When modern day religious intolerance is mentioned, Islamic fundamentalists come frequently to mind because of its their well known militant approach to converting non Muslims to their religion The fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland has faded from the Centre stage as a precarious peace continues to prevail.
A lesser known flashpoint of religious intolerance has now heated up. Indian Christians are in danger from Hindu fundamentalists.
India, a nation of over a billion people has a Christian population of 24 million, approximately 2.3% of its population. Some of the earliest converts to Christianity adopted that faith around 70 C.E, according to traditional history. The descendants of these Christians are the best known of India’s Christian population. Newer converts are attracted by the absence of a caste system in Christianity, and the possibility it offers of achieving social and economic betterment in this life. Hindu fundamentalists motivated by caste chauvinism and a narrow concept of what it means to be Indian. In the past, there has been sporadic violence against Christian missionaries as well as converts to Christianity. Now, tensions have flared anew because of the murder of a Hindu nationalist leader not by Christians but by Maoists.
According to World Net Daily, “India’s Communist Party estimates that more than 500 Christians have been killed by Hindu mobs in Orissa, 12 times more than official government claims of only 40 homicides. One official said he personally authorized “cremation of more than 200 bodies” found in jungles after Christians were blamed for the death of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 24. They continue to be persecuted even though Maoists openly admitted to murdering Saraswati.
According to the Communist Party report, Hindu extremists may have used government machinery to “minimize the evidence and possibly destroy dead bodies.”
As odd as it may sound in the west, causes that are common decency such as women’s rights and protection of religious minorities are often championed first by the Communists and only later by the mainstream parties in India. There are disturbing reports coming out of Orissa State in India of local government collaboration in some horrific violence against Christians.
World Net Daily reports that “ Thousands of homes and churches have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of Christians have been forced to flee the violence. Mission Network News estimates 5,000 Christian homes have been burned, 200 churches ruined, 10,000 people remain in government-operated refugee camps, and tens of thousands are living in forests – many seriously wounded.”
In some instances police stood by when Christians were attacked. In other instances, they tried to prevent complaints against attackers from being filed.
World Net Daily reports that
“Neighbors reportedly gang-raped a Hindu woman after her Christian uncle refused to renounce his faith, according to reports.
Another Christian woman named Jaspina was told by neighbors, “If you go on being Christian, we will burn your house and your children in front of you.” She and her family were forced to eat cow excrement to “purify” themselves of Christianity.
Click here for the complete article in the American Sentinel
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