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Anti-Christian attacks do not tarnish India's image: Lapierre

Sujoy Dhar in Basanti, near Calcutta

Eminent author Dominique Lapierre has said that the grisly burning down of Christian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his sons in Orissa and other cases of attacks on Christians in India are but scattered incidents and they do not tarnish the overall image of this country.

On the eve of the world premiere of his book A Thousand Suns in Basanti, some 50 kilometres from Calcutta, Lapierre, a Roman Catholic, said, ''There are fundamentalists everywhere in the world and my own nation France is no exception.

''There are zealots in my country also and I don't think that recent incidents of attacks on Christians affect the image of India at all where I have been coming for the past 50 years and never faced any kind of hostility,'' he said yesterday.

''India is the biggest democracy and most fascinating country and hence there cannot be a better place to launch my book,'' the author of City of Joy said. The royalty of the book will be donated by Lapierre to Southern Health Improvement Society, a non-governmental organisation funded by the author to reach medical facilities to the ''poorest of the poor'' in Sundarbans Islands and other South 24 Parganas areas.

Published by Full Circle Publishing Limited, the book is a non-fiction which traces the growth of Lapierre from a detached journalist to a concerned participant in the great human dramas he was privileged to behold.

Lapierre recaptures his personal involvement with many different kinds of heroes in A Thousand Suns, ranging from Japanese terrorists in the holy land to freedom fighters in fascist Portugal from the spread of Nazism to the liberation of Paris and of course from Gandhiji to Mother Teresa.

''My heroes in the book are not always celebrities. One of my heroes in the book is the small girl called Padmini who supports her family by gleaning charcoal in Calcutta every morning. She touched my life,'' said the author in his usual rhetorical manner and enjoying every bit of the thunderous reception organised for him at Basanti.

Commenting on the title of the book, Lapierre said it was inspired by a south Indian proverb, ''There are always a thousand suns beyond the clouds'' which he had seen on the shutter of a bus years ago. The book, Lapierre said, has been titled so to convey the message that there is always hope beyond adversities.

Lapierre said the fascinating country of India always inspires him to write more about it and like Freedom At Midnight and City of Joy, much of his latest book comprises Indian characters, events and personalities. ''I have spent the best part of my years in this country while doing ground work for the two books and I come here again and again to take my annual dose of vitamin.

''I am happy that I can do something for the people of this region through Southern Healtlh Improvement Society. Today I am glad to say that the boat dispensaries that I had given them treated over 30,000 patients in the past year and operated upon about 1000 people, including victims of tiger and crocodile bite in the Sundarbans.

''I hope to do more for them through the royalties of my book and if you take the pain of coming back here next year I will divulge you about my forthcoming project,'' the former journalist told the media who were angry over the mismanagement of the event by the organisers. ''I profoundly apologise for the inconvenience but you should remember that you have come to cover the event involving the poorest of the poor,'' he said.

While publisher Shekhar Malhotra said that the book would soon be translated into Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Malayalam, the author said he hoped that a Bengali version would also come out.

UNI

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