Quite unsure why India is surprised. The Vatican has over the centuries
used force and enticements to convert people of other faiths to
Catholicism. That is how the religion has been able to sustain itself.
The Vatican's lecture to India is both unwarranted and 'holier than
thou' - which it ain't
India has summoned the Vatican envoy in Delhi in
protest over comments by the Pope in which he condemned attempts to ban
religious conversions.
India's junior Foreign Minister, Anand Sharma, told parliament on Tuesday
that the envoy was told in "no uncertain terms" of India's disapproval.
The Pope criticised India last week for what he called "disturbing signs of
religious intolerance".
India's main opposition party, the BJP, has already protested to the
Vatican.
'Religious intolerance'
Pope Benedict XVI made the comments last week while talking to India's new
Ambassador to the Vatican, Amitava Tripathi.
![Head shaving as part of religious conversion in Tamil Nadu in 2003]()
Religious conversions are a controversial
issue |
The pontiff criticised India for "disturbing signs of religious intolerance
which have troubled some regions of India".
He specifically cited attempts by some Indian states to introduce
legislation to ban what right-wing Hindus call "forced conversions".
India's foreign ministry has now reacted strongly to Monday's papal
comments.
"India is a secular and democratic country, in which adherents of all
religious faiths enjoy equal rights," said Junior Foreign Minister Anand
Sharma.
Interference
Correspondents say that Mr Sharma made the comments in response to
opposition criticism that India had not protested against the "grossly
unwarranted" statement from Rome.
Rajnath Singh, the President of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) wrote to the Pope on 20 May.
"My interference in your religious domain within the Vatican will be
unwelcome, uncalled for and will be treated as interference in your religious
management and administration," the letter said.
Earlier this month, the state governor of India's western state of
Rajasthan refused to sign a contentious religious freedom bill, which would
have banned people from being converted to religions "against their will".
Human rights agencies and minority groups also opposed the bill, saying it
was introduced to appease radical Hindu groups.
But the BJP-led Rajasthan government, led by the BJP, said that the bill
had been introduced to stop religious conversion by means of allurement, greed
or pressure.
The BJP says that it supports legislation to ban "forced religious
conversions", because many Christian missionaries recruit converts among the
majority Hindu population using financial and educational enticements.
Christians make up just over two percent of India's 1.1 billion mainly
Hindu population.
