Attacks on Churches and Christians in India

Section 144 has just been clamped on Mangalore city.

Police resorted to lathi charge and throwing tear gas grenades at peaceful protesters where a number of nuns and women were injured and had to be taken to hospital.

What the hell is wrong with our country and its people? (I would not normally use such strong language in print, but it doesn't even begin to demonstrate how strongly I feel)

Today morning between 9am and 10am, Bajrang Dal activists attacked and destroyed 4 churches in Mangalore City.

Why? Because New Life members distributed pamphlets which said "Do not Worship Hindu Gods"
While I admit that this could be an incendiary statement, does this justify attacking people and churches who do not even agree with the methods used by the New Life preachers?
Does this justify attacking members of a church, who have not had anything to do with conversions or preaching and just listen?

Lets look at the issues here:
1. The Bajrang Dal resorts to violence because of something that is printed that they do not agree with.
2. When the Bajrang Dal says that conversions are illegal, (and all the other things they do with tis as their cause) aren't they infact enforcing that "you cannot worship any God other than a Hindu God"
3. The New Life Church is a relative newcomer, known to be more hardline than most other churches which distance themselves from them. Shouldn't the Bajrang Dal have at least distinguished that?
4. Even if they did not agree with what was printed by the New Life church in India, couldn't they try having a dialog with them first, before resorting to violence.
Looks like the hooligans behind these attacks are only interested in breaking bones and getting their adrenaline pumping rather than really trying to sort out any kinds of problems or misunderstandings.

The ruffians broke all the religious statues in the Sisters of Poor Clare's Adoration Monastery. They threw the Holy Eucharist on the ground and desecrated it.

Is this OK, just because it is being done against Catholics/Christians in India who have historically been as non-violent as the Jains and buddhists (other minorities) in India?

Concerned members of the churches gathered in the church grounds during and after evening mass in a peaceful way to seek assurance and guidance from the priests and other religious. Wasn't this a peaceful gahtering compared to mobs rampaging and torching buses because of some mud smeared on Meenatai's statue? or The countrywide riots following a desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur? The second incident was also of smeared mud. Both the desecrations happened on public roads. This does not make it right, but compare this to religious statues being broken on private property, the Holy Eucharist (which Christians believe is the body of Christ once it is blessed) thrown on the ground. Do not Christians have a right to congregate to discuss their fears following such incidents.

Remember the Christians were gathering in peace outside their place of worship (since the insides of the church were full) not going out and torching buses or hurting other innocent people.

To add fuel to the fire, the police arrived. No issues with their arriving where crowds had gathered, but they started lathi charging the gathered people and seriously injured nuns and women among the crowd and threw tear bombs inside the church where Sunday evening mass was being held. A religious ceremony, a peaceful ceremony, held everyday inside these churches.

Was this responsible on the part of the police to use force and violence against unarmed, peaceful members of the public?

People present at the scene said that the police themselves were pelting stones at the crowd and caning them, hurting both people and damaging property in the vicinity.

The news channels started to broadcast about this and then completely hushed up. I turned on my India feed of NDTV which promised for 15 minutes to show an update and news about Mangalore city and suddenly it stopped showing those banners without showing any news about what had happened. Looks like someone high in the political chain, got to them and yanked the news off the air.

Now take 2-3 other incidents into perspective.
On 29th August over 40,000 Christian Educational Institutions across India stayed closed to register a peaceful protest against the continuing violence against Christians in Orissa which has now spread to 13 out of 30 districts.

On the same day, the government of Karnataka announced its decision to take action against Christian schools in the state for closing without prior permission.

This same government has yet to take action against the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat and RSS workers, who had launched violent protests when the JD (S) failed to hand over the state reins to the BJP last year.

Is it any surprise that both Karnataka and Orissa currently have the BJP in power?

The VHP held violent protests in Madhya Pradesh and other places asking why the Christians had killed Saraswati? (by shutting educational institutions for a day) What about all the occasions when the BJP/VHP/Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena and other Hindu organisations force schools, colleges and business to shut shutter for their own bundhs which destroy all normalcy in the cities?

Why are these double standards in play? Why are Christians being given the short end of the stick? Religious Christian institutions have a large role to play in education, medicine, caring for the orphans, abandoned, old and dying in India. Christians have been one of the most tolerant minorities in India (imagine what would have happened by now if by chance the Bajrang Dal hooligans had desecrated a mosque this morning) who have contributed immensely to the growth of the country. Why this treatment? Do they deserve it?

Do they deserve a government that is apathetic to their religious sensibilities being trampled upon?

Christians have always believed in being peace loving, patient and tolerant. Will the Christian youth of today continue to be as tolerant when they see the atrocities being committed against their brethren in Orissa and the North East?

Why are these atrocities against Christians being downplayed in the media? (Try googling for the attack against Christians in India and see how many Indian media links pop up) Why aren't they being given coverage? Is it because the powers-that-be know that they aren't doing a thing to control, controllable situations and the miscreants in their party? Is it because the powers-that-be know that the Christians haven't ever retaliated with violence? How long will the Christians community be able to react with tolerance and peace? (2 values that a lot of Indians in the news seem to have completely forgotten about)

Final note of irony: Union minister of labour and employment Oscar Fernandes (a Christian) was in Mangalore today to inaugurate the opening of a (Hindu) temple.

And so we debate endlessly in the media about terrorism coming in from across the border while we burn our own own citizens in their homes and places of worship.

Also Published on desicritics.org

Book Review Ice Candy Man

In 2000, one of the few films that moved me to tears was Deepa Mehta's "1947 : Earth" Coming from the South of the Vindhya's, the Partition was something mentioned in passing in text books. We did not know any affected families and hardly anyone down South spoke about this bloody episode in India and Pakistan's shared past.

According to Richard Symonds 1950, The Making of Pakistan, London, ASIN B0000CHMB1, p 74 "at the lowest estimate, half a million people perished and twelve million became homeless"

"1947 : Earth" brought this part of our history to life and I wanted to read the book which spawned the movie. (Everyone knows that books are better than the movies they inspire) This was on my "To Read" list for almost 4 years before I bought the book and it took me another 3 years to read it. Even reading the book itself took over a month, because it induced strong feelings of despondency, depression and immense sorrow.

The problem with history books is that they tend to dehumanize history, apart from the fact that history is interpreted by the writer for his/her own convenience. Bapsi Sidhwa's - Ice Candy Man manages to avoid both these cons. The story is semi fictional but it is also based on her own experience and that of Rana Khan.

The entire story is told through the eyes of Lenny Sethi (Sethna in the movie) from the time she is 7 to early teenage. Lenny is a Parsi girl. Her religion and age does play a pivotal part in the story telling because most of the events around her do not affect her or her immediate family directly, although it affects the lives of everyone else around her. As Ralph Crane puts it "It may be that the atrocities of 1947 are best seen through the innocent naive eyes of a child, who has no Hindu, Muslim or Sikh axe to grind. . . Lenny is free both from the prejudices of religion and from the prejudices against women and the constraints she will be subject to as she grows older."

Lenny's naivety is brought home often, like when she comes to know that her mother and Electric aunt are acquiring petrol and immediately jumps to the conclusion that they are the ones responsible for setting all the fires in Lahore.

Sidhwa's characters are extremely well etched from Ayah, to masseur, to Ice Candy man, to Imam Din to Mucho, to cousin, to Godmother to Hari (later Himmat Ali). All these characters play an important part in Lenny's life. Each of their religions takes centre stage as matters escalate. And the rich detailing of each character makes the reader commiserate with the plight of each of the "victims".

Her imagery is excellent and brings each scene to life. Visualising Rahul Khanna, Nandita Das and Aamir Khan in the roles of Masseur, Ayah and Ice Candy man simply helped the process.

An extremely touching and poignant story. Khushwant Singh (A Partition survivor himself) says this book deserves to be ranked amongst the most authentic and best books on the partition.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It would help one start to comprehend at what cost our Independence was achieved and August 14th/15th can no longer be viewed by most as "just another dry day"

Also published at DesiCritics

Article in The Times: The Indian Tourist

Delhi Times

Oh bother, it's an Indian tourist!
30 May, 2007 l 0000 hrs ISTlNIKHILA PANT, JAYA DRONA & PALLAVI PASRICHA /TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Going by a recent survey, the ugly Indian tourist is loud, untidy and doesn't believe in tipping the waiters. DT on why the cash-rich Indians fail to score on the etiquette meter . Indians are travelling abroad like never before. Far East, Europe, Australia - the world is their oyster. But are the people of the countries that Indians are visiting appreciating this tourist invasion too? The answer, as provided by a recent survey by Expedia .co.uk, is a clear and resonant no. According to this survey, Indians are the world's second worst tourists, beaten to the post only by the French. The parameters for the survey included behaviour, politeness, willingness to learn the local language, trying local delicacies and spending on the local economy. Indians are least likely to attempt to learn the local language, try out the native delicacies and are also very stingy when it comes to tips. They are also said to be rude and untidy. So, are Indian tourists as ugly as this survey makes them out to be?

Washing dirty laundry in NY

High fliers from India accept this charge, and then add some of their own accusations. Says adman Suhel Seth, "I have seen Indians washing their laundry and drying it on leather sofas at a posh hotel in Manhattan, NY. Some of the richest Indians stand in the lobby of the best hotels in New York and bargain for an upgrade. I have felt embarrassed on more occasions than one because of such behaviour . Once the general manager of a foreign hotel told me, 'I really admire the Indian success stories. What I don't understand is why none of them give their clothes for laundry!'"

Indians also don't have a good standing when it comes to following basic rules related to noise, hygiene etc. Says Pavan Varma, director, ICCR, "We need to work on our etiquette and mobile manners. Mostly, the demands Indians make while vacationing are unfair and the interaction is crude. Decorum often takes a backseat with the nouveau riche. But I must say, I have seen people from other nationalities behaving rudely, and taking advantage of their fair skin. Indians are not half that arrogant."

A tip for the travellers

Heena Akhtar, the COO of a travel agency, agrees with Varma. "Indians are adaptable and take care of the protocol of other countries. Even if they behave badly in India, they improve their general behaviour when abroad," she says.

However, there are certain issues that act as a flashpoint for Indians. "Indian travellers are very finicky about food," says a source from another travel agency. "Indians, with their love for spicy curries, find the European food bland. Also, they find it difficult to settle for beef and pork. To make sure things go fine, some frequent fliers take cooks along."

Another front where the Indian traveller does not score is tipping. "Indians are a hesitant lot when they have to tip at hotels or restaurants," adds Akhtar. As a airhostess with a leading airline adds, "Sometimes, you come across Indian travellers who are looking for a freebie and consider service staff as menials."

Some complimentary hospitality?

However, Indian travellers get a thumbs up from the Indian hospitality industry. They describe the cash-rich Indians as discerning travellers who settle for nothing but the best and can be a little fussy on that account. Parveen Chander, resident manager of the Taj Mahal Hotel says, "Indians know what they want and are very particular about getting their money's worth. The South-East Asians are the most difficult to please. They spend a lot of time to check everything. The Britons also have high expectations and are not very easy to please."

Kshitij Deopuria, a rooms division manager, maintains that the behaviour of Indian tourists is improving. "Sometime back, Indian travellers were known to throw their weight around but now it is not the same. They are very well-behaved, not very finicky and concentrate only on the services. However, they still look out for discounts."

Demand for freebies is one problem that hotels here also face from Indian travellers. "Sometimes, Indian travellers demand complimentary services," says Eros group director, Avneesh Sood, adding, "But then they also spend a lot."

BEST TOURISTS
Japanese Americans Swiss

WORST TOURISTS
France India China
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I have my reservations on Americans being the Best tourists. They do seem to throw around the most amount of money, but general perception in Europe & elsewhere of American tourists isnt very positive.
Kim