-Caveat Lector-
Treat all Religions Equally, Hindu Group Tells Pope
NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- A Hindu group allied with the governing party has
asked Pope John Paul II to affirm that all religions are equal when he comes
to India next month, an Indian news agency reported Tuesday.
The demand by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh echoed calls made in recent
weeks by other Hindu allies of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They
coincide with a 650-mile march protesting the pope's visit by the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council.
The march from the southwestern state of Goa will reach New Delhi on Nov. 4,
the eve of the pope's visit.
The actions have embarrassed Vajpayee, considered a soft-spoken intellectual
and a moderate politician, as he courts foreign investors and tries to rein
in strident Hindu groups supporting him.
H.V. Seshadri, general secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, told
activists the pope should announce that Hinduism and Christianity are equal
paths to salvation, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
It quoted Seshadri as saying the pope was denied permission to visit China
and Sri Lanka because those governments feared his visit would encourage
proselytizing by Christian missionaries.
The pope is to be the first foreign guest of Vajpayee's new government,
which took office last week. Some of the Hindu groups have demanded that
neither Vajpayee nor any of his ministers meet with the pope.
During the Nov. 5-8 papal visit -- the second in nearly 15 years _ the pope
will participate in a gathering of Asian bishops, meet Indian secular and
religious leaders and celebrate Mass at Nehru Stadium in the Indian capital.
Most of India's 820 million Hindus and 23 million Christians live in
harmony. Christian missionaries are widely respected for setting up schools
and hospitals in remote areas.
In the last year, however, Christian leaders say there have been at least
100 attacks on them by fringe Hindu groups. The attacks have been
concentrated in four states governed either by Hindu nationalists or
suffering from extreme poverty and illiteracy.
The federal government, which investigated all the cases, says the figures
were exaggerated and most of the incidents were related to property
disputes.
Christian groups say the number and intensity of the attacks are related to
the growth of two fringe Hindu groups allied with Vajpayee's party that
accuse Christian missionaries of targeting poor and illiterate Hindus by
promising cures for blindness and hearing loss.
Christians deny the allegations of coercion and deceit.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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