Basilio Monteiro wrote: > >I would like to offer a few random (not exhaustive) thoughts for consideration >about the complex issue of >"religious persecution" in India. It is a >sensitive and provocative issue. Of course, a few Catholic >priests and nuns >get killed, and that is painfully sad; the murder of a priest or a nun in the >hands of a >non-catholic is not necessarily an act of persecution. >
Basilio has presented a reasonable case on the issue of religious persecution in India. It should throw some light on why the claims of some Indian and foreign religious organizations/activists about widespread religious persecution in India against Christians in particular, are by and large exaggerations and distortions, although incidents of violent crimes or harassment involving religious fervor and discrimination do occur and have occurred from time to time throughout history. To provide a global perspective on this issue, I give below the list of countries in which there is actual persecution according to an international Christian organization that monitors persecution of Christians around the world. North Korea Saudia Arabia Afghanistan Iraq Somalia Maldives Mali Iran Yemen Eritrea Syria Please see http://www.opendoorsusa.org/persecution/about-persecution The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom which makes lists of "countries with particular concern" about religious freedom based on complaints made by political and religious activists around the world has provided the following list of such countries in its latest report: Burma China Eritrea Iran Iraq Nigeria North Korea Pakistan Saudi Arabia Sudan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Please see: http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1456&Itemid=1 Cheers, Santosh
