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February 12, 1999
ELECTIONS '98
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'No, let's NOT debate conversion'
How Readers reacted to T V R Shenoy's recent columnsDate: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 09:04:42 ESTFrom: <MVijay1199@aol.com> Subject: Dara Singh It is glad to note that there are people like Mr Shenoy who dares to ask questions. From the beginning, the whole media has been against the BJP government. Let any mediaperson answer the questions Mr Shenoy raises about Romesh. Kannan
Date:
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 12:06:46 -0500
Dear sir, Mr Shenoy appears to be an intolerant person. It is believed that education opens one's mind but Mr Shenoy's mind seems still closed. Why does he want Hinduism to be a reactive religion? His arguments are idiotic and perverse. What is the point in asking if other religions share the feeling of sarvadharma samabhaava? Do Hindus have to have that feeling only if other religions have it too? And why is it that only Hindus are fighting the Muslims and now Christians? Why are Muslims not fighting Christians? He tries hard to draw the reader's attention to non-issues like Orissa and Bihar. One needs courage to accept the reality. What is the point in quoting the Pope's arguments? Does that justify Graham Stain's case? If not, then what's the point? There is no need to discuss conversions. Let religion be everyone's personal choice. Where were those anti-conversion zealots when these converts were begging for rice? Whether before or after the conversion, does anybody care about the people who got converted? I am not pro-BJP or pro-Congress. I am not political. I try to be logical. I see no logic in discussing a killing. It is a sad commentary on India that religious persecution is becoming a way of life. Mr Shenoy now joins the band of people who specialise in presenting the national priorities from a partisan viewpoint. Brij Bharadwaj
Date:
Mon, 01 Feb 1999 19:30:52 +0530
May be you are right about the incidents in Laloo's Bihar. But even then it was done by fundamentalist Hindu groups. About the incident in which the priest had sex with a kid -- this incident has nothing to do with the current topic of conversion, so please don't divert our attention. Do you know the modus operandi of missionaries? The one thing they never do is force anyone into conversion. First thing they do is something good for a particular community, which may be down trodden. Then after these socially downtrodden people are given the respect that each human being is entitled to, they decide if they want to convert or not. What good have these Hindu fanatic groups done for the social outcastes? Everyone has a right to choose his own religion & if these missionaries give them education, respect and social standing, then what's the problem??? If eminent media persons like you choose to provide an explanation for such things then why blame the uneducated masses for what they do? Farid
Date:
Sat, 30 Jan 1999 16:16:55 +0530
Bravo on bringing some sort of balance in the current atmosphere of BJP-bashing. This exposes the true colours of the Christians.
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 21:02:23 -0500
Notwithstanding arguments put forward by people like Mr. Shenoy I see no need for a debate. In the first place Hinduism is not like other religions. Therein lies its charm and reason for acceptance among rational minds. I dare say one can be a Christian and still a Hindu but not vice versa. What if the whole country is converted to Christianity? As long as there is freedom to follow whatever religion u want I and Mr Shenoy can both happily practice Hinduism. Also what's wrong in rice-conversions? Why do we need a debate on that? Actually I think people who convert to Christianity for food reasons are smart. At least they are not starving like a lot of their brethren.
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 17:10:24 -0800
Congratulations on an excellent article. Somehow, it is very fashionable to: 1) Associate every communal incident with the BJP or the Sangh Parivar, when the truth seems to be very different. It was not the BJP, but the Congress that enacted India's worst communal carnage in 1984. Indeed, while the Congress mobs were busy killing, many senior leaders of the BJP's Delhi unit were seen personally trying to stop the rioters and giving refuge to the Sikhs (Madan Lal Khurana for example). 2) Condemn in the strongest terms any attack on a Muslim/Christian person/place, and remain completely silent when innocent Hindus are butchered. In Kashmir, in Punjab, and elsewhere. Indeed, our government has taken GREAT pains to hide from the public certain very unpalatable facts, which I state below: (i) In 1971, the Pakistani army butchered 3 million Hindus in what was then East Pakistan. This was described by the Time magazine as the worst genocide since the holocaust. Of the 10 million refugees that flooded India, 8 million were Hindu. Later the Pak govt said that only 2 million refugees, all Muslims, had come to India. All this is well documented by western sources. Read for instance Arthur Schanmberg's columns in the New York Times, or even the Encyclopaedia Britannica (birth of nations). (ii) In Nagaland, which is as a result of missionary activity, almost entirely Christian, the banned NCSN, has as its secessionist slogan "Nagaland for Christ". And for all the talk of emancipating work done by missionaries -- are the people of Nagaland much better off that they were before the missionaries came? (iii) Over 10,000 Hindu temples were destroyed during the Muslim rule of India. This is documented by Muslim historians as well. (iv) For over 200 years, during the sultanate period, there was an official edict saying that if any Muslim wished to spit into the mouth of any Hindu, the Hindu must obey and respectfully open his mouth!! This is documented. I wish to say no more. Thank you for reading. Vinay
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 19:29:16 EST
It is courageous of Mr Shenoy to give us a balanced article as compared to the others that appear on Rediif routinely. There is no huge cry over the 21 murdered by the Ranvir Sena in Bihar. Why? Because the blame for that cannot easily be put on the Sangh Parivar. Everybody is so bothered about the Christian missionary killings that they are forgetting the murders of other unfortunates in Kashmir, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar etc. We must condemn all killings irrespective of the community. D Bhalla
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 19:07:00 -0500
Dear sir, Shenoy makes a strong case and the most appropriate justification for debating the issue of conversion. However, I would suggest that this debate may be held after the current passions and the dust from the lies and distortions gets settled. There could even arise a case of deliberate false reporting by some sections of the English media, who apparently have been receiving money from foreign sources. Wild accusations have been hurled against many patriotic Hindu organisations, by politicians and the English media. These organisations would be justified in taking them to court for defamation. The silence of Sonia Gandhi with respect to the responsibilities she shares as Congress president, is a clear indication that she is playing the religious card to save her skin. Can such a person be trusted as the prime minister of India? If there is any truth to the allegation of the foreign hand in the conversion activities in India, the whole issue of existence of foreign missionaries in India can become not only debatable; but there could also arise an imperative need for a judicial investigation into such activities. Prime Minister Vajpayee had offered an imminently logical suggestion to debate the issue of conversions, as that was quoted as the prime cause of the violence. Interestingly, Sonia Gandhi, instead of responding herself, asked Mr Pawar to respond! She had obviously hoped that the accusations hurled at the BJP would stick. Sincerely yours,
Rajendra Aggarwala
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 16:53:31 -0400
Sir, I agree with T V R Shenoy when he says there is a need for to debate conversions. This issue has often been a source of inter-community tension, but there has never been a national debate. As a Hindu, I have the greatest respect for all faiths and I think of religion as a purely personal matter. But for someone to even suggest that another faith is superior to mine and that I should consider changing is something I cannot accept. I condone the brutal murder of Graham Stains and my heartfelt condolences are for his grieving wife. A murder is a law and order issue and it should be dealt with as such. I hope the culprits are quickly punished for this act. But to blame the BJP government is to take a very immature view of the situation. I think of this as an indication of the deteriorating law and order situation in some states. But it does bring to fore the issue of religious conversions.
Sridhar Narayan
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 11:51:42 -0800
Dear editor, One of the noted philosopher, Sri S L Bhairappa, when he was in USA, was talking on Hindu values. I liked one strong statement made by him to differentiate Hindu with others. That is "CHARCHA" - debate. He said, if you remove this part from Hinduism, then it is just like any other ISMs. Means, no more scope for evolution, or change for the better. Also, he said that Hindutva survived just because of this special character -- evolution by "CHARCHA". Nagaraj
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 12:47:00 -0600
I agree with T V R Shenoy about the need to debate conversion. I also wholeheartedly agree with him about the need to uphold law and order. Let it also be asserted that the two are separate issues. Finally, I think it is essential to point out that no-one is asking Hinduism to accept Christian missionary activity "with perfect equanimity". In fact, those that protest about "re-conversion" drives are purveyors of the politics of convenience, not conviction. There is an urgent need for a transparent discussion and debate on the allegations made by the Sangh Parivar, and by the counter-claims from Christian groups and workers. Irrespective of this is the need for maintenance of law and order. In fact, the single most important reason for the separatist movements in our country is the breakdown of law and order. Ordinary citizens no longer have faith in the criminal justice system. Criminal cases do not even have a chance to reach the judicial system if the accused "cannot be apprehended", or if political might and corruption is used to induce prosecutors to dismiss cases. Finally, there is need to respect the Constitution. If we disagree with the Constitution, we have a process by which we can make our disagreement known. If our disagreement is shown, objectively, to have no merit, then we must agree to abide by that decision. Unfortunately, the politicians who run our country do not understand the Constitution or what it guarantees. Even more distressing is the absence of such understanding among journalists.
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 10:06:11 -0800
Sir, You can defend how much ever you want the actions (or incitement) of the RSS, but its simply wrong. Hope passions won't run so high that we will witness a genocide like the one in Hitler's Germany or recently in Rwanda. The RSS is sowing hatred, which will multiply and that's not good for the future generations. Hindusim has survived without the RSS for centuries. People have been killed/forced to convert (from the 11th century to 19th century). Hinduism has survived Buddhism and Jainism. Musilm rulers. Early English rulers have tried force before, and we still survived. We don't have to cry about conversions. Hope you and your friends will start debate about how to fight hunger rather than conversions (and people who convert are poor, hungry and illetarate...) Thanks, Arun Hampiholi
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 11:39:53 -0600
Very well said, Mr Shenoy. Politicians have been playing with religion for a long time now. It is time we woke up and stopped ourselves from being taken for a ride constantly. In order to satisfy their hunger for power, these shameless punks have been using religion, language and caste to cause unrest among our people. What are they going to use next? Colour? Dharmarajan Subramanian |
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