|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | DEAR REDIFF | |||
|
ASSEMBLY POLL '98
|
|
|
'Attack on Christians, one thought, happen only in a retrograde Pakistan.'
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 18:33:01 -0500 For all law loving people this is a murder. The culprits must face punishment for their actions. Our sympathies are with the Stains family in this hour. What is disturbing that people who believe they are fighting the Dharma Yuddha, don't care about the repercussions. The growing amount of frustration in tribals and those opposing conversions, is disturbing. The law does not protect poor tribals from exploitation from missionaries. The government does not provide employment, medicine and education. This way, our system has compelled the tribals and poor to soley depend on the missionaries. Local social organisations lack the money for doing the work the missionaries are doing. So the locals fight using their strong point of numbers. They don't have money but they have muscle power. When the government and local authorities fail to take any action against the ire and conflicts within the target communities arising out of conversions, such things will keep repeating hundred times. People don't take this lying down beyond certain limit. This incident shows that local authorities were hand in glove with missionaries, and they did not try to heal the wounds created by conversions neither they advised restraint to the missionaries. It is very difficult to separate the conversion attempts from the service to poor. One evil and other good thing come from the same source. This is just to confuse the people and to create a smoke screen. I don't like using violence to fight the missionaries but what other way has our system left for our people? Except giving advice from our air conditioned homes to do service to poor, majority of us Hindus don't do much to help Hindu organisations in offering similar services as given by missionaries. We just criticise and do nothing. Channels of funds should be opened for local social organisations. The angry youth should be given opportunities to help the poor. If they have enough resources to fight the missionary agenda by the means of service, why will they use violence? Now, don't say that we don't have the right to protect our brothers from the missionary onslaught by doing service and offering medicine and education! As usual, the deaths of thousand of Hindus everywhere have not compelled our President to talk about it in any interview in any significant manner. In that case, it is just a law and order situation. No solidarity expressed on their part. The media, led by Narayanan will now go beating all Hindutva forces. Because, they just cannot do anything else positive.
Mukund Kute
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 22:02:07 -0500 I am dismayed. Extremists in many cultures are using religious differences as an excuse to hate, harm, and kill other people. It is happening everywhere. Here, in Columbus, Ohio, USA, I have spent two years fighting an ignorant hatred of Hindu people. We used to rent our church to large group of Hindus for gatherings, celebrations, and weddings. Then, one of the un-Christian Christians in our midst claimed that these people were bringing in demons. I have always had a deep respect for the Hindu faith. As a boy scout I learned that tolerance of differences allows us to work together for common good. Yet, even now, there is a new provision in my church's building use policy which restricts use of the sanctuary to adherents to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't think Jesus would support such a provision.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 10:46:27 +0530 I think India is coming to a very sad state of affairs. If we hide behind religion as an excuse to exploit and destroy social peace it is very shameful. Susmita
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 21:32:16 +1100 When this person is brought before the justice system, he should be manacled between two or more unfortunate sufferers of leprosy and tend to their needs as Dr Graham Stewart Stains would have done. The fear of the RSS is that Pakistan will win the cricket series and diminish their Nazi style rhetoric. May peace prevail with all who live in peace.
Brian Hard
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 12:36:29 -0500 Much has been said about Hindu tolerance and Christian charity in the past few days following the Stains murder. The knee jerk reaction was to blame it on the Bajrang Dal/VHP/RSS as it always has been. No proof of their involvement is considered necessary and no reporter feels the need do an on the spot report. That is go to the scene immediately after the incident and find the facts for yourself. No, that is not necessary. Mere repeating the allegations, no matter how far removed from the truth they may be is good enough. After all, it is the Hindu sentiment that is being hurt and the Hindu organisations that are maligned. They same pattern of reporting was followed when "church" burning was reported a couple of months ago.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 16:20:08 -0600 I have been deeply moved on learning this incident. Please convey my heartfelt condolences to Gladys and her daughter. Though I am a Hindu and being a staunch follower of it, I can in no way convince myself that how can and who are those people to take the life of someone else? In none of the religions has there been a preaching of violence. Then why do this? I am now in the USA and I would like to bring to the kind notice of all those who were a part of this act that it wouldn't take time for people here to do the same thing to us, and in case we happen to be one of their kith and kin, would they accept this done to them. What did the children do to them? Children are taught by parents as to what is god and how to worship him. They don't know who Jesus is and who Lord Ganesh is, unless and until we tell them that they are different. Swaminathan
Date: 29 Jan 99 15:24:47 IST This is regarding Mr Kartha's posting on Rediff about the torching of the Australian missionary in Orissa. I did not quite get the point he wants to make. What is he trying to say? That the mob showed 'great conviction' in burning alive only Stains and that they displayed great magnanimity in not roasting the other Christians who were around? How about the two tender innocent children? Or is it that being unfortunate children of a Christian missionary who had dedicated his life for the service of lepers whom Kartha and the Hindu patriots wouldn't even touch with a barge-pole also deserved to be burnt to death? I should also thank Kartha for the revelation that fifty years after Independence, there are 'enough' Hindus who want a Hindu India. I presume he has ascertained the number of such Hindus and decided that it meets the criterion of being described as 'enough.' Let me pose one more question. What does Kartha mean by the term "Hindu India"? Weren't we one already? I use the past tense because, the way the Sangh Parivar is going about acts which would put even the Taliban to shame, we are fast degrading ourselves to the level of fundamentalist, theocratic societies like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan etc. Is Pakistan the model Kartha wants to emulate? Well, we have made a great beginning. Attack on Christians, burning of churches, one thought, happen only in a retrograde Pakistan. We have gone a step, no, a giant leap ahead, and made the minorities seem safer in Pakistan. Do Kartha and the 'Hindutvaites' know the meaning of Hinduism? Ever heard of a basic tenet of Hinduism known as "Sarvadharma Samabhavana?" Being from Kerala, as the name would suggest, I am sure the following news item would gladden the heart of Kartha: "RSS activists attack seminary students in Kerala." You do not have to look far to identify the greatest danger to Hinduism today.
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 11:23:41 +0800 Even though killing is not allowed, but at the same time, I am not ready to believe they are not converting.
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 00:56:25 +0300 Selfless, devoted, humanitarian Christians, who have dedicated their entire life to the service of God have done much more for the downtrodden than anybody else. Even more than the government has done for these people. The attackers and the the men who conspire against their selfless service cannot dream of doing such true service for the downtrodden. Panicker
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 07:00:27 -0800 Your news article contained the following: "He, however, could not elaborate about the source of his information, particularly when no pistol had been recovered from the spot." Since when do you care about the source of information? You did not ask the same from Madhavrao Scindia, before splashing articles about the Bajrang Dal's role in the incident. Please be fair, and you will sound credible. Sameer
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 15:47:40 PST Rubbish, and all made up fiction to destabilise India. Jai Hind. Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 16:02:46 -0500 It is amply clear to me that conversions by foreign missionaries either directly or indirectly through their surrogates is the root cause of the current violence in India. Why can't we call a spade a spade? Perhaps the media in India wishes to ignore the real cause of the problem in their zeal for pseudo-secularism. Hindus and Hinduism has been kicked around and assaulted for a very long time. If we stand up and expose these missionaries for what they really are, it will do immense good. Perhaps more people should be exposed to the sermons of Pat Robertson of US. Fundamentally, majority of Christians (and certainly the missionaries) believe the only way to salvation is through Jesus. They feel compelled to claim more souls to their 'one true path.' They feel that they need to berate all other paths, certainly, 'idolatrous' Hinduism. We can never expect them to understand the lofty ideas of Vedanta.
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 13:25:43 -0600 I think the Bajrang Dal activists are a bunch of crazy lunatics. There is absolutely no justification for their deeds and it is high time our politicians took stern action against the whole Bajrang Dal, starting from its leader. It is things like these that make one want to leave India and start a new life in some place where at least personal safety is guaranteed. I hope things change... not only for the Christians, but for India as a country.
Rita
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 12:31:57 -0500 I was extremely distressed to note the current trend of attacks on Christians and others in some pockets of India. The killing of the Australian missionary and his two children was most appalling. Similarly, the killing of the landless Dalits in Bihar is another sad episode which reflects on the current social and political structure in India. The various reports in the press, the articles by various columnists and the statements by the government with regard to the attacks on Christians are at variance with each other. On the one hand, the majority of reports point the finger at the Bajrang Dal, the VHP etc for the attacks on minorities. On the other, are reports by some journalists that these attacks are the direct result of active conversions etc, and then there are statements by the BJP spokesemen that these are instigated by foreign agencies and or opposition parties. Is it not possible for a group of investigative reporters from Rediff and other non-governmental. agencies to investigate and bring out the truth? What is the cause for the spurt in communal violence? How can it be prevented? No matter who is responsible, these attacks are reprehensible and should be condemned. If Mahatma Gandhi was alive, the first thing he would have done is to go to the sites of these violent occurrences and prevent these things from happening. Sadly, we no longer have leaders in the mould of the Mahatma, Vinoba Bhave, Jayaprakash Narayan and others. What we have are cheap politicians looking for ways to come to power or hold on to power, instead of helping the people to live peacefully. What we need is a dialogue between different groups of religions etc to sort out problems and find solutions. Ven Hari
|
||
|
HOME |
NEWS |
BUSINESS |
SPORTS |
MOVIES |
CHAT |
INFOTECH |
TRAVEL
SHOPPING HOME | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK |
||