Rina Mukherji wrote: Since conversions are obviously the root cause behind what has escalated into large-scale violence against innocent Christians in its wake, I feel Goanetters ought to read this piece from Indian Express. Mind you, not all Christian churches are into such proselytization, but there is a new crop of missions that makes this their agenda. It is this that must be opposed-in the cause of secularism and peace. Comment: As I said before, with the threat of a ban looming large over the heads of the VHP and BD, Operation Cover- Up or Operation Whitewash is in full swing. We have aleady seen articles by hindutvawadis like Francois Gauntier, S Gurumurthy and now Sudheendra Kulkarni whose affiliation and loyalties to the sangh parivar is well known. It is interesting how the violence in Orissa, Karnataka, MP, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and elsewhere against Christians is being tried to be obfuscated by diverting the debate and attention from the violence itself to a non-issue.
1.the main debate should be whether any one in this country can take law into their own hands and indulge in violence of rape, murder, destruction, terrorising a minority group. 2.the debate should also include the issue of banning the VHP and BD which have proved to be no better than terrorist organisations. Their track record is there for all to see. The only reason why they escaped a ban so far is because they are tied to the apron strings of the BJP and the Congress lacks spine. 3.Conversion is a non issue. Freedom of Religion is guaranteed by the Constitution of India and is one of the fundamental rights. 4.Conversion is a non-issue because the population of christians in India have in fact been showing a steady decline from 2.6% to 2.3%. 5. Conversion is a non-issue because there has not been a SINGLE reported case nor conviction anywhere in India despite anti-conversion laws for OVER 60 YEARS. 5.None of the writers like Sudheendra Kulkarni or Francois Gauntier or Gurumurthy have been able to provide any statistics or evidence or proofs to support their arguments. 6.The real truth is that with education, healthcare, hospitals,etc. the missionaries have uplifted the poor and marginalised sections and this threatens the domination of vested groups who exploited them for generations. These vested groups then use the poor and tribals themselves as their fodder in their nefarious gameplan. 7.It is also interesting that these writers do not find anything amiss when the poor and tribals are forced under threat of death to renounce christianity and embrace hinduism. The following articles by eminent personalities which have already been posted earlier on Goanet but which are relevant to this discussion are appended below. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Shashi_Tharoor/Respect_an_individuals_decision/articleshow/3561097.cms Respect an individual's decision by Shashi Tharoor Stop this Politics of Hate http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:tjHIY6dFQPMJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Shashi_Tharoor/SHASHI_ON_SUNDAY/Stop_the_politics_of_division/articleshow/msid-3585029,curpg-2.cms+stop+this+politics+of+division+shashi+tharoor&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=in Hindu Fundamentals are under attack http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Shashi_Tharoor/SHASHI_ON_SUNDAY/Hindu_fundamentals_are_under_attack/articleshow/3535323.cms http://sidhusaaheb.blogspot.com The Communal Psyche- Hapless Christians Handy for Minority Bashing by Dipankar Gupta http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/LEADER_ARTICLE_Two_Sides_Of_The_Same_Coin/rssarticleshow/3578075.cms Two Sides Of The Same Coin by Harbans Mukhia (Times of India dt. 10.10.2008) Faith no more by Khushwant Singh http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=064bbc98-99b7-4272-8245-7fc5090f7247 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Dont_Target_Converts/articleshow/3571221.cms Don't Target Converts by Michael Pinto An old testament by George Menezes http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=4127c514-6f85-41f4-bebb-95f81738c492&MatchID1=4814&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=1&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1212&PrimaryID=4814&Headline=An+old+testament http://www.outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=2&fodname=20081013&fname=Column+Neelabh+%28F%29&sid=1 The Crucifixion of Words by Neelabh Mishra http://www.outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=2&fodname=20081006&fname=bajrangdal&sid=1 Frankenstein’s Monsters by B Raman http://www.cbcisite.com/cbcinews2463.htm Why extremist Hindus attack Christians by Bishop Agnelo Gracias http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentID=1675049 Maoists take credit for killing VHP leader- Source: Indo-Asian News Service http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16652&Itemid=1&issueid=74§ionid=36&limit=1&limitstart=0 The rogue army by Farzand Ahmed http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/world/asia/13india.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin It is very important for all of us to keep the focus on the real issues which is violence against christians and not let our attention get diverted by red herrings which will be thrown at us from time to time by articles or posters who have their own agenda. Regards, Marshall -- Hyundai to launch the i20 in India. Catch the exclusive preview on ZigWheels.com http://www.zigwheels.com/b2cam/newsDetails.action?name=Emb11_20080731&path=/INDT/News/Emb11_20080731&page=1&pagecount=2&utm_source=indmail&utm_medium=footer&utm_content=tracking&utm_campaign=Nletter_07oct2008_ZW
