TOI, Panjim, 30 Sept 2008
Don’t damn us FOR NOTHING
Francisco Colaco
laments the fact that communal harmony is vanishing as communal hatred
goes on the ascendant
Alyque Padamsee, when asked about the spate of violence against
Christians, in a recent interview to a popular TV channel, said: "I feel
horrified. My blood curdles. I studied in Catholic schools. They never
tried to convert me (nor any one that I know of). They only taught me
good morals. Let's bow our heads in shame, kneel before them, say sorry
for all they are silently going through..."
Christians in India have admittedly had patches of an inglorious
past and their share of defects. Today, by and large, they are a
peace-loving community rendering a phenomenal amount of service (at
least in proportion to the population) to society, irrespective of caste
or creed. The 2.3 % Christians in India cater to 20 % of primary
education in India, 10 % of all the literacy and community health care,
25 % of all the existing care of the destitute and orphans, 30 % of all
the handicapped, lepers, AIDS patients, etc. All funding is not from
overseas. Christians encourage their own members to fast, tithe and feed
the poorest with that money.
In 1993-94 there were 10,201 Indian organizations that received a
total of Rs. 1,865 crores from overseas. Of this, less than 10% went to
Christian organizations. The topmost recipients of foreign funds are
Satya Sai Baba and the Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishva Vidyapeetham. In fact
funds from several overseas Christian channels like EZE, CBM, etc go to
many non-Christian NGOs in India. In a most exemplary way, Christian
organizations are mainly the ones that care to register and maintain
account books and apply for FCRA. Thousands of other organizations do
not register at all nor keep accounts. Therefore there is just no way
for the home ministry to track the total inflow of their foreign funds.
The Bogey of Conversions
Figures of various censuses in India reveal that there is an actual
decline of Christian population in India - now in the minuscule range of
2.32%. Bodies like National Minorities Commission have not recorded any
complaint of forced conversion. The conversion theory is only an excuse
for organized attacks on the Churches and Christians in different parts
of the country. Though the judiciary and the legislature have attempted
to define the vital terms like "Hindu", "Hindutva", "Conversion",
"Missionary", "Native faith", "Indian", "Inducement" etc, there is still
a good deal of grey ground that persists which becomes imperceptibly the
graveyard of truth. And ignorance and ambiguity are a gold mine for mind
manipulators to incite hatred and spark violence.
Malevolent overreaction
Are Hindus under threat from Christians? A canard! Shashi Tharoor
attacking Hindu fundamentalists writes in TOI: "As a believing Hindu I
am ashamed of what is being done by people claiming to be acting in the
name of my faith. I have always prided myself on belonging to a religion
of astonishing breadth, and range of belief, a religion that can assert
itself without threatening others, and a religion that acknowledges all
ways of worshipping God as equally valid".
Contrast the above with the utterances of Bajrang Dal chief, as
reported in a Bangalore based newspaper: "Not an eye for an eye, but we
will retaliate against Christian provocation in multiples. Convert one
of ours, rape one of ours, commit violence against one of us and we will
unleash our forces - with all our might - against you". Christians, the
Bajrang Dal chief ought to be reminded, already live in fear in this
country and will never dare to provoke him or those of his ilk. So what
will he do? Fabricate lies of course, because a lie repeated hundred
times becomes truth.
Today in India when the politics of division has become far more
popular than the politics of unity, we can well imagine the shape of
things to come. The modus operandi of the Mangalore fanatics was
ingenious and simple as it was odious. There is no guarantee that such
incidents will not happen in Goa, unless the government here takes
strong preventive measures. The powersthat-be have until now not shown
even a semblance of resolve to arraign the fanatics.
As India turns into a communal cauldron, Goan Christians, who truly
set the spark and played a signal role (together with their Hindu
brethren) to liberate this beautiful land from the colonial yoke, look
askance. Where is the promise of a prosperous Goa in which all
communities would live in harmony?
It is sad to see the atmosphere of communal harmony vanish—as
communal hatred goes on the ascendant. With immense sorrow, many of us,
Goan Catholics, Hindus and Muslims, would like to make those poetic
words our own: "This black-smeared light/ this night-ridden morning/
this is not the morning we had waited for".
--
Question everything -- Karl Marx
