I have to yet again correct the false and misleading misinformation/ disinformation spread by Santosh. First of all. knowledge and information is not the exclusive preserve of politicians as a person who claims to possess scientific temper ought to know. Secondly, Faleiro wasn’t referring to recent times. He was only restating what he had said in another article in 2008. I quote him:****
** ** Quote:**** ‘I spent the month of September 2004 in the villages of Orissa, in the districts of Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj where Rev. Graham Staines and his two sons were killed some years ago. The purpose was to study and understand the open confrontation which has existed for long in that State between Christian and Hindu missionaries for conversion and reconversion (ghar wapsi). Mainline Christian theologians see both the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva ideology and Christian campaigns for evangelisation of India as having a fundamentalist attitude and aggressive methodology to achieve their respective goals. An agreement on the lines described in the aforesaid document among the leaders of all the major religious denominations in India is the need of the hour.’**** Unquote**** http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article993.html**** ** ** Further, Faleiro was not and could not have been referring to the recent incidents in Kashmir as he was merely restating what he said 4 years ago with specific reference to Orissa.**** ** ** On Kashmir, the recent conflict over conversions has local connotations and is being exploited by vested interests. Very often politicians and local big-wigs desire some favour from Christian-run schools or institutions, and when they do not get it, the bogey of conversions is thrown at them and used as a red herring. Refer to this report:**** http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Kashmir,-false-accusations-of-forced-conversion-against-a-Protestant-pastor-23072.html**** ** ** http://www.indianexpress.com/news/christians-slam-kashmir-shariah-courts-verdict-on-conversion/899415/0**** ** ** http://m.firstpost.com/breaking-views/conversionskashmir-butareliberals-now-190671.html?page=1**** ** ** Interestingly, Syed Ali Shah Geelani the hardliner Hurriyat Conference chairman has come out openly in support of the missionaries and decried the actions of Islamic organisations. Refer-**** ** ** http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/syed-ali-shah-geelani-bats-for-pastors-kashmir-conversions/1/171050.html**** ** ** ** ** I must thank Santosh for providing weblinks to the two articles on the North East. These articles merely trace the growth of Christianity in the North East. Nowhere does it talk of religious conflict. The articles are well written and balanced. I would recommend them to all to read and understand about the North East The articles only support and reinforce what I have been saying.**** ** ** Quote:**** ‘Mizoram is practically free from the menace of insurgency. Similar is the case of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, the apprehension of the dismemberment of Northeast from India through the so called co-ordinated challenge to the Indian core is far from the ground reality. Only some misguided sections in Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Assam are working for India's inimical neighbours and anti-Indian forces only for their self-serving interest. They need to be handled with a strong political will as the rise of a sovereign state depends upon the integration of its diverse regions under a centripetal pull. Once the forces of disintegration are allowed to grow it will be the beginning of its decline.’ ***http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers17/paper1700.html* ** ** Now, I wonder what motivates Santosh to mislead and mispresent facts and obfuscate issues. **** ** ** Regards,**** ** ** Marshall**** ** ** ** ** *A former Congress Union Minister like Mr. Eduardo Faleiro who serves all people of India rather than the parochial interests of just one community or one religio-political point of view knows his facts about India much better than some random Goanetter who claims to know the facts. He was talking about recent times, not ancient history, in Kashmir and the tribal regions of India where religion and religious conversions and re-conversions have increasingly become one of the major factors contributing to conflict. Here are the facts described in articles related to this issue and the broader issue of the religious problem in Kashmir: http://kashmirwatch.com/opinions.php/2011/12/28/discovering-the-reasons-of-conve\ rsions-in-kashmir.html<http://kashmirwatch.com/opinions.php/2011/12/28/discovering-the-reasons-of-conversions-in-kashmir.html> http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headlines/28017864-kashmir-over-20000-converted-t\ o-christianity-since-1990.htm<http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headlines/28017864-kashmir-over-20000-converted-to-christianity-since-1990.htm> http://thevoxkashmir.in/2011/12/rethinking-religious-conversions-in-kashmir-2/ Here is a related news story from last November that Mr. Faleiro most likely had in mind: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2640084.ece Regarding North Eastern India, here are two articles giving a comprehensive description of the factual situation in this region, and the contributions of religion, religious conversions, and the resultant Hindu-Christian and tribal religious conflicts: Article 1 --- http://www.indiandefencereview.com/homeland-security/NE-Insurgency-The-Religious\ -Dimension.html<http://www.indiandefencereview.com/homeland-security/NE-Insurgency-The-Religious-Dimension.html> Article 2 --- http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers17/paper1700.html Regarding Orissa, here is an article in the Wall Street Journal describing facts regarding religious conversions and re-conversions causing conflicts: http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/04002155/Hindus-use-Christian-conversio.html Cheers, Santosh* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------