MINORITIES - 2002 - Indian Social Institute

unfortunate". The conference is scheduled to begin on January 21 in Kolkata. Speaking at a function to release
Hindu, Musalman Ani Kh-risti, a compilation of newspaper articles written by RSS spokesman M G
Vaidya, Sudarshan described Jesuits as Pope's soldiers who are given deeksha by the Pope himself on
an oath that prescribes violent and barbaric means to decimate all those who don't follow the Roman
Catholic religion. "Our President going to inaugurate the confer ence is very unfortunate," he re marked.
(Indian Express, 30-12-2002)
Attack on Church - Police attempt a poor cover-up
THE storming of a Catholic Church by a big armed gang JL at Tehatta in Nadia close to the
Indo-Bangladesh bor der during midnight mass on Christmas Eve when Rs. 2 lakhs were looted from the
Church locker and valuables worth Rs. 28 lakhs were snatched from those in the congre gation is clearly a
commentary on the state of lawlessness in West Bengal's key border district. What is shocking is that the
dacoits were allowed to escape to their sanctuaries in Bangladesh. The police confirm this. No less
intriguing is laxity in security arrangement around the Church although the area is known to be highly
crime prone. To escape blame police have invented the conversion theory and are planting storie,s
suggesting the attack was the result of the bad blood created by the local Church offering ; inducements to
convert Hindus and Muslims. If this were ; true there would have been manifestations of communal
tension and disharmony; there was none. Official investigation should focus on police inaction. It is an
open secret that a section of the police, in areas like Nadia and other bordering districts, are hand in glove
with criminals engaged in smuggling a variety of items, including cattle, across the border. The police
should turn" the searchlight inwards instead of offering unstateable theories in the attempted cover up.
Planting stories of communal disharmony without any basis and to hide their inefficiency and corruption is
to play with fire. (Statesman, 30-12-2002)
Christians, Muslims under fire at re-conversion function.
KHALLARI (CHHATTISGARH), DEC.29. The Vishal Hindu Sangam organized here to mark the 'ghar
vapsi' (re-conversion) of 250 Christian families offered a platform to the 'dharmacharyas' to spew venom
against Christianity and Islam while calling upon the Hindus to unite and fight the missionaries who
'indulged' in conversions and followers of Islam 'responsible for spreading ter rorism' in India. So much so,
Baba Balak Das, regional head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) described Mother Teresa as '
dayan' (witch). The function had been organized by the Dharma Raksha Samiti of Mahasamund district
and the re-conversion j ceremony was carried out by the Bharatiya Janata i Party (BJP) MP, Dilip Singh
Judev, who has been instrumental in 'ghar-vapsi' programmes for the t past many years. Though Mr.
Judev was comparatively softer in t his choice of words while calling upon the Hindus to unite and check
the growth of missionaries and Islamic fundamentalism, it were c the saints who were all fire and
brimstone. Mr. Judev said re-conversion was a service to nation f as the converts were carried away by
the glitter of t the Western life-style. "They may have changed i their religion but they cannot change their
ances- 1 tors or their blood," he said while adding that t their target in 2002 was to bring back 2 lakh
Christians into the Hindu fold which they could r not fulfil due to lack of resources. "But we can c touch the
5 lakh mark next year, if unite,'' he said f as he described the unique character of Chhattis- t garh where
poverty, casteism, unemployment f and lack of health care facilities facilitated the p entry of missionaries.
(Hindu, 30-12-2002)