My contention, like that of Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, was that one of the major reasons for conflicts in Kashmir and the tribal areas of India, such as Orissa and the North East in recent times was religious differences and religious conversions and reconversions. It should be obvious to most unbiased and reasonable people in this forum that the articles and news reports that I have provided prove my contention, and refute the claims or implications of Marshall and others that religious conversions are not taking place in these parts, and that they and the ensuing religious differences are not a major cause of the conflicts.
I am happy that despite his continuing defiance and denials, Marshall himself has provided further evidence for my above contention in the form of three additional news reports in his post appended below, which demonstrate accusations and counter-accusations from religious personalities regarding conversions in Kashmir. However, I would like to provide the following corrections to some of the misstatements that Marshall has made: CORRECTION 1 - Mr. Faleiro was indeed talking about recent conversions in Kashmir, in addition to recent conversions in Orissa. Here is the pertinent quote from his Goanet Reader article: QUOTE During a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, I came across the following case. In April, 2003 the parish priest of a church in Srinagar complained to the Bishop about the proselytizing activities of a foreign missionary. He alleged that the missionary had converted about 200 Muslims, started two schools and a boarding where children of age 5 to 15 years, boys as well as girls, cohabited and were freely educated and fed by the missionary and that the latter was in the process of forming an unauthorized religious congregation with young girls including two Muslim girls. UNQUOTE .......Eduardo Faleiro Please see: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2012-February/218697.html I concede however that this case is different from the additional case reported last November. CORRECTION 2 - The balanced articles on the North East that I have provided indeed talk about the conflicts that have arisen due to religious conversions on a massive scale, such as secessionist movements against India and alienation of the hill tribes from their indigenous culture and their neighbors in the plains. For example here are pertinent quotes from the first article: QUOTE On the negative side was the excommunication of unfaithful who broke the Sabbath and participated in traditional singing of folk songs. Christianity widened the barrier and the conflict between the hills and the plains. Professor WC Smith of the University of South California has drawn attention to the ill effects of the way in which Christianity was presented to the tribes: “ There is a grave danger that Christianity as presented to the people (Nagas), comes to be little more than the adoption of another set of taboos, and taboo is no new element in the life of any group on a low cultural level. Under the old system the Nagas had to refrain from working on the fields on certain days, lest their God Lizaba curse the village with an epidemic or blight the rice crop; now they must refrain from work on the Christian Sabbath, lest Jehovah, the God of Israel smite them for their wickedness.”19 UNQUOTE QUOTE There are intelligence reports with the government that establishes the link between specified missionary groups and secessionists groups in Nagaland and Manipur. Specific information points to their association with insurgent groups like the Naga National Council (A) led by Adino Phizo, daughter of AZ Phizo, and the NSCN (IM).24 In Mizoram the role of the Church is overtly political. In 1988 two separate incidents involving Fathers of the Dengtol Mission and the Sarabil Centre pointed to their association with the Bodo activists.25 In 1992, two British nationals were caught; they had been advocating separate Naga country through a Naga Vigil Organisation and had been receiving active support from the insurgent Naga National Council (A).26 UNQUOTE Please see: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/homeland-security/NE-Insurgency-The-Religious-Dimension.html Please note that the title of this article itself is "NE Insurgency: The Religious Dimension". This and above facts clearly show that the following claim of Marshall is a falsehood: QUOTE These articles merely trace the growth of Christianity in the North East. Nowhere does it talk of religious conflict. UNQUOTE ......Marshall Mendonza By the way, I don't know what Marshall's understanding of the meaning of the term "recent times" is. I intended it to mean something like the last 10 years. CORRECTIONS 3 - Marshall's claim that I have provided misleading or false information is clearly not supported by his post appended below. He has failed rather miserably to refute anything that I have written or anything in the articles and news reports that I have provided. Finally, as regards my motivation to contribute to Goanet, I am sure that they are crystal clear to all unbiased and reasonable Goanetters who have read my Goanet posts over the last 17 years. I am a pluralist and a naturalist. I am therefore opposed to the political propaganda and activism of all religious chauvinists, and the denials, distortions and disinformation that result from these campaigns on Goanet. As a naturalist, I am also interested in providing natural explanations and debunking supernatural explanations for all observed phenomena. Cheers, Santosh ----- Original Message ----- From: Marshall Mendonza <[email protected]> > To: goanet <[email protected]> > Cc: > Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:44 AM > Subject: [Goanet] CONVERSIONS, INCITING SECTARIAN HATRED, AND MARGINALISATION > > 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:**** > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
