MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

BANGALORE, DEC. 7. The Global council of Indian Christians has condemned the attack on five
Christians in Sauncer, Madhya Pradesh, and demanded that the Chief Minister take action against the
Sangh Parivar activ ists involved in the attack. In a press release here today, the council demanded that
the State Government ensure the protection of the Christians liv ing there. A Christian worker of the
Bharatiya Sevak Sangati and four Bible school students were beaten up and later forced out of Sauncer,
70 km from Nagpur, by a mob of about 50-60 people armed with sticks on Tuesday. They were also
threatened with dire consequences if they re turned to the town. (Hindu 8.12.02)
7 th Dec.
Conversion message to Jaya (7)
Chennai: Two rounds of conver sions unfolded here today to send a mes sage to the Jayalalithaa
government that a controversial new law will not succeed when people want to leave Hinduism on their
own and fight caste oppression. The promised thousands did not make it to the event, christened 'mass
conversion mela but the organisers—blamed the low turnout on a police cordon thrown over night on roads
leading to the venue on the outskirts of the city. Instead of the scheduled 5,000,50 Dalits embraced
Buddhism and 30 Christianity. The organisers — the All-India Confedera tion of Scheduled Castes/Tribes
Organisa tions —said the symbolic gesture was inte nded at proving that the new state law aga inst
"forcible" conversions would not slow the rate of switchover from Hinduism. (Telegraph 7.12.02)
10 th Dec.
VHP: Gates’ AIDS donation could fund conversions (7)
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 9: The VHP has protested against Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' donation for the
eradi cation of AIDS in India. The organisation said that it feared the funds could fall into the hands of
Christian organisa tions that carry out religious conversions. Addressing a press confer ence here on
Monday, the VHP's international president Ashok Singhal said, "Mr Gates was provided with wrong
statistics about the pre vailing rate of AIDS in India." He said that there are international conspiracies to
encourage conversion by pro viding funds in the name of different schemes. He demanded a thorough
scrutiny of foreign donations coming to the country and said that its utilisation must also be investigated
"Huge foreign aid to the tune of around Rs 10,000 crore is pouring in into the country every year. (Asian
Age 10.12.02)
16th Dec.
Muslims worried (7)
AHMEDABAD, DEC. 15. As the Bharatiya Janata Party workers celebrated the party's resounding success
in the Gujarat Assembly elections by burst ing crackers and taking out victory processions, a sense of
fear and apprehension seems to have gripped the minority community battered in the recent communal
riots. The BJP workers raised the "Jai Shri Ram" slo gan, borrowed from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, to
hail the party's victory. There were also occa sional shouts of "vande mataram" and "BJP zindabad". As the
processions passed through the Muslim-dominated areas, people preferred to stay indoors and watch the
bursting of crackers from windows or balconies. The minority leaders refused to comment on the BJP
victory even as some Congress leaders admitted that the "fatwa" of the Muslim clergy asking their
followers to vote only for the Con gress did more damage to the party by polarising the Hindu votes in
favour of the BJP. (Hindu 16.12.02)
17 th Dec.
Vadodara tense, stray violence continues (7)
VADODARA, DECEMBER 16: THE victory celebrations may be over but not the violence.
Gashes erupted again in some lo calities of Vadodara late on Mon day, with stone-pelting groups
leav ing six persons injured. Police said clashes were re ported from Nagarwada, Macchipeeth,
Fatehpura, Mandvi, Panigate and Hathikhana areas. Over a dozen teargas shells were lobbed to
keep mobs from fighting in the narrow bylanes of the walled city. A few kiosks in the Nagar wada
and Fatehpura were torched. Earlier during the day, former minister and newly-elected BJP MLA
Bhupendra Lakhawala was greeted with stones and brickbats when he visited Dabhi Falia in
Bawamanpura locality. Police and paramilitry forces escorted him out of the rnohalla. Lakhawala