India isn't a "few hundred million"; it has ONE BILLION people.
Another interesting one. I must warn you though, keep your bucket of salt handy, because I can't say anything about the credibility of this article, just as I have nothing to say about the credibility of the original article about Christians being attacked in a movie theatre.
Sukhoi-30mki(a Freeper) lives near the area, and so he may be in a better position to keep us informed.
Anyway, here goes:
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0900/81.html
Hindu hard-liners to counter Christian militants in NE
Author:
Publication: Gomantak Times
Date: September 19, 2000
A hard-line Hindu group with close links to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP party vowed Monday it would “not tolerate” attacks on Hindu temples by Christian guerrillas in India’s northeast. The Hindu Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - World Hindu Forum), said it would prevent separatist militants from the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), targeting Hindu temples and priests in the region.
“We have decided to form a religion protection committee to save Hinduism from the onslaught of the pro-Christian NLFT,” Sitaram Agarwal, general secretary of the VHP, said.
“We will not tolerate interference with our religious freedom.” Agarwal said the VHP’s religion Protection committee had already enlisted local Hindu villagers to guard temples and was mobilising public opinion against the separatist rebels.
“Despite repeated pleas, the government has not provided security to the Hindu population against militant attacks. The religion protection committee will be an alternative security arrangement for the People,” said Agarwal.
The VHP alleged that in the last fortnight NLFT militants had killed a Hindu priest in Tripura state, and warned people against celebrating the biggest Hindu festival in the region, Durga Puja, in October. “The militants backed by Baptist missionaries have threatened to close down several of our temples in Tripura and we consider this a direct threat to Hinduism,” Agarwal said. Christians make up a little over 2 percent of Tripura’s 2.46 million population.
The NLFT, a pro-Christian group fighting for an independent homeland in the state has been accused of intimidating tribal Hindus into converting to Christianity. Christians make up roughly two percent of India’s’ one billion predominantly Hindu population.
Christians say attacks on churches, hospices, missionary run schools and facilities have increased since Vajpayee’s BJP Party took Power in late 1998.
However, radical Hindu groups such as the VHP accuse Christian missionaries of forcibly converting poor Hindus in rural areas - a charge Church leaders strongly deny.
Hindu's are very peace loving. This could never happen.
So one incident among a billion people keeps the relativity factor on equal terms?
Did I SAY that?
Oh no no, I'm just asking. I mean, among a billion plus people, such incidents form a tiny fraction, doesn't it? And it is not like as if the state machinery is involved in propagating this terror. IIRC, the Indian state in question, Kerala, has a Christian Chief Minister (equivalent to a US state governor), in an 80% Hindu state.
Now imagine this happening in a Muslim country.
And 'infidels'.
Separation of church and state must stay if India is to thrive as a democracy.
In Hinduism women have even a lower status.
To be finally SAVED one must be male. Even a female saint has ONE more reincarnation to go through -- she must come back as a MALE for final redemption.
Brahman women ARE higher than men and women of lower castes but even Indira Ghandi, a Brahman, has to come back as ANY male to be "saved." Islam gives everyone, even women, an equal shot at equality at salvation -- like Christianity.
It will, Indians booted out the Hindu 'nationalists' in their last general election. The new government is headed by a Christian and a Sikh, members of India's two religious minorities. And they seem to be doing a good job.
No paramilitary wing--Christianity is based on meekness. That's what separates us from the militants.
Oops, no separation here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/nlft.htm
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
Tripura
References
National Liberation Front of Tripura
National Liberation Front of Tripura
Agreed. Sounds like media hype.
The few Christians there are in India tend to cluster in the south -- where the Portuguese came and converted some Hindus.
Of course, this story WAS put here and we ARE responding....the ole carrot and stick routine. :o)
Hooter's.
A small group of thugs beats up people and you take this an example of India's religious intolerance?
Yes. We must ensure things are fair and balanced('TM'?).
Or else, our enemies will use the falsities against us.
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