Posted on 11/11/2001 8:42:03 PM PST by stilts
GUWAHATI, India -- A Human Rights Group in northeastern India Sunday accused neighboring Myanmar of forcibly converting hundreds of ethnic Christians to Buddhism.
There are some 20,000 ethnic Naga Christians in Myanmar, adjoining the Indian state of Nagaland.
The Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) group said that in the past few weeks large numbers of them had been converted by the ruling military junta and religious bodies.
"Nagas residing in Myanmar were forced to convert to Buddhism, while those resisting were persecuted and kept as bonded laborers by the Junta and Buddhist monks," said NPMHR leader N. Krome.
"Many of the Christians Nagas were lured (by the offer of) government jobs to get converted to Buddhism," Krome told AFP by telephone from Nagaland's capital Kohima.
The allegation followed a recent visit by a NPMHR fact-finding team to border areas, where it said it encountered hundreds of villagers fleeing Myanmar following the religious conversions.
"Some of the families are taking shelter in villages in the northwest Mon District of Nagaland bordering Myanamar, following threats and intimidation," Krome said.
"The villagers are scared to return to Myanmar amid reports that some areas are mined."
Christian leaders claimed the Nagas were being forced to close down their churches.
"We have come across people who said churches in Myanmar were being desecrated by the military and Christians were being tortured and harassed on the slightest pretexts," T.L. Kikon, a Baptist church leader in Nagaland said.
Meanwhile, an Amsterdam-based Human Rights Group, the Naga international support center, said troops from India and Myanmar had earlier this week jointly raided strongholds of Naga tribal separatists inside Myanmar.
"The raid lead to the displacement of more than 3,000 people who had flee to India," a statement from the group said.
At least a dozen separatist groups have bases in Myanmar, including the outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagaland (MSCN) which is fighting for an independent tribal homeland within Nagaland.
The NSCN currently has a cease-fire with the Indian government which is trying to end 54 years of insurgency in the region.
India and Myanmar share a 1,643-kilometer (1,018-mile) border.
Those are the key words. Buddhism does have a violent past that many do not want us to remember.
To any rational person a 'forced conversion' is a meaningless act.
You've lost me. What do Christians and Indian nukes have to do with Buddhism in China?
Of course, there is no doubt that a large majority of Chinese (70-77%) practice no religion at all, but do have an eclectic variety of beliefs from Confucius, Lao-Tse, Buddha, Christ, Marx, and dozens of other "prophets..."
It is my understanding that the man who "controls" the Indian bomb (i.e. can authorize its use during wartime) is the Prime Minister - who is Hindu. Sawdring posted a bunch of articles on Indian nuclear doctrine at one point, perhaps he could correct me if I'm mistaken.
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