Ram Puniyani

Mr. Satyapal Singh, the BJP MP, while speaking in Lok Sabha on amendments to FCRA went on to support the forthcoming restrictions to the foreign contributions. While making his arguments, to buttress his point, he put forward the case of Pastor Graham Stewart Stains. In the process he poured venom on the late Pastor by saying that the Pastor had raped 30 Tribal women and was involved in the work of conversion to Christianity with the help of funds from abroad!

This blatant lie should have been countered in the Parliament. The brutal murder of Pastor Stains was described by the then President of India, Dr. K.R. Narayanan by saying â€œit belonged to the worldâ€™s inventory of black deedsâ€. The pastor, who came from Australia to work among the Leprosy patients in Orissa, was sleeping in an open jeep in the village on the night of 22-23 January 1999. He was working in Keonjhar, Manoharpur, in Orissa. On that fateful night he was burnt alive with his two minor sons, Timothy and Philip. The Whole Country was aghast with the brutal nature of the crime. The brutality was committed by Rajendra Singh Pal aka Dara Singh, a worker of Bajrang Dal.

Mr. Advani was the home minister that time. He stated that Bajrang Dal has nothing to do with this act; he knows this organization too well. As the immediate measure he sent three member ministerial team, Murli Manohar Joshi, Navin Patnayak and George Fernandez to Orissa. In a single day the team concluded that this grave crime is an international conspiracy to destabilize the ruling NDA government. Then Wadhava Commission was appointed. The commission concluded that Dara Singh, who was working with Bajrang Dal with the help of organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, VHP etc. propagated that Pastor is doing the work of conversion and is a threat to Hinduism. He did mobilize people, poured Kerosene on the vehicle and put fire.

The Commission in its report further stated that Pastor had not been doing the work of conversion; he was involved in serving the leprosy patients. Dara Singh was awarded death penalty by Courts, which was later reduced to life imprisonment; currently he is undergoing the jail sentence. What is remarkable is that as per the report there was no substantial increase in the percentage of Christians in the area. The report states, â€œKeonjar district had a total population of 15.30 lakh. Out of them, 14.93 lakh were Hindus. Christians, mostly tribalâ€™s, were 4,707. According to the 1991 census, there were already 4,112 Christians in the district. Thus, there was an increase of only 595 in the Christian population.â€ One can say that this is not due to conversion but is due to the natural biological process. Propaganda of Dara Singh and the organizations was purely guided by their political agenda.

The propaganda that Christian missionaries have been converting is the dominant social perception all around, and it is the ground for â€˜Hatred against the Christiansâ€™, who have been facing the violence from last over two decades. We witnessed violence against Christians, mainly in Adivasi areas, Dangs, Jhabua, and large parts of Orissa. After this gruesome murder, there was regular violence against Christian community, the peak of which was seen in the Kandhamal violence (August 2008) in which nearly hundred Christians were killed, close to four hundred women raped and many Churches attacked and destroyed.

That has not been the end. The violence against this community is going on in a regular manner. It is mostly in remote areas, in a scattered manner and many a times below radar. The prayer meetings are attacked and missionaries distributing religious literature are apprehended. The organization â€˜Persecution Reliefâ€™, in its recent report points out, â€œHate crimes against Christians in India have risen by an alarming 40.87 percent...,That increase came despite a complete nationwide lockdown that lasted three months to stem the spread of Covid-19 infections.â€
While the attacks on Muslim minority has been glaring, those against Christians though are scattered and low intensity, the murder of Pastor Stains and Kandhamal violence stand out. The core ideology behind this violence which has been spread is that Islam and Christianity are â€˜foreign religionsâ€™ and are a threat to Hinduism. This is so much in contrast to what Indian Nationalists like Gandhi and Nehru who regarded that religion is no basis of Nationality; Christianity is as much a religion of this land as any other.
As a matter of fact as per one version Christianity entered this land in AD 52, With St Thomas setting up Church in Malabar area. Since close to last over 19 Centuries many missionereris have been coming and working in the remote areas, setting up health and education facilities in particular. They have also set up the schools and colleges, and hospitals in urban areas, which are known for their good standards, and people in these areas do vie to avail of these facilities with gay abandon.
Today the percentage of Christians, as per census figures is 2.30 (2011 census), this is again a climb down from 1971 when it was 2.60 %. Last six decades it has shown a constant decline, 2.60 (1971), 2.44 (1981) 2.34 (1991), 2.30 (2001) and 2.30 again in 2011. The organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, VHP and Bajrang dal are active more in remote places to spread the misconception of the conversion. This is an assault on â€˜Freedom of Religionâ€™ and the repressive laws against freedom of religion have been coming up in state after state. While Indian Constitution stands for individualâ€™s right to practice and preach oneâ€™s religion, the anti Christian violence on the pretext of religion is becoming endemic as sectarianism is growing in a frightening manner.
Recently 25th August, it was 12 years since kandhamal Violence had shaken the country. The need is to restore peace, amity and harmony. By speaking unsubstantiated charges Mr. Satyapal Singh has just gone on to add to the anti Christian propaganda, which dents our values of Fraternity.

Conversions and Anti Christian Violence in India