Sex in the Kerala Churches

“Later, I’m taken to the priest’s room for coffee. While I’m having coffee sitting on the cot, the only place in the room to sit, he comes and embraces me hard, almost suffocating me. When I struggle to escape from his clutches, he squeezes my breasts and asks me to show them to him. ‘Have you seen a man?’ Stunned, I shake my head ‘no’. In no time, he undresses himself.”

Sister Jesme in her book Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun

***

“The convents and nunneries are being converted into brothels. The priests have sex with the nuns at night in these convents. Because of these acts, the chastity of the priests and nuns has come under suspicion. Their love for God has shrunk…some of the clergy protect their chastity by watching pornography and reading pornographic material. They lose themselves in this habit. These books and DVDs are kept in secret places and can’t be found easily.”

Father Shibu Kalamparambil in his memoir Oru Vaidikante Hrudayamitha (The Heart of a Priest)

“The cry of a baby came from the bathroom of one of the inner rooms along with the sobs of a woman. We used our might to force open the bathroom door and what we saw would break anyone’s heart. A nun who had given birth to a child was pushing the head of the baby into the closet. The bathroom was filled with blood. The legs of the child, which were sticking out of the closet, were kicking for life.”

Sister Mary Chandy in her autobiography Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi(Peace to the One filled with Grace)

***

On the gentle slopes of Pulpally, Wayanad, where the Naxal movement once sent terror into the hearts of the land-owning gentry, a lone ex-nun, Sister Mary Chandy, is raising the hackles of the Catholic church. Her autobiography, Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi, a no-holds-barred account of her life in the convent, is littered with pregnant nuns and wayward priests. The 67-year-old Sister’s memoirs comes a good 14 years after she walked out of the congregation of the Daughters of Presentation of Mary in Chevayur, Kozhikode, in north Kerala. The Church was quick to proclaim that Sister Mary was never a nun in any of their convents and asked the laity in Wayanad not to associate with her.

So what happened after she saw the nun trying to kill her newborn baby in a convent in Mananthavady in Wayanad, as she has described in autobiography? “After I broke open the door with the help of another nun, I grabbed the child and held it to my chest. I thought I was doing the right thing but the sisters turned against me. I want to know why. In a previous incident, when I hit a priest on his head with a stool when he tried to grab me, the nuns sympathised with the priest. From then on, I was watched carefully.” After 40 years, Sister Mary fled the convent life.

Mary Chandy’s book has many more such harrowing tales. Like the nun who had tried to commit suicide many times over telling her of priests coming to the convent well past midnight and taking nuns out to the nearby schools. When this nun was called, she would not open the door. She was terrified the priests would break down the door and come for her. She said she hated this life of fear and wanted to end it. In one chapter, Mary Chandy recounts how porn magazines and CDs are commonplace among the priests. In one instance, she says a young nun came to her crying as another senior nun was forcing her to watch these videos with her. Elsewhere, Mary describes feast days in the seminaries when wine flows freely and there is dancing and much else. Once a father asked her to join in the revelries saying life is meant to be enjoyed. When she refused, he threatened her with dire consequences.

Tell-all memoirs are not new in Kerala, nor are church scandals. The Sister Abhaya murder case (1992) has still not seen closure and in the last five years there have been three other cases of alleged nun ‘suicides’. But a nun coming out, writing an autobiography, warts and all, was a first even for Kerala. Sister Jesme’s autobiography three years ago caused quite a stir and embarrassed the church no end. Following close behind was Father Shibu Kalamparambil’s effort in 2010, which described in excruciating detail the depraved lives that many priests and nuns led. And now comes Sister Mary Chandy’s memoir, about nuns who got pregnant by priests and aborted foetuses and other such horror stories.

Noted writer and feminist Sara Joseph, whose novel Othappu incidentally explores the life of a nun who leaves the convent, says, “Most of the nuns and priests suffer in silence for suffering is a quality that they are conditioned to accept as a virtue. What you see here is the expression of the individual’s conflict with the establishment. They did not have the courage till now to take on the establishment but now they are openly questioning it.” Joseph Pullikunnel, editor ofHosanna and director of the Indian Institute of Christian Studies, says he hasn’t heard anything like this against the Catholic church, in such an open manner, ever before. “Perhaps the church was ‘whitewashing’ itself,” he says hesitantly.

Ex-MP and commentator Dr Sebastian Paul is a bit more unabashed about the sociological implications of these revelations: “These autobiographies have become bestsellers but the allegations they make have not been publicly debated. So there is not much impact on the organisation. The Catholic Church is a highly centralised organisation and there is very little criticism happening within.”

So will a soon-to-be-released film, aptly titled Father, Son and Holy Ghost, on the hardships and dilemmas faced by nuns, put things in perspective? “The Church is traditionally patriarchal. I have explored the lives of two nuns in a nunnery in my film and have touched on various aspects, including homosexuality and abortion,” says director T. Deepesh.

That doesn’t sound like things are going to get better. Father Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, says the fathers and nuns who have left the order and are writing books now are the ones who could not cope with the spiritual life. As he puts it, “If one cannot stay celibate, it is better to get out, marry and live happily. One is called to a difficult way of life; it needs an ascetic’s will to live a life of celibacy happily. It is always better to marry than to ‘burn’ mentally. I do not appreciate those who make a hue and cry of something they fail to live up to and then blame others for their failures. It is too naive to say, ‘since I could not, nobody can’.”

Kerala, incidentally, has now around 50,000 priests and nuns. And, incredibly, there are about 1,35,000 of them outside the state, serving in various institutions in India and abroad. Malayalis constitute a sizeable 15 per cent of the world’s Catholic priests and nuns. For the past few decades, their strength has been growing while the reverse is the case in the West. Brother Mani Mekkunnel, national secretary of the Conference of Religious India, points out that one cannot disregard the importance of Catholic institutions and the yeoman’s service they do to society. He feels the media picks on stray incidents and “unsubstantiated accounts” to judge the entire edifice of the Church and millions of its devout followers. “Why don’t you focus on the hundreds and thousands of priests and nuns who are living for a noble cause? Today, English education is synonymous with convent education. Catholic institutions have contributed in an immense way to India’s economic growth. Why not highlight that?”

Sara Joseph too stresses the unsubstantiated clause, saying if these writers want to be taken seriously they must reveal names. “Only if they are exposed can they be questioned,” she says. Take, for instance, Sister Mary’s book. It takes no names nor are dates clearly mentioned. Fr Stephen Mathew, director of Neethivedi, an NGO in Wayanad, points out, “We are suspicious because they haven’t revealed everything. A small minority may be behaving like this…but it is not good to generalise.”

The Church’s critics, though, offer a different view. They feel even if it’s only a handful of priests and nuns who have spoken out, it’s still a brave effort as it is unthinkable for the majority to speak against the strict order. There is both fear and subservience. Those who dare to leave this cloistered life are often not accepted by even their family and are ostracised by society. And most don’t even have a place to stay.

“Judas! Fallen Angel! Mad! These are some of the epithets being hurled my way by the church,” says Sister Jesme, 56, a former principal of St Mary’s College, Thrissur, fully at ease in a pair of red tights and a black T-shirt, enjoying her freedom in her tiny flat in Guruvayur. “I am foisted as an example to quell dissidents within the nunneries and seminaries. They preach that I have been disowned by my family and by the Church and the same would befall anyone who dares to be another Sr Jesme.” Fr Shibu says his parents were threatened by the Church. They were even told that they would not be buried in the church cemetery if they accepted him back home.

Curiously, this comes at a time when the Vatican itself is under attack. A tell-all bestseller,Sua Santita, has outed confidential personal letters between the Pope and his associates revealing many embarrassing details. Last month, the head of the Vatican bank was sacked on money-laundering charges. Many connected with the Church say the kind of depravity prevalent among the priests and nuns in Kerala and abroad is because of the arcane rules and practices. This perhaps is the time to usher in some much-needed reforms in the Catholic Church. As Dr Valson Thampu, principal of St Stephen’s College, Delhi, puts out, “Every institution stands in need of continual reform. What is not reformed or renewed is headed for death. Only those who are spiritually insensitive will resist reform.” So will the Church let more light into its pews or wait for another book by one of its own to rake up another scandal?

Sins Of Our Fathers

The Little Flower convent nuns who took the church to court

Do nuns and priests have civil rights?

The canon law and the Catholic Church say the professed people have no right to sue the Church. It took six brave sisters of Little Flower Convent, Narakkal, in Ernakulam district, to prove it otherwise. They created history of sorts when they sued a Syro-Malabar bishop of the Ernakulam diocese and the priest of St Mary’s Church for criminal intimidation and forgery.

In the normal course, the sisters would have had to take up their problems with the ecclesiastical forums and, under the precept of obedience, listen to them. What made the sisters take this drastic step? The sisters run two schools and a poor home on three acres of land in Narakkal. From the late 1930s, successive parish priests of St Mary’s church had been helping them to manage the school. The sisters knew the priests collected money illegally as donations but they kept quiet for awhile. In 1971, unknown to the sisters, the priest of St Mary’s church forged documents and transferred the management of the Little Flower School to the church. Then, after over 30 years, in 2007, the sisters were asked to shift their second school, St Joseph’s, to another location. They refused and filed a complaint with the department of education and were allowed to keep the school. But this riled the priests. Soon hoodlums, instigated by them, began harassing the sisters. They were not allowed into church, some of them were roughed up, and in one incident, were held hostage by over a hundred men. The sisters could not bear it anymore and sued the church. The lower court ruled in their favour but it has been appealed. Sister Annie Jaise says, “Traditionally, the CMC sisters, brides of Jesus, are quiet…but we had to stand up for the truth.”

Sixty-seven-year-old Sister Mary Chandy walked out of the Congregation of the Daughters of Presentation of Mary in Chevayur, Kozhikode, 14 years ago. She wrote her autobiography,Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi (Peace to the One Filled with Grace), in April 2012. Excerpts from an interview:

What did you do after you left the convent?

I only had the clothes that I was wearing. I did not have any money. I remember envying men for they can sleep at night under a tree but a woman cannot do that. I would visit houses and ask for donations. My dream was to open an orphanage and look after unwanted children.

Is there one incident that made you quit the order?

There are so many incidents that hurt me. After I left the convent, I went through many trials and tribulations. It has been a long journey outside.

Both the priests and nuns drink wine and foreign liquor. When the priests drink, what spews from their mouths is absolute filth.

The Church says that you were only a cook for a brief period and not a nun in the convent?

If that is so, why have they kept my baptism certificate? It is now in their hands to prove I was not a nun.

What you say about the priests…does it hold for the majority of them?

No, there are many good priests and nuns who do a lot of good work. But then there are also the bad ones. My advice to young Catholic girls is to not to go for counselling or confession to the priests.

Father Shibu Kalamparambil, 40, was defrocked from the Vicentian Congregation after 12 years as a priest. His memoir Oru Vaidikante Hrudayamitha (The Heart of a Priest) was published in 2010.

Why did you decide to write the book?

I had aired my views about the sexual misconduct of priests and financial irregularities many times but they were not willing to correct themselves. So I wrote this book and for four years I showed it to near and dear ones and to those inside the Church. They advised me not to publish it, they said it would be catastrophic. They kept saying that things will be corrected but they never were so I published my book.

What is the Church establishment’s response when a priest makes a complaint?

The complaints are dealt with by the bishops and they influence the laity. If a woman among the laity becomes pregnant because of a priest or a bishop, they build houses or give money to them and hush it up.

What happens when a nun gets pregnant?

A life is not born in the church. When it comes to the nuns, they either make her abort the child or she is sent out of the church. If the nun tries to take it up, then she is ostracised by society.

What about the financial irregularities?

Financial irregularities are rampant. The priest collects money in the name of reconstruction of the church. The laity who come to church donate in good faith. But some of the priests, they never reveal the exact amount to the parishioners…they take their share and hand over the remaining to the church.

‘Let Not The Sins Of A Few Vest Upon The Church’

Rejoinder to all of the above by John Dayal

It is no consolation that the media also covers the sexual peccadilloes of Hindu savants including Shankaracharyas and even those who think of themselves as avatars of God. And while sex and sexuality have been much discussed within the Church and outside in the wake of the crisis in Ireland, Germany, the UK and the US, I must admit it came as a great shock to the Church and to ordinary Christians when Outlook in its July 23, 2012, edition ran a cover with the lurid headline, ‘Sex Scandal and the Church’, with the publicity photograph of a rather bad actress playing a nun in what promises to be a salacious film, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Patently, it is no longer a matter of hushed rumours or jokes in seminaries and lay meetings. Morals and morality amongst priests and nuns is cause for deep concern. Though small and perhaps marginal at present, it may grow to threaten the Church in the 21st century if urgent remedial action is not taken. A state of denial will not do, nor a conspiracy of silence in a highly structured, hierarchical Church. It is also not a problem for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church alone, or of the Latin Catholic Church. Protestant, Evangelical and even Pentecostal churches, which do not enforce celibacy in the clergy like the Catholic church does, grapple with their own demons of corruption and moral turpitude.

Self-appointed protectors of the Church in some places have raised the bogey of persecution by the media. They see in it an outrage and a conspiracy. Some senior Catholic and Protestant bishops, including contemporary thinkers such as Bishop Joab Lohara of a Methodist Church denomination, also point out that the magazine expose comes at a time when the Indian right-wing and fundamentalist groups have been mounting a campaign against the Church. A look at the Organiser and Panchajanya, official organs of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is evidence of this. Sanghi trolls are on my neck on my Twitter account.

The Church is indeed under sustained attack, and persecution rages, specially in states such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, even Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The body politic and governments at the Centre and in the states show an increasing tendency to put curbs on the Church as a political strategy to curry favour with the majority votebank. Witness the increasing clamour for anti-conversion laws in several states. Even in Maharashtra and other states where there is no anti-conversion law, pastors are routinely harassed by the police and civil administration, accused of trying to convert people. The Union government does not give visas to internal guests of the Church. The denial of constitutional rights to Dalit Christians and the utter miscarriage of justice to the victims of the violence in Kandhamal in 2007 and 2008 are a case in point. It does not matter which political party rules—even the Congress governments are guilty. The BJP governments, of course, lead the pack.

We are not responding with references to Mother Teresa whose love for the poor puts her in the list of top 10 Indians after Mahatma Gandhi. Or to St Stephen’s and Loyola Colleges or the Vellore Christian Medical College. But it is proper to remind the Indian people of the work done by missionaries, priests, nuns and others. This is not to claim any special dispensation, or even as a boast, but just as a plain reminder, as a duty done to the homeland and its people. A part of the calling that any good Christian, following in the footsteps of Christ, would do. It would also be important to remind the media in general and Outlook in particular that sensationalism can tarnish the image of communities and institutions, and that the sins of a few ought not to be vested upon the rest of the Church. The damage has been done, and a mere apology alone won’t do. Perhaps we need a future cover on this silent but industrious minority whose wealth isn’t in the steel or diamond industries but in the smile of its fellow citizens.

But the Church too has to take steps. A group of Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches has come together to address issues of corruption and alienation of property as evil not just under the Indian Penal Code but more so in the eyes of God. Church leaders must accept that such things happen, though not in the alarming manner Outlook’s cover made it seem. We ought to analyse the reasons, and it cannot be just as simple as celibacy and ‘clericality’ as being the root cause of all sexual crimes. In the big wide world, married men rape, some of them rape little children. Some of them are ministers, politicians, scientists, policemen, artistes and journalists. This holds true among Muslims, Buddhists and, most of all, Hindus, because of the sheer large numbers, as several TV programmes have shown. Some may have forgotten that the Weekly and Blitz, now defunct, did cover stories on the late Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, accusing him of homosexuality. It is besides the point that its editor, R.K. Karanjia, later became a bhakta of the godman.

I mention these to assure the hierarchy they are not an exception. The exposition in the West by media, including Catholic journals, over the last few years of paedophilia and child abuse has made the state apparatus intervene. But the Church hierarchy has to take its decisions in India. It needs authentic data for this. Former chief justice of India S.P. Bharucha has famously said that 20 per cent of the Indian judiciary is corrupt. Anna Hazare says every politician is corrupt, including the new President of India. I know of many journalists who are very corrupt. We expect zero tolerance in the Church, but priests too are human beings and the temptations of the flesh can be strong.

Fr R.S. Pinto responded to my intervention in a Google group, pointing out that “no Catholic likes to hear about these things, said or published…no one will take pleasure in these things. It’s abhorrent. But though we are less than three per cent, the work done by yesteryear’s missionaries in setting up schools and colleges, hospitals, orphanages and homes for the destitute is probably unparalleled. But all that is past. The victims [who wrote their books] must have tried to get justice within the Church first, before writing their books, without success. Many in the leadership want to sweep everything under the carpet. They consider the image of Church as paramount…at any cost the image should not be sullied, even if that means shielding the guilty.”

Communications expert Allwyn Fernandes, often a critic of the Church, told me, “There is enough good work that has been done to stand out amidst the filth. Let us rather work to flush out the filth than try to hide it further.” I feel strongly that the ordinary Christian and Catholic does not want to defend the indefensible. But he abhors sensationalism of the sort Outlookindulged in.

The people want the leadership to be more open and provide space for suggestions towards improvement. Work needs to begin from the very beginning. We know that the vocation is falling, and is now almost limited to the tribal belts. But even in times of scarcity, a certain level of filtering has to be done. The candidate is the building block of the Church. The seminary is where that block is moulded. If the foundations are strong, the products of these seminaries will be worthy of their training and of their vows.

I think it’s time strong signals came from the Indian Church hierarchy, as they have come from Rome. Perhaps zero tolerance may not be possible day after tomorrow, but it is a laudable target and needs to be pursued. The first step would be a roving enquiry, including social scientists, human resource experts and theologians, and a sprinkling of those with some forensic experience. That would be a good beginning. And it needs to be done before the State, for ulterior motives, intervenes, or the media mocks us for TRPS and circulation.

---

(Dr John Dayal, member, National Integration Council, is past national president of the All-India Catholic Union and secretary-general of the All-India Christian Council.)

Shariah Court in Kerala Being Accused of Cutting-off Hand?

While Congress leaders are hell-bent on damning the RSS – it is an old game that has long ceased to have any meaning – they seem to be unaware that as late as on July 4, 2010 the right hand of a 53-year old Christian college professor (one TJ Joseph) was chopped off by Muslim fundamentalists, at Thodapurzha, Iduki district, in Kerala, for alleged blasphemy.

Digvijay Singh probably doesn’t want to be reminded of this. Nor, one suspects, would he be anxious to know that police found out that this heinous crime was committed as part of the implementation of the verdict of a Shariah court run by fundamentalist elements in Kerala.
The police apparently discovered that 14 such parallel courts have been running in Kerala for the last twenty years and Kerala State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has been reported as confessing that since 1993, 22 murders have taken place under the direction of the Shariah courts in Kerala (vide, Mangalam Daily Kottayam, July 21,
2010).

Digvijay Singh can check this bit of information as could Rahul Gandhi.

 

How the RSS Manipulates the Media in India?

The RSS is known for its secrecy. 

The meetings of the organisation, either in Nagpur or in Delhi, are almost always held in camera. 

Those who take part are not even supposed to talk to journalists covering the event, making it extremely difficult to decipher the RSS decision-making process. But it isn’t as if the RSS hasn’t been conscious of the media’s importance. As early as 1947, the RSS launched its first English weekly, The Organiser, from Delhi. This RSS mouthpiece, where L.K. Advani started to work in 1960, was followed by many other publications, mostly in Indian languages (including Panchajanya in Hindi, initially UP-based, of which D. Upadhyaya was the chief architect).

With time though, the RSS has shed its earlier reluctance to publicise its views in the mainstream or national media, evident from the increasingly important role of its spokesperson who is always a savvy pracharak. 

More important, the RSS has become increasingly keen to influence and infiltrate the mass media, which were rather hostile to it in post-independence India. Then, most journalists in the print media had what we can call a leftist orientation and Doordarshan as well as AIR were in the hands of the Congress, the party in power. No wonder the RSS was extremely happy at the appointment of L.K. Advani as Union minister for I&B in the Janata government (1977-79). 

Television appeared as a more effective means of ideologising after the popular success of the serials Ramayana and Mahabharata in the 1980s. Soon after, media persons like J.K. Jain—later a BJP Rajya Sabha member—rallied around the Sangh and produced videos. That was the time when the vhs offered alternatives to Doordarshan in the electronic media, obvious from the success of Newstrack and Eyewitness. In 1990-91, vans toured the countryside to show J.K. Jain’s video recording of the first assault on Babri Masjid by kar sevaks (a dozen were killed then). These showed policemen firing at kar sevaks, portraying them as ‘martyrs’ and enabling—along with other factors such as Mandal—the BJP to double its share of votes from 11 per cent in 1989 to 22 per cent in the 1991 elections.

This isn’t a solitary instance of the RSS and the BJP exploiting the media for political purposes. They also harnessed the media for their electoral goals in Gujarat post-2000. Indeed, their master manipulator of images is Narendra Modi who, in 2002, had the bodies of the victims of the Godhra train fire transported to Ahmedabad and displayed on TV the day before the pogrom started. He then used the media to orchestrate the election campaign that followed the riots—one of his ads on TV began with the sound of a train pulling into a station, followed by the clamour of riots and women’s screams; then is heard the ringing of temple bells before it is drowned in the din of rapid firing from automatic rifles, a clear evocation of the Akshardham attack in Gandhinagar in September 2002.

In 2007, Modi turned high-tech during his next poll campaign. He hired US firm Apco Worldwide, which specialises in creating images of public figures through communication technology. The firm’s clients included the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha; Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev, president for life of Kazakhstan; and ex-Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The company promoted Modi’s image for $25,000 a month. Not only did Modi continue to use the mass media, including a TV channel, Vande Gujarat (the name was adapted from Vande Mataram), but he posted video clips on the web. One of these begins with a bomb blast, followed by sirens and dead bodies strewn around, and Modi threatening invisible terrorists with “Int no jawab patthar thi (A stone for every brick),” testifying to the politics of fear harnessing cyberspace for diabolic ends.

Modi also used the web to maintain a direct relationship with the citizens of Gujarat. With three laptops—one each for office, home and on his travels—he supposedly spends about four hours daily reading the 200-250 e-mails he receives. He is said to respond to at least 10 per cent of those; his bureaucrats take care of the rest. In many ways, he is imitating Indira Gandhi’s political style, whose new form of populism in the ’70s helped create the myth of establishing direct relations with the people. Through cyber populism, Modi is creating the illusion of being in touch with every citizen of  Gujarat. He has also used mobile phones to send SMS and MMS to potential voters and the cadre. Gujarat is susceptible to this form of propaganda—14 million of its population had a mobile phone in ’07.

Modi is exploiting technology like any modern politician does. Yet it comes as a surprise that the RSS should have adopted modern hi-tech methods in winning the hearts of Hindus, a method in sharp contrast to its shakha culture where personal relationships and a brotherly spirit are forged through drills and sports. But the emphasis of the RSS on cyber technology has a reason—it is only through it that the organisation can attract a middle class that’s averse to wearing khaki shorts and saluting the saffron flag at dawn. So what you have are cyber shakhas for the middle class, particularly the Indians in America, with whom the swayamsevaks can interact. Not only this, the RSS has sponsored websites, enabling their visitors to interact with swayamsevaks who help them make a sense of the world on a daily basis. The most important of these websites in the US is probably the Global Hindu Electronic Network.

Clearly, the Sangh’s conscious effort is to harness the media to win supporters at the time of elections. It’s also to be in tune with the globalised Hindu community. It seems the RSS may forfeit, from its own point of view, the “character-building” quality of the old shakha technique for the shakha on cyberspace.

Alcohol is Destroying Kerala

People in the southern state of Kerala are the heaviest drinkers in India, and sales of alcohol are rising fast. 

One Jacob Varghese says he began drinking when he was nine years old, sipping on his father’s unfinished whisky and brandy in glass tumblers. 

It’s a terrifying story of a descent into alcoholism for this 40-year-old health inspector. At school, he consumed cheap local liquor. He lived in a haze of alcohol through his teens and dropped out of college. He lost a job, cut his wrists twice trying to end his life, landed up in rehabilitation centres and at the age of 32, was reduced to begging on the streets to fund his alcohol habit. 

“Drinking is a disease in Kerala,” he says, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“I lost my kin, my respect and all my money chasing alcohol. Everyone encourages you to have it – your friends, the government.” 

This was before he was dragged to the local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter by friends. This, after 17 years of drinking had reduced him to a mental wreck and a pauper. 

Mr Varghese has been sober for the past eight years, and is now married with children and holds down a job. “Many of my friends have not been as lucky. So many of my drinking buddies died, and others landed up in mental asylums,” he says. 

Kerala is India’s tippler country. It has the highest per capita consumption – over eight litres (1.76 gallons) per person a year – in the nation, overtaking traditionally hard-drinking states like Punjab and Haryana. 

Also, in a strange twist of taste, rum and brandy are the preferred drink in Kerala in a country where whisky outsells every other liquor. 

Alcohol helps in giving Kerala’s economy a good high – shockingly, more than 40% of revenues for its annual budget come from booze. 

A state-run monopoly sells alcohol. The curiously-named Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) runs 337 liquor shops, open seven days a week. Each shop caters on average to an astonishing 80,000 clients. 

This fiscal year the KSBC is expected to sell $1bn (£0.6bn) of alcohol in a state of 30 million people, up from $12m when it took over the retail business in 1984. 

Similarly, revenues from alcohol to the state’s exchequer have registered a whopping 100% rise over the past four years. 

The monopoly is so professionally run that consumers can even send text messages from their phones to a helpline number to record their grievances.

“If we delay opening any of our shops by even five minutes, clients send us text messages saying that they are waiting to buy liquor,” says KSBC chief. 

That’s not all. There are some 600 privately run bars in the state and more than 5,000 shops selling toddy (palm wine), the local brew. There is also a thriving black market liquor trade. 

Spirited defence

Despite a growing number of people who demand a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, there is an equally spirited group of hard-core drinkers who lobby for cheaper and more widely distributed liquor. 

One of them is well-known actor NL Balakrishnan, a veteran of more than 200 films, who launched a lobby group called Forum for Better Spirit in 1983. 

The forum’s manifesto asks the government to provide liquor through the state-subsided public distribution system, boost toddy production, slash prices for elderly drinkers and supply free alcohol to drinkers over 90. 

The jolly and convivial Mr Balakrishnan, 67, says his father “initiated” him into drinking when he was four. “We used to go to the cinema together. After the show was over, he would take me to a toddy shop where he would drink. He would give me a few spoons of toddy too. It was an amazing experience,” he says. He says when his father died at the ripe age of 98 after a “lifetime of heavy drinking”, he wet his lips with liquor and not holy water, as is the Hindu custom. 

Mr Balakrishnan says that on his average day out with his drinking buddies he downs 22 shots of his favourite brandy – and “never has any problems”.  ”If you have willpower and have enough food to go with your drink, booze will never harm you,” he says cheerily. 

But drinking is killing a lot of people and exacting a heavy social cost, say doctors and activists.

Rising numbers of divorces in Kerala are linked to alcohol abuse. The Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, a leading NGO, puts the figure as high as 80%. 

And the majority of road deaths in the state – nearly 4,000 during 2008-2009 – are due to drink driving. Hospitals and rehab centres are packed with patients suffering from alcohol-related diseases. 

‘Societal problem’

The situation is so grim that, ironically, the KSBC itself is planning to open a hospital specialising in treating alcohol-related problems. It also runs a campaign to combat alcohol abuse.

But why do people in Kerala drink so heavily? 

It is a “societal problem” – what he possibly means is that drinking liquor is almost a social rite of passage, taken seriously. There are also other important, reasons – high unemployment, easy access to alcohol and the fact that drinking has become a “part of upwardly mobile living”.

Most activists believe that “prohibition” is not the solution – it just drives buyers and sellers underground.

The solution possibly lies in introducing drinks with mild alcohol content. And since drinking is also a cultural problem, people need to be made aware of the havoc that alcohol can wreak on their lives. 

Until then alcohol will continue to dominate the lives of many of Kerala’s people – and boost its exchequer’s finances.

Mother Teresa Belongs to Kolkata and not Albania

House number 54A, Mother Teresa’s home in Kolkata, is no less than a temple. May feel calmness when they stop here.

Inside the house, the remains of the Mother, as she is popularly referred to in the city, are buried in the courtyard. That the revered Catholic nun transcended all religion is apparent when one enters her tomb, where people are praying with folded hands, with their palms in front of their faces and with Rosary beads. For many, paying this respect to the Mother, who spent nearly 70 years here, is part of a daily homage to a woman who touched every Kolkatan’s life. Up a flight of stairs is the Mother’s room, sparsely furnished with a narrow iron bed, a long table and bench and a desk where she worked.

The city was thus thrown into shock in October 2009when it learned that Albania, the country of Mother Teresa’s parents, had demanded that her remains be returned before her birth centenary in August 2010. One of the nuns at Mother House was appalled. She couldn’t understand why the country would want the Mother’s remains back when it had so little connection to her.

In anticipation that Macedonia — where Mother Teresa was born and lived until she was 18 — might also join in the demand, the West Bengal–based State Forum of Christians, with more than 10 million members, has called for an all-religion mass rally to be held on Oct. 23. Herod Mullick, the leader of the forum, said the group will also be sending a memorandum to the Pope to forestall any such “unjustified, irrational and impractical” demands. Political leaders in the state dismissed the controversy as a nonissue, as the Mother was an Indian citizen.

In April 1996, Mother Teresa fell and broke her collarbone, and that August, she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She had heart surgery but never fully recovered; she died on Sept. 5, 1997. In the 12 years since, the life of the Catholic humanitarian has become intertwined with the identity of this city in eastern India. “She is part of the chromosome of Kolkata. You cannot imagine Kolkata without Mother Teresa.” “She based her work on an ideology and institutionalized it. She has influenced many people all over the world to spare a thought for the poor and the afflicted.”

Things have changed since the Mother died. When the Mother was alive, wearing shoes inside the sacred spot was strictly prohibited. That rule has changed, however; one of the nuns explains that local people have followed visitors inside to steal their shoes.

A woman who used to work at the house when Mother Teresa was alive, says sadly, “No one would even dream of stealing anything from the house. The sense of respect and awe is not there anymore.”

Still, losing the earthly reminder of the transcendent spirit of charity and goodwill that Mother Teresa stood for is not something that many will stand for. “Everything the mother stood for — her genesis from a common nun to an eminence of world stature — happened in and around Kolkata” . “This creates a very special bond which is beyond technical claims. Nobody cares where Norman Bethune was born. He lived and died for China.” It’s time perhaps to rewind to how the Mother herself felt about it: “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian,” she once said. “By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world.”

Sex in the Kerala Churches

Sex predators of Christian Clergy and The Church Cover-up

 

Dr Babu Suseelan

 

During the past several years, the mass media in Kerala has been awash with reports of Catholic priestly pedophilia, sex abuse of nuns by the clergy, nun suicide, and Church cover-up. The politically powerful Christian Church has been reluctant to admit that sexual abuse by the clergy is a widespread occurrence. Repeated media stories report accounts of both long-term and situational incidents of nuns being sexually abused by the clergy, murder of nuns, physical abuse of children in Christian management schools, sexual abuse of children in Bible Schools, ragging in colleges and violence against nuns. The consequences of sexual abuse are traumatic and long lasting. What is hard to accept is why the Church refuses to accept sex abuse by the clergy. Sex abuse by the clergy is a harsh reality, and the Church must understand what it is, know the factors-both physical and behavioral-that may indicate its existence, and be familiar with repeated occurrence.

 

The general public is becoming more aware of the extent and nature of sex abuse by the priests. Nationally reported sensational trials of priestly sex abuse and murder have brought priestly deviance and Church cover-up into focused attention. The CBI investigation of the nun Abhaya murder trial, arrest of Catholic priests and supervisory nuns forced the public to confront sex abuse, murder, and the Church blame shift and cover-up. Nun Abhaya was murdered because she had witnessed priestly sex with her supervisory nuns and she spoke out against sex in the convent. Another nun Anupama had committed suicide allegedly unable to face sexual harassment by senior nuns. Another senior nun Jesme has written in detail in her autobiography about brutal, inhuman sex abuse by priests and nuns. She has reported experiences with sex abuse, attempted or actual rape, assault or violence. In spite of repeated cases of sex abuse, murder, suicide and assault, the Church has attempted “knee-jerk” reaction, cover-up or quick fixes for this emotionally charged serious problem. The Church with deep pockets and political muscle has been sabotaging high-profile cases. The widespread use of Church money and power has provided increased opportunities to provoke the impression of Christian prosecution. The political-money power of the Church prevents government from arresting, prosecuting and punishing dangerous Christian priests who are sex offenders. As a result, the police, the Judiciary and the government have been reluctant to investigate arrest or prosecute sex predators and deviant priests. The Churches are engaged in media manipulation, blame game and victim abuse. But the general public claim priestly sex abuse clearly exists and is more widespread than believed. Sex abuse by the Christian clergy creates anxiety and apprehension and present serious social problem. Several nuns have committed suicide and many others have become mentally sick.

 

Most disturbing were the obvious predatory offenders who would, in open defiance, refuse to admit their sex crimes have been transferred to Europe and America. Several Christian priests from Kerala were arrested in the US for lewd, lascivious, or indecent assault and are serving long-term prison sentences.

 

As a further influence towards sexual abuse in the Christian community, Biblical socio-cultural values that emphasize male dominance, interpersonal violence, negative values of women, and sexual exploitation of children influence sex abuse. Christian women have found that throughout the history of Christianity, the Bible has been used as a Christian scripture for sexual exploitation of women and children. The Christian scriptures contain story after story of violence against women (Genesis 34, 2 Samuel 13, Judges 19, and Daniel 13). Sexual discrimination against women is also derived from passages in the New Testament. “Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child bearing if they continue in faith with sobriety.” (Timothy 2:11-15). “Righteous man tells horny neighbors to rape his virgin daughters instead of taking liberties with his male guests.” (Genesis 19:1-18). “Though shall not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus: 18-22).”God Okays captured maidens to be used as wives on a trial basis.” (Deuteronom 21-10-14). “I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the light of this sun.” (Bible God-2 Samuel 11-12). Thomas Paine in his “The Age of Reason” captures the essence of the Bible when he states; “whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon, than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind and for my part; I sincerely detest it, as I detest anything that is cruel.”

 

While the blame must be nightly placed on the individual priests who committed the heinous sexual acts, society must not forget that it is the Christian religion that is also generally responsible. Besides the biggest crime of the silence concerning priestly sex predators, Christianity is also responsible for many other wrong around the world.

 

The sex predators in the Church feel more protected since the Christian Churches have no policy to identify and restrict known sexual offenders among the clergy. The Churches in India have no policy or guidelines to identify priests having strong sexual propensities. There are several instances where Catholic Sunday school teachers, priests and school officials engaged in pedophile pattern of sexual misconduct in such an egregious nature that there is a substantial likelihood of serious physical or mental harm being inflicted on the victims. The Church holds that predatory sexual behavior does not constitute the kind of injury, pain, or other evil. The Church’s failure in addressing the sexual misconduct of the clergy amounts to ignoring substantial likelihood of serious physical or emotional harm to the victims. There are no mandatory reporting guidelines, sex abuse registration, community notification guidelines, uniform sex abuse reporting requirement, national incident-based reporting system, or any mechanism for national sex crime victimization survey in the Church in order to help Christian community feel safer. Given the criminal and public health significance of sex offenders among the Christian clergy, it is surprising how little has been done by the Church to acknowledge or to prevent such deviant acts. The powerful Churches have no means for measuring sex violence, assault, rape, attempted murder or murder by the clergy, as well as collecting data both prevalence rates (number of victims) or incidence rates (number of incidents). The government is under the political pressure from the Christian Churches and is unwilling to enact laws in an effort to restore a sense of safety and security to the community.

Recently, the Churches have joined together and have formed several “divine treatment” centers for indoctrinating and accusing the victims of sex abuse. The Potta Divine Center near Angamali and the mistreatment of sex abuse victims has sparked considerable debate among Psychiatrists, legal experts, human rights activists. Questions have been raised regarding the legality of such Christian institutions and illegal and unethical treatment of sex abuse victims by the predator priests. The Church has detained many nuns who have been sexually assaulted or raped and labeled them as mentally sick. The labeling process of the victims is used for intimidation, coercive treatment, false imprisonment and to silence the sex abuse victims. These illegal detention centers operated by the Churches have been used for keeping things quiet in an attempt to do ‘damage control’. Hundreds of inmates at these centers have died under mysterious circumstances. Bad publicity has dictated an atmosphere of hushed voices and outrage against those who dare to speak out against illegal detention, forced treatment and sudden death of sex abuse victims.

 

Law enforcement’s acknowledgement and response to clergy sex abuse has been slow in coming in Kerala. Even today, police officers would rather not get involved in crime, violence, sex abuse in the Church for fear of retaliation from the powerful Christian lobby.

 

The media, professionals and the society in Kerala must accept the fact that victims of clergy sex abuse and victims of sexual harassment especially nuns have rights and need. The government must enact legislation to ensure financial rewards for sex abuse victims and financial independence from the perpetuators. Freedom of the Church to run religious schools and illegal treatment centers without government regulations must be subject to scrutiny.  The consequences of sex abuse by the priests are traumatic and the ramifications are serious. Although there is disagreement among the Church hierarchy, all agree that sex abuse by the clergy is a serious problem that must be handled by the police and the judiciary effectively. The media must expose and educate the public against clergy sex abuse and use of women as sexual trophies or playthings instead of equals by the Church. Only through ongoing awareness campaign against the special Church privileges, priestly sex deviance and exploitation of nuns and such heinous sex crimes can be put to an end.

 

2008: The Year of Jesuit Leadership in India

By Joseph A. Gathia   New Delhi, Dec 31, 2008: In independent India the year 2008 has been full of turmoil and anxiety for the minorities. While the Muslims felt the heat of “anti- national and terror “accusation it was really the Christian community which really bear the burnt of hate campaign by a section of people. The Christians through out the country felt “insecure” and were really surprised that why a peace loving and law abiding community should be target of violent attack, killing and even public rape of a nun. Our brethren and sisters in Karnataka, and Orissa were on the frontline of the fire. On the even of the year 2009 I pray for them.   During the crisis several groups and individuals stood up and defended the human rights. The Archdiocese of Delhi under the leadership of Archbishop Vincent took a lead in organizing series of meetings and protests. Rev.Fr. Dominic’s; Dr. John Dayal, AICU; AC Michael, Mr.Chenappa, Jenis Francis, the young dynamic lawyer; Sr. Mary Zachariah and many others took active part in raising their voice against atrocities against Christians.   All these efforts are appreciated.   We all know the Jesuits’ contribution in India in the field of education, science and in defending human rights. However, the Jesuits contribution is far more wide ranging than thee sectors mentioned above. In year 2008 the Jesuits provided leadership of consciousness to the Christian community in India. I would particularly like to mention few names: Fr. TK John, Fr. John Chattanat, (Vidhya Jyoti) Fr. Jimmi Dabi (Indian Social Institute), Mike T Raj, (the Provincial of Jamshedpur), Xavier Jeyraj, Prakash Luis and S Tony Raj (Orissa). The list is not exclusive. The Jesuit Province of Karnataka and Kolkatta also played crucial role. The most important lesson of their leadership has been that civil society in India and international community are important partners in defending human rights. The Bombay Province Jesuits did commendable work in ‘making aware “those who matter.   The Jesuits efforts have been like stone in the plinth that silently provide strength to the building. As the Near Year 2009 dawns let us give the Jesuits in India special thanks. Let us pray for them and let us join hands with them in nurturing the new self confidence to face future challenges. A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR (2009) TO YOU ALL   With regards, Sincerely Joseph Gathia Email: josephgathia@yahoo.co.in

 

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Planting Churches in India

THOSE THAT SHALL DELIVER…

The Al Qaeda has “benefitted from a network structure that allows passionate and committed individuals and groups to contribute to a wider purpose (whether for good or ill) with a minimum of co-ordination and administration. Widely seen as an effective antidote to bureaucracy (the corporate equivalent of arthritis), the network has arrived as the organisational structure for a globalising, post-modern world… The persistence of the Al Qaeda network in the face of unrelenting pressure is a case in point.”

- Richard Tiplady, a church-planting strategist, in a paper presented at a conference organised by All Nations Christian College (September 2003) on ‘Survive or Thrive? Is there a future for the mission agency?’

The irony is inescapable. Taking a leaf out of what Tiplady calls “Al Qaeda’s operational mobility”, American missionary organisations are, methodically and very scientifically, planting the Church and recruiting disciples, pincer-style. With George W Bush, a “born again” Christian as the President of United States, the missionary enterprise is in full gear, trying to “save (Indian) souls” and “reach the unreached”.
The modus operandi for evangelical activities is simple, even if scary: Channel exorbitant funds through the eager Bush administration; circumvent the Indian law banning registration of new missionaries by sending “men of God” on tourist visas; use Indians already converted to convert fresh faithfuls. And yes, the underlying message: work relentlessly and patiently.

 

Indian missionaries now do 90 percent of the work in founding churches. All these missionaries are from the new age churches, most of whom owe allegiance to the Protestant sect. The fast springing new age churches are not only making inroads into memberships of other religions, but are also threatening the very existence of the mainline congregations, e.g. the Roman Catholic church.

 

Operation Worldwide

Local Indian missionaries are effective conversion weapons because they understand the language, the customs and the culture. Besides, the recently converted are often more zealous about adding to the ranks. A voluminous book title Operation World-published by the Christian missionaries’ UK-based publishing house, Operation Mission-reveals the rapid strides made by the US-funded evangelical missions in India. The references to India can be found from page 273 onwards. Of the many shocking revelations in the book is the claim that Arunachal Pradesh is on its way to becoming the third Christian majority state in India, after Nagaland and Mizoram. In 1971 the Christian population totalled 0.8 percent of its population, and within a decade, it increased to 10 percent. In fact, the author of this book, well-known evangelical strategist Patrick Johnstone, says, “thirty percent of India’s Dalits are considering a change of religion, and a growing number are finding Jesus.”

 

So how do the converts find Jesus? In India, one of the most successful church planting networks is Operation Agape (‘unconditional love’ in Greek), which began in 1995 in central India as an “experiment” devised by Germany-based church strategist Wolfgang Simson and his Indian collaborator, Dr Alexander Abraham, professor of neurology and head of community heath department, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana. Its predecessor was the project of Prince of Peace, launched on January 1, 1989.

 

By the mid-1990s, when “spying missions” were despatched to India by US-based transnational missionary organisations (TMOs), it was part of the larger conversion mission, AD2000 and Joshua Project. Abraham’s commentary in a film produced by Agape reveals that “by the mid-1990s, a growing realisation for the need for a systematic church planting effort covering the entire state was gaining momentum. We held a systematic grassroots level harvest force research in 1998 and the results were an eye-opener for us. There were 262 pin code areas in Punjab without any churches in 1998. In the next three years, however, all the 491 postal code areas in the state gained entry into the church map.” This was possible due to the research and survey conducted by Brother Issac Dutta, research coordinator, Punjab, Operation Agape. “God gave me the burden of Punjab in 1997. I started my research in 1997. My team and I visited 1,100 Christian workers in the whole of Punjab, collecting data from them on who was working in different villages, blocks and districts,” Dutta explained.

The North India Harvest Network, also started by Abraham, used the ‘Pin Code survey’ conducted by the Indian Missions Association, Chennai, to generate ethno-graphic data in the North Indian states. The data has armed the US intelligence agencies for they now have unparalleled access to the remotest corners of India and are-again, pincer like-bringing areas into “the fold” by secretly unleashing pastors in different blocks and districts.

 

Operation Agape has, for example, been instrumental in producing over 3,000 ‘house-churches’ in Madhya Pradesh in the last six years. Their conversion figure stands at a record number of “60,000 to 70,000″ converts. “Our methods have become a model for churches all across India,” says Abraham. “The house-church movement does not strive for buildings. We do not believe in buildings. Traditional churches are dying. The Anglican church in England is dying. The house-church movement is the spirit of God. Ludhiana is a city where the church has done really well. Now we are dreaming of a church in every colony. Fifty percent colonies in Ludhiana and 60 percent villages in Punjab have churches now,” he told Tehelka.

 

Planting churches in India

Operation Agape is supported by Christian Aid, a US-based conversion-funding agency, run by Rev Bob Finley, a loyal supporter of President Bush. The mission headquarters of this operation is Agape Bhawan, located within the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana. Abraham was extremely evasive about answering questions on Operation Agape, but a video CD produced by AGAPE foundation, which is in Tehelka’s possession, is explicit about the movement.

The film on Operation Agape interviews Rev C George, who claims to have begun the church planting movement in Punjab: “I had great concern for Punjab…Then the Lord very definitely, specifically asked me to go to the state of Punjab and do whatever possible so that the people will come to know that Operation Blue Star or Operation Black Thunder did not help, but operation of God’s love will be the solution to the problem of Punjab.”

 

Simply put, the strategy is to plant a church in every village and urban colony and notch up a figure of 100,000 churches in the state by 2010. “We cannot say we have any challenge here because Punjab is open. All religions are respected and we can go freely to everybody. The most difficult states to evangalise are Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh because extremist Hindus are there,” says Simon P George, manager, Punjab Bible College, Hiran (near Ludhiana).

According to Alexander’s own admission, the church planting movement is making rapid strides in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttaranachal. The North India Harvest Network has launched Operation Rose of Sharon in J&K. Pastor training centres have been opened in Jammu and Srinagar. “The Lord has given J&K good workers and we know that He will lead the way,” says Timothy, who is Operation Agape’s J&K coordinator.

 

However, unlike in J&K, where Operation Agape has deployed 60 “good workers”, in the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh, the slogan of “a church for every district, a church for every block, a church for every village people group by the year 2010″ is still a slogan. Sam Abraham, a research coordinator with Operation Agape, says that in 1996, detailed research was carried out at the behest of US TMOs, but Himachal remains the “darkest state of India with the least percentage of Christians.”

The only success story from HP is from Kinnaur district. Till 1994, there were neither believers nor any churches in this district. “Today there are 180 churches in this district alone with more than 6,000 believers. It has been very successful because of the tools and training they provide for church planters,” says Randeep Mathew, Operation Agape’s Himachal coordinator.

 

“They” are Operation Agape’s American benefactors. There is another US-based organisation that is heavily involved in Himachal and other north Indian states. Gospel for Asia has planted a network of churches in North India called the Believers Church. Like true believers, they plod along, introducing new tools when necessary. Like Pastor Prakash Abraham of Believers Church told Tehelka: “We now have a Kangri radio programme broadcast at 6:15 on Saturday and Sunday mornings on 49Mhz (short wave). The use of modern media, like film projectors, e-mails and websites have tremendously increased our capacity to carry out evangelical activities.”

 

Reaching all pockets

What is shocking is Pastor Prakash’s admission that “some of the organisers (of Gospel For Asia) have set up their own radio broadcasting networks to reach the ‘unreached’ in different Himachali dialects. Operation Agape, too, has an evangelical radio programme that reaches areas difficult for pastors to access. If there are two organisations-Agape and Believers Church-working in the same state, it is not by accident. Territories have been neatly divided and the American TMOs are ensuring through their Indian outfits that there is no duplication of efforts in the task of the Great Commission. If Agape is working on conversions in Kinnuar, Believers Church is expanding in Solan. Both these organisations have access to top of the line research information. There is an extra-ordinary level of networking and coordination.

Pastor Abraham, a Malayalee in his early 40s (appointed as the overseer for Himachal Pradesh by Believers Church) came to Solan five years ago and has kept a strict eye on figures. “If we keep the same pace, in 10 years we may even see the Christian population rise to around 25 percent.” he says. This would be quite an achievement for- like Haryana-Himachal is what they would call “tough territory.” The reasons, in the words of Jagan Mohan Rao, principal of Believers Church, Solan: “Many places are still steeped in traditional tribal ethos and the tribals are animists. But Hinduism has a hold on them. They practice popular Hinduism.”

Pastor Abraham is upbeat as well. “Four years ago, the Christian populace in HP was 0.9 percent in a population of 60 lakh. Now, unofficial estimates tell us that about 2 percent have accepted Christian faith. This is a significant increase. But most of them are not openly saying they are Christian,” Pastor Abraham admitted to Tehelka. What they are working together to ensure are the numbers.

Richard Howell, general secretary, Evangelical Fellowship, describes this networked activity: “It’s like making tea. Somebody brings in the water, another gets the milk and the third brings in tea leaves. The fourth brings in sugar and the fifth brews it.” Emboldened by Bush’s faith-based presidency, the TMOs running for network partnerships have acquired an urgency. There is a statement doing the rounds: “If we don’t hang together, we will be hanged separately. Therefore, lets hang together,” says Howell.

The US TMOs have adopted this approach because of two reasons: the ability to deploy local missionaries easily and in large numbers. The second: partnerships reduce overhead expenses. Jagan Mohan Rao, Principal of Believers Bible College, Solan-which is also the nerve centre of the Believers Church in Himachal-says that Bible colleges across North India are churning out well-educated church planters who then join the burgeoning ranks of US TMOs operating in India. “We run the biggest bible school in HP,” he told Tehelka.

The demand for church planters is increasing, as is the pressure to meet conversion targets set by the US TMOs. Despite, the sluggishness of the conversion activities in Himachal, Rao says that “approximately a few thousand” have been converted. “Two years ago we had only five missionaries, but within two years their number increased to twenty-two. Coming year [referring to 2004] a new batch will graduate from our college. In addition, 20 new students will enrol this year.” The Believers Church Bible college in Solan churns out 20 well-trained church planters every year, all locals. Across India, the Believers Church runs 200 Bible colleges. “Our main motto is evangelisation. After training, we send out the students to different parts of north India, especially to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,” says Simon George, manager, Punjab Bible College, Hiran.The best way to reach Indians is to show them an Indian preaching the Gospel. So, the converted have become the converters. The flexibility that new missionary strategies offer has enabled missionaries from India and the US to team up. The volatile expansion of Indian missionaries not only adds numbers to the effort; it also cuts costs drastically. According to Christian Aid, a foreign missionary costs at least $66,000 or Rs 30.4 lakh a year to support. Native missionaries cost approximately $600 or Rs 27,600 a year. The running expenses for Believers Church Bible college in Solan is Rs 2 lakh a month. The Believers Church pays Rs 5,000 a month to an Indian missionary with a family in Himachal Pradesh. The North Indian Christian Mission-which carries out conversions in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and J&K-pays its missionaries Rs 10,000 a month.

 

Fund collectors in the US-like Rev Jim Rutz, founder of Open Church Ministries, Colorado Springs-solicit funds through vigorous writing campaigns. In his article, ‘Where Should Your Offerings Go Now?’ he writes: “House-church planters are ridiculously under funded, often walking long distances just because they don’t have bicycles or mopeds. What a waste of trained talent!” The Open Church Ministries is one such missionary organisation that works in tandem with Christian Aid, Charlottesville, Virginia, to collect funds for evangelical operations in India. “The bottom line: mopeds are $700-900. Bicycles are $40. Gospel literature is very cheap. Every dollar works overtime in India. Will you consider the work in Madhya Pradesh as part of your new pattern of giving?” This is the message that goes out to American churchgoers. In the US, contributors can directly fund evangelical operations in India through Christian Aid Mission by marking their cheque for “Operation Agape, Madhya Pradesh”. All such contributions are tax-free.

 

Foreign funding

Though foreign funding to missionary organisations should technically be reported to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act), it is likely that such funds are under-reported. “Every organisation is receiving foreign funds,” says Rao. “Lots of foreign funds are coming in right now. Approximately 75 percent of our activity is foreign funded. If foreign funding stops, the movement can also stop.

 

According to MHA figures, the funding for Christian mission agencies have shown a regular increase. Also, over 80 percent of the voluntary organisations receiving foreign funds are Christian Mission agencies. (see Table-Religious Organisations registered under FCRA)

What should have by now been picked up by the government is the fact that only a fraction of the total money flowing into the country is reported. (see http://www.tehelka.com for a detailed funding list). “They (funds) do not come here directly. There are many different offices in South India. The funds come directly to those offices and from there it is distributed. For example, funds meant for Himachal Pradesh pastors are forwarded from offices in AP, Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” Rao told Tehelka. Apart from TMOs, Christian NGOs are also part of this network. For instance, World Vision, the world’s largest Christian NGO ministry, fuses evangelical activities with development work. “World Vision is mainly focusing on social work. Through social work, they are doing an excellent job. Through social work they are able to share the Gospel,” says Rao.

 

Sharing the Gospel is a sunrise industry in India. It has attracted Christian professionals from all walks of life. Some are short-term missionaries and many have given up on their professional lives to engage in evangelism. These missionaries are called the ‘tentmakers’.

Joseph Vijayam, a tentmaker and CEO of Olive Technology in Hyderabad, believes that a secular Christian missionary worker is important because he helps the Gospel transcend “socio-cultural or political barriers. He also helps take the Gospel across what may be called the poverty barrier.” In an article titled ‘Kingdom Business’, he cites Mahatma Gandhi: “Recall Gandhi’s famous saying, ‘To the hungry man, bread is God’.”

If bread is God, can his call go unanswered? The former director of Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Dr Victor Choudhrie, gave up his prestigious job along with his wife Bindu Choudhrie, also a doctor, to take up the reins of the Operation Agape ministry in Central India. Choudhrie is considered to be the pioneer of house-church movement in India. “New house-churches are coming up. Prayer groups are being formed and Bible society groups are being set up. India needs to be bathed in Holy Spirit. So the eyes and ears are open, so people can hear the gospel and their hearts can be changed,” Choudrie says.

His special focus is Uttar Pradesh. The goal of the Agape movement in UP is the same as in Punjab: one million house-churches and 100,000 church leaders by 2010. With a population of over 174 million people, UP has a miniscule population of Christians: 0.1 percent. “I look at the UP mission simply as a model for what can be done… together we can start such a powerful movement inspired by the Holy Spirit to take this nation within our generation,” says brother Mohan Phillip of AGAPE UP mission.

Exposing the church planters

Tehelka’s undercover operation resulted in the unearthing of many church planters. Rev Don Scribner of the US-based Joshua Project revealed that Dr Raju Abraham coordinates the North India Harvest Network from Delhi and is also in charge of Operation Agape’s Uttar Pradesh mission. He strategised the evangelical operations in UP by dividing the whole state into 83 districts, 1,000 administrative blocks each with 100,000 to 150,000 people and 100 to 150 villages. “A team of two persons adopt each block. The state is witnessing an unprecedented woo of God and thousands of churches are being planted.” The goal, of course, is the same as has been outlined for all the North Indian states.

Muthu Govendar, a missionary from South Africa, affirms that thousands of grass roots level leaders are being trained at Bible schools across the North Indian states. “I have been here from 1999 and I really went to every corner of Punjab. I met the people, I met all the pastors, I met the churches and I saw the Believers. I ministered in every corner of Punjab.” Govendar must consider himself lucky because foreign missionaries are not given visas by the Indian government. In response to an unstarred question (Number 969) in the Lok Sabha on February 27, 2001, the minister of state (Home) Vidyasagar Rao, responded that according to the data available as on December 31, 1999, the “total number of foreign missionaries registered in India are 1,375. He said “no new missionaries are allowed after 1984. However, short term visas are being issued to foreigners who are coming only in administrative capacity, to review working of their organisations etcetera.”

 

Nityanandan, a Sri Lankan missionary who has been active in India since 1998, admitted to Tehelka that foreign missionaries do come to India on tourist visas. He even volunteered information about the arrest of a US missionary, Joseph W Cooper, in Kerala for evangelical activities. Not too worried about meeting the same fate, he was candid, saying: “We need to usher Jesus into the scene. We know this country … it is oppressed by Satanic powers and spirits. Demonincally… people are being bound. Many are demonically possessed. It is so hard to penetrate to the Gospel. Our plan is to teach and build every believer to be an intercessor.”

Like Nityananda, many foreign missionaries have criss-crossed Indian states in the last three years. Tehelka’s investigation has revealed that visiting US missionaries have personally ministered conversion rituals in various parts of the country. In the course of its undercover operation, Tehelka came across conversions being carried out by the North Indian Christian Mission (NICM) in rural Punjab. Pastor Deepak Dhingra, a Punjabi pastor, has 20 evangelists in the field and runs the NICM through them. He admits that every year foreign missionaries meet him and visit the places where NICM is active.

  

Clad in a blue T-shirt, track pants and a baseball cap on his head, Dhingra was sprawled in the expansive living room of his bungalow in Panchkula near Chandigarh. Five servants hovered around him as he recounted his story to Tehelka. Twenty-six years ago, Dhingra converted to Christianity. He claims that his father, an IAS officer, asked him to leave home and died without seeing his son’s first child, a daughter. Dhingra, of course, had other plans: “I moved to Australia, Canada, US, New Zealand… thinking that now I am a Christian, I should go and live in Christian countries. When I lived in USA, my wife and I decided that those countries are not for us. We returned to India six years ago from America. Then we started preaching amongst all kinds of people.” Dhingra, has three kids and his wife, Simmi, is from a Sikh family.

 

Dhingra’s journey back to India, however, was not the result of an innocuous decision. He and his family returned in 1997 along with a juicy partnership with a benevolent patron, the US (Indiana) based Eastview Christian Church. He runs the North Indian Christian Mission (NICM), which has an aggressive church planting strategy to build its church in every district over the next few years. But he knows it’s a tough ask. NICM is active in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Conversion is risky business, and Dhingra has survived murderous assaults. The last one was eight months ago in Rajpura, Punjab, during a conversion convention. But the faithful are not deterred. It is not easy business, and while some states are slow in yielding results, there are others that are far more responsive. Abraham told Tehelka categorically and it’s on tape: “In Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of Muslims are coming to the Lord. Islam does not appeal to their mind, especially after September 11.” Operation Agape’s estimate is that across India, “150 million Dalits and around 150 million from the other backward castes (OBC) are coming to the Lord.”

The Dalit angle

According to Abraham, the social oppression institutionalised in the Hindu society is the main reason why Dalits converts. “Now they are becoming educated. They are becoming conscious of their rights mainly because of the Christian influence. These people have now started questioning the hierarchical system in Hinduism and are actually literally rejecting it. The high castes have been treating them as slaves. They [the higher castes] don’t want them to be educated. They do not want them [Dalits] to come up in society. There are so many atrocities against Dalits in India. There is a revolt and there are quite a number of Dalits who have mentally rejected Hinduism,” Abraham told Tehelka. But the Dalits are part of the conspiracy to keep silent. “They [Dalits] know if they all suddenly become Christian, there were would be a backlash,” says Alexander.

However, Christian missionaries are deeply conscious of playing the numbers game. Richard Howell, general secretary, Evangelical Fellowship of India told Tehelka that the church growth has been substantial in North India. “I am against the number game. Giving projections in terms of numbers in dangerous,” he says. “But the reality is that the numbers are increasing,” says Howell.

According to him, the rich and the educated are also converting to Christianity. “It is a change of heart. We are not here to change culture. We have to change the heart. I am a Hindu. I was born a Hindu. No one can change my Hindutva, but I am a Christ follower. I am a Christian, but I cannot change my religion, you know. I am not here to change religion. I have changed my heart. Before I had Wahe Guru in my heart, now it is Jesus guru. I am preaching Jesus to others. I am not preaching culture. I am not building churches,” explains Pastor Dhingra. “We need to reach out to the top people of this country. The day Chandigarh’s governor or SSP or DSP come to know the Lord, thousands will become Christians. In my satsang, we have a doctor, a police inspector, an IAS officer,” he adds.

But it is not the rich that the Indian evangelicals are targeting. The conversion of the rich to Christianity is a bonus. The colonial model that once served Christian missionaries from Europe and the United States has disappeared, replaced by an attitude of cultural sensitivity. The world of missionaries is not as easily divided as it once was into those who spend their time proclaiming the Gospel and those who are involved in social work, disseminating their beliefs more by deeds than by words.

 

According to the Venomous literature of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), “the 300 million Dalits in India are considered to be less than human through the Hindu caste system. They have been oppressed, marginalised, and persecuted by the caste Hindus. The Dalit leadership has called the people to reject Hinduism. As Christians, we support the movement [to convert] as a human rights issue,” Howell states. “People have the freedom to choose. We are in solidarity with them because this is an issue of justice and of resisting oppression. As God’s people we stand with the issues of equality of justice, human dignity, identity, and the right to be treated with respect and equality. Therefore the church is involved.”

 

The EFI says that the Dalit leadership has invited its member churches to become “agents of change and transformation in the communities. They’ve asked for education needs to be met, for medical help and for income generation projects to enable gainful employment to begin. Therefore, as evangelicals, we have mobilised our member bodies. As believers who belong to the Evangelical Fellowship of India we are involved heavily in this moment.” The EFI is a member of US-based World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). Through its network of 115 national and regional evangelical fellowships, WEF represents 160 million evangelicals worldwide and spearheads the global conversion campaign.

 

Missionaries are also finding that some of the traditional mindsets need to change if they are to meet the challenges of a new millennium. Most Christian missionaries no longer go out into the world as Christian soldiers, but as “brothers and sisters in Christ.” Many modern missionaries feel a sense of guilt about the heavy-handed tactics employed for centuries by missionaries from Europe and the United States. Indian evangelists have played a crucial role in influencing a rethinking about “the words, metaphors and images evangelicals use to communicate about the missionary mandate and endeavour-within our own circles and to the world at large.”

 

Biblical metaphors

Howell was one of the participants at the US Consultation on Mission Language and Metaphors at the School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, held from June 1 to 3, 2000. At this consultation, leading US evangelicals who head missionary transnational corporations, decided that they must try to refrain from using militaristic words to avoid adversarial confrontation. The statement that emerged out of this consultation was an admission of the kind of communication that missionaries have used and still use to denigrate other religions. The question that was debated by Howell and others was: “Are we willing not to use language behind the back of unbelievers concerning their culture and location that we would not use face to face in sharing the message and love of Christ?”

 

Three months after this meeting, a statement was issued by Howell and Dr Augustine Pagolu, Honorary Secretary of the Theological Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, at a national consultation on Mission Language and Biblical Metaphor at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore. Representatives of all the evangelical organisations in India attended it.

Yet, Tehelka came across an excessive use of warfare terminologies during its undercover field investigations and in the documents in its possession. Words such as ‘soldier’, ‘advance’, ‘mobilise’, ‘campaign’, ‘conquer’ and so on are commonly used. In fact, the literature of the American TMOs use descriptions that could be considered incendiary by people of other faiths. For instance, Bush’s closest ally, Pat Robertson, has described Hinduism and Islam as Satanic religions and the worship of these religions is akin to ‘devil worship’. Others have described Varanasi as the “seat of Satan.” In fact, Varanasi is considered an important ‘beachhead’ by US evangelical organisations because it is “India’s holiest cities”.

 

Eventually, the EFI hopes that Indian and foreign missionaries will come up with a less offensive language as it takes the cross to the remotest corners in India. What gives dynamism to this movement is the constant effort to rethink strategies.

The US-funded evangelical missions have succeeded in putting in place a loosely tied network of Indian and international evangelical missions that operate with their blessings and support, but which cannot be easily traced directly back to them. Probably, it is this loose structure that has enabled the US-funded evangelical missions to operate in India, without attracting attention of the intelligence and police agencies.

It is the setting up of this network that facilitated the launch of the Great Commission in India, nearly 2000 years after Jesus challenged His church to make disciples of all nations. The inspiration was more akin to the times-Coca Cola’s well-publicised goal to place “a Coke in the hand of every person on the earth by the year 2000.” If a mere corporation could reach the entire world with a soft drink, why couldn’t Christ’s own church?

 

Census figures show that the total Christian population in the country is  percentage of its total population: around 2.46 percent. That, legitimately, raises the questions about the efficacy of the pernicious and enormously well-funded missions to proselytise the marginalised sections of Indians. It raises a far important question: is the heat and dust raised by the issue of conversions a bogey after all? The answer is provided by People India Research and Training Institute in Ayanavaram, Chennai. “There are approximately 5,000 Indian people coming to Christ everyday. However, 55,000 Indians are born everyday.” This assertion by People India is made on the basis of its continuous streaming in of field research information from all over India.
The massive evangelisation operations, which started in the early 1990s has, in fact, not breached this equation; the ever-increasing Indian population has ensured that the total Christian population remains more or less stagnant. But statistics have a way of being duplicitous. It can be twisted to suit any perspective.

 

Low-profile campaigns

But Mission agencies working in the Dalit pockets of India have been instructed not to tom-tom numbers. Simply because number crunching could result in retaliatory violence.

Even as Indian missionaries play down numbers, People India produces books and generates crucial intelligence evangelists working in India. People India is a registered “Christian, trans-denominational research group serving Indian missions and churches in publishing current data on the Indian mission field.” It is the resource base for Indian and foreign churches, transnational evangelical missions and intercessors. Its mandate is to do the following: “To systematically collect information on the Indian harvest field, harvest force and people groups; to make this information available to Indian missions and churches in a useable form; to share this information with individual and prayer groups (an euphemism for evangelical groups) inside and outside India; to make India visible to all.”

 

Tehelka has copies of the Harvest Field Handbooks written by Tony Hilton, director of People India and a well-known evangelical strategist. The information in these books is sourced from various government of India publications and is updated regularly. By breaking down publicly available information (like the Census of India and The Gazetteer of India and many other sources), these books guide evangelists on where to focus their work. It has ready-to-use-information at the levels of village, block and district for all the states in the country. Here is an extract on ‘Strategy’ from a Harvest Field Series handbook for Himachal Pradesh:”A Western support team must never pre-determine the needs of the People Group and create a plan or programme based on those perceived needs. After doing the necessary research, it will always be most effective to work with the national leader, or a team of leaders from within that People Group to set a plan or programme they approve and can participate in.” (Here, ‘national leader’ refers to a Dalit community leader or tribal leader, in other words, the headman of a community).

The crucial point here is that People India is guided and funded by US based Christian Missionary organisations. For instance, by Bob Waymire, president of Light International; John DeVries, president of Mission 21 India and founder of Pray India; and Dr Gene Davis, President of Foreign Mission Foundation. Davis is popular with the Banjara nomadic tribe of India. The Banjaras call him Gene Naik. He has ‘adopted’ the ‘Banjara people group’ for many years. In other words, he is spearheading a campaign to convert the Banjaras to Christianity. Tehelka has a document that vividly highlights the evangelical strategy to convert the Banjaras. Sri Lankan missionary Nityanandan of the Insititute of Church Growth, Chennai, corroborates: “Last year in the Banjara community 11,000, baptisms took place in Nalagonda, Kamam and Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh.”

Intelligence gathering network

 

In fact, according to the documents in Tehelka’s possession, foreign missionaries have played a stellar role in organising the intelligence gathering missions. Vander Berg, co-director of Pray India and Mission analyst with Mission 21 India, has wide “missionary experience” in India and has worked as a pastor in many places. Another notable Christian scholar, an Australian who has married an Indian, is credited with having turned around two US-based evangelical mission agencies-Frontier Mission Center and Youth With A Mission-into formidable research organisations. Hackworth is considered within the international and Indian Christian evangelical circles as the “only man who knows all the Peoples Groups of India at the district level.”

After setting up such an elaborate network, church groups in India are understandably disappointed over a recent Supreme Court ruling (September 1, 2003) that there was “no fundamental right to convert” someone from one religion to another, and that the government could impose restrictions on conversions. This was in response to the petition by the All India Christian Council (AICC), challenging the validity of the controversial Freedom of Religion Act that became law in Orissa in 1999.

The law now mandates that a person wanting to change faiths has to declare to the district magistrate that this decision was made “of his own will”. The magistrate then forwards the declaration to the police to see if there is any objection before permission for the conversion is granted. Any religious leader intending to perform a conversion has to indicate the time and place of the ceremony to the magistrate in advance, and violating any of the regulations could lead to imprisonment and a fine. In fact, last year Sister Ekka was convicted for converting 96 people without following the procedure laid down by law. Most missionaries, however, simply proceed without informing the district authorities.

“I think that this is curbing the liberties of an individual, the natural rights, the unalienable as they are called. The government or the state cannot control my convictions. That’s a matter of personal choice, which should never be taken away. So I would also say, the freedom of religion Bills, the focus is against the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. In the Gujarat Bill and also in the Tamil Nadu Bill they have used the word. So the target is again the marginalised and the poor for them to stay there,” says Howell.

But conversions in India, as they are happening today, are not merely about empowering the poor. It is about a sinister and subversive strategy, hatched in the US, backed by the Bush administration over the years.

The question is: does the Indian establishment know or is it pretending not to?

–

  Pastor

  unitedchurch@eml.cc

 

Francois Gautier Holds Sonia Gandhi Responsible for the Mumbai Tragedy

Now it is time for the people of India to say openly that which many, including within the Congress, think secretly and may utter in the privacy of their chambers.

It is not about Man Mohan Singh, it is not even about Shivraj Patil, the fall guy; it is about that one person, the Eminence Grise of India. She who pulls all the strings, She whose shadow looms menacingly over so many, She who holds no portfolio, is just a simple elected MP, like 540 others, but rules like an empress.

Nevertheless, she has said and acted enough so that one day she may stand accused on the pages of History for what she must have done to India.

I accuse Sonia Gandhi as being responsible for the tragedy of Mumbai, having emasculated India’s intelligence agencies by stopping them from investigating terror attacks in the last four years, including the Mumbai train blasts. She has also neutralised the ATS by ordering them at all costs to ferret out ‘Hindu terrorism’, which if it exists, has wrought minuscule damage compared to what Islamic terror has done since 2004.

Did the US send a warning to India that there may be an attack on Mumbai and that the Taj would be one of the targets? Were these ignored because the ATS was too busy chasing Hindu ‘terrorists’ on Sonia’s orders?

I accuse Sonia and her government of having made the NSG the laughing stock of the world. How many times did the NSG (who took ten hours to reach Mumbai) claim that it had “sanitised the Taj and that the operation was over” and how many times did a bomb go off immediately after? For the last 20 years, the NSG has guarded VIPs and has become soft. See the comments of Israeli terror specialists, who said the NSG should have first sanitised the immediate surroundings of the places of conflict, kept the bystanders and press (who gave terrorists watching TV in the Taj rooms a perfect report of the security forces’ whereabouts) out of the place, gathered enough information about the position of the terrorists and hostages before taking action, instead of immediately engaging the terrorists, and ensuring the deaths of so many hostages.

I accuse Sonia of having let her Christian and Western background, in four years, divide India on religious and caste lines in a cynical and methodical manner.

I accuse Sonia Gandhi of always pointing the finger at Pakistan, when terrorism in India is now mostly homegrown, even if it takes help, training, refuge and arms from Pakistan; of not warning Indians of the grave dangers of Islamic terror for cynical election purposes.

I accuse Sonia of being an enemy of the Hindus, who always gave refuge to persecuted minorities, and who are the only people in the world to accept that God may manifest under different names, in different epochs, using different scriptures.

I accuse Sonia Gandhi of taking advantage of India’s respect for women, its undue fascination with the Gandhi name, and its stupid mania for White Skin.

I accuse Sonia of exploiting the Indian Press’ obsession with her. She hardly ever gave interview in 20 years, except scripted ones to NDTV, yet the Press always protects her, never blames her and keeps silent over her covert role.

I accuse Sonia and her government of trying to make heroes of subservient and inefficient men to hide the humiliation of Mumbai 26/11. Before going to his death, Hemant Karkare, the ATS chief, was shown on television clumsily handling his helmet, as someone who uses it very rarely. Why did he die of bullet wounds in the chest when he was wearing a bullet-proof vest? Either Indian vests are inferior quality or he was not wearing one.

How did the terrorists who killed him and his fellow officer escape in the same vehicle used by the ATS chief? Why did he and his officers go into Cama Hospital without ascertaining where the terrorists were? We honour his death, but these facts say a lot about the ATS’ battle-readiness.

Will someone in the Congress, someone who feels more Indian than faithful to Sonia, stand up and speak the truth? Who said, “Go after Hindu terrorists”? Who insisted on putting pressure on BJP governments in Karnataka or Orissa for so-called persecution of Christians, when Christians have always practised their faith in total freedom here, while their missionaries are converting hundreds of thousands of innocent tribals and Dalits with the billions of dollars given by gullible westerners? Who said, “Go soft on Islamic terrorism”? Who wants to do away with India’s nuclear deterrence in the face of Pakistani and Chinese nuclear threats, by pushing at all costs the one sided Indo-US nuclear deal, which makes no secret of its intention to denuclearise India militarily? I am sure Sonia Gandhi has good qualities: she probably was a good wife to Rajiv, a good daughter in law to Indira and by all accounts, she is a good mother to her children. One also hears first-hand reports about her concern for smaller people, her dignity in the suffering that befell her when her husband was blown to pieces, and her courtesy with visitors.

Nevertheless, she is a danger to India.

Her very presence, both physical and occult, opens the doors to forces inimical to India. Even Indian Christians should understand that she is not a gift to them: her presence at the top has emboldened fanatics like John Dayal or Valson Thampu, who practise an orthodox Christianity prevalent in the West in the early 20th century, but no longer, to radicalise their flock. Indian Christians should recognise that they have a much better deal here than Christians or Hindus have in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia.

Under Sonia’s rule, Indian Muslims, too, have been used as electoral pawns. They have been encouraged to shun the Sufi streak, a blend of the best of Islam and Vedanta, for a hard-line Sunni brand imported from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

For the good of India, her civilisation, her immense spirituality and culture, Sonia Gandhi has to go and a government that thinks Indian, breathes nationalism and will protect its citizens must be voted to power.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=LNnjswClsuc=
From: Rajeev Aggarwal

Francois Gautier is the true Indian in Spirit compared to most of the other journalists or thinkers in India. He has adopted India with true heart and it can be felt in his writings. I agree with him and admire him for his thoroughness and the anguish he feels for ridiculous handling of issues in India. 

 

I think Sonia is a manifestation of impotent psyche prevalent today. Even though merely removing her would not sanitize the system, it would be jolt to this thought process which is converting India in a witless and gutless State. 

 

It always amazes me that none of our main stream media would take on government in critical and detailed way. Why don’t media ask tough questions and provide educated analysis? Most of the time it is only looking at providing sensational news.

 

The rich families of India should invest in bringing up a non-partisan media channel, which will not be relying on providing sensation only for its survival. It should hire the best minds and people with true Indian heart (like Francois Gautier), to provide educated information to public and take our government for task.

 

From: Mohanraj Jebamani <tnjjp77@yahoo.com>

The congress and its leader are not worried or concerned about the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. The investigation is still on after 17yrs.such a shameless and heartless people are ruling this country and you expect them to act tough on jihadi terrorists. No way. The country is poised to be doomed. If DR Karthikeyan is subjected to narco analysis test you will know how the killers of Rajiv Gandhi and the terrorists were let off. As an insider I am 1005 positive that all this slackness started with RGs case.

 

Not only Sonia but all the Chamchas must all go for ever. In fact time has come when congress party and its supporter parties be destroyed.

 

This person,even being of foreign origin,has done more for the Hindu cause than most Hindus and has served his adopted country with utmost devotion to its culture that,I think,he should be nominated to receive ‘Bharat Ratna’. while Sonia is trying to destroy Bhaarat and also trying to convert whole Bhaarat into Christianity by encouraging Christians every where and by appointing several Christian chief ministers.

————————–

Help save the Indian Tribals and Dalits from Evangelists,
who Degrade the Tribal and Dalit Culture & tradition with a View to “Harvesting our Souls” http://burningcross.net/

Wave of Violence Against Orissa Christian Continues

Militant Hindu nationalists affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh
(RSS), have called for a nun, who was raped by their activists, to be
arrested and they have reportedly sought to wipe out all traces of
Christianity from Orissa.

On October 21, 2008, a group of Hindu women from the Rashtra Sevika
Samiti – an outfit affiliated to the Sangh Parivar (an organization
under the umbrella of the RSS) – demonstrated to demand the arrest of
a nun who was raped during the violence that erupted in the area in
August. “They want to arrest the victim,” noted Dr. Gurmit Singh
Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan [based in Washington DC,
USA]. “That is offensive to anyone’s sense of decency.” Asia News
reported that the Sangh Parivar, another Hindu fundamentalist group
affiliated with the RSS, “[is] becoming more methodical. Sometimes
with police assistance they prevent Christians from meeting to pray,
try to murder new converts, and are trying to take over the land where
churches and Christian homes once stood in order to wipe off the face
of the Earth any trace of Christian presence.”

Dr. Aulakh made it clear that the Council of Khalistan and the Sikh
Nation support the Christians in fighting the oppression. “We are on
your side,” he said. “First it was Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits, now
Christians,” he said, referring to a wave of anti-Christian oppression
that has been raging since Christmas 1998. “The rape of any woman,
especially a nun, is shameful,” he said. “Nuns renounce sex and are
‘married to Christ.’ Raping them is an attack on the Christian
religion itself,” he said. “They have tried to wipe out Sikhism and
Buddhism. Now the Indians are trying to wipe out Christianity.” Dr. Aulakh’s efforts to help Christians have been praised by John Dayal, President of the All-India Christian Council.

The latest attacks in Orissa are part of an ongoing campaign of violent harassment of Christians that has been going on since Christmas 1998. Churches have been burned, Christian schools have been attacked and Christian prayer halls have been vandalized. Missionary Graham Staines was murdered in 1999 in Orissa by a mob of militant Hindus chanting “Victory to Hannuman,” (a Hindu god) while he slept in his jeep, along with his two sons. The killers have never been punished. Missionary Joseph Cooper was so severely beaten that he had to spend a week in an Indian hospital, then he was expelled from the country. Many nuns have been raped and made to drink their own urine.

Priests have been murdered. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an organization under RSS, justified these crimes by calling the nuns “anti-national elements.” The RSS, the parent organization of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has published booklets on how to implicate Christians and other minorities in false criminal cases.

In April, according to Compass Direct, about 70 violent Hindu nationalists chased and threatened two Christian women from a Gospel for Asia Bible college after a Christian worship service. They burned the church. All the Christians escaped except the two young women. The Hindu militants threatened: “We will burn you like Graham Staines and his children!” A leader of the BJP was quoted as saying that everyone who lives in India must either be a Hindu or be subservient to Hindus.

India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures
compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights groups and
reported in the book The Politics of Genocide by Inderjeet Singh Jaijee. It has also killed over 90,000 Kashmiri-Muslims since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils and other minorities. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian Government’s murders of Sikhs “worse than a genocide.”

According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR),
52,268 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Amnesty International reported that tens of thousands of other minorities are also being held as political prisoners. We demand the immediate release of all these political prisoners.

Dr. Aulakh noted that the repression of the Sikhs has echoes in the repression of the Christians. “It is sad that in the name of religion [Hinduism or Hindutva], violent acts like this are carried out,” Dr Aulakh said. “We strongly condemn the violence against Christians, which is sadly reminiscent of the violence that has been committed against Sikhs, Muslims, and others,” Dr. Aulakh said. “They murdered several priests and they murdered Staines and beat Cooper. Similarly, the Indian Government murdered Sardar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, Jathedar of the Akal Takht. If you are a religious leader of a non-Hindu religion in India, you are in danger,” he said. “The burning of churches and the vandalism of prayer halls and schools is an attack on fundamental religious institutions. These attacks on churches remind me of the Golden Temple attack. They constitute an attack on the religion itself, Dr. Aulakh said. “That is unacceptable, especially in a
country that promotes itself as a secular democracy.” He noted that India recently signed a civil nuclear agreement with the United States. “I call on the Bush Administration and its successors to work with India to ensure that basic human rights are enjoyed by Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Dalits, and all the people living under Indian rule,” he said. “We must continue to press
for our God-given birthright of freedom,” he said. “Unfortunately, the
Indian Government does nothing but encourage and support this repression and violence. Is this the face of modern Hinduism and the so-called secular India?” – [Council of Khalistan - Press Release - 22 October 2008]

Council of Khalistan: http://www.khalistan.com