Thursday, September 25, 2008
In eastern state of Orissa, Christians face Hindus' wrath
Babita Nayak was cooking lunch for her pregnant sister when a mob of Hindu extremists wielding swords, hammers and long sticks rampaged through their village, chanting "India is for Hindus! Convert or leave!"
The men, wearing saffron headbands, ransacked dozens of huts, searching for cash and looting bicycles and livestock.
They torched the village church, leaving behind burned Bibles in the local Kui language and torn-down posters of Jesus. "Christianity is a foreign religion," they shouted over bullhorns, according to eyewitness and police reports.
Hearing that such attacks were spreading in the mist-shrouded hills of this destitute part of Orissa state, the sisters fled with hundreds of neighbors, trekking through forest land. After two days, they reached this crowded makeshift relief camp, set up on the campus of a dank high school, 15 miles from their village.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
The men, wearing saffron headbands, ransacked dozens of huts, searching for cash and looting bicycles and livestock.
They torched the village church, leaving behind burned Bibles in the local Kui language and torn-down posters of Jesus. "Christianity is a foreign religion," they shouted over bullhorns, according to eyewitness and police reports.
Hearing that such attacks were spreading in the mist-shrouded hills of this destitute part of Orissa state, the sisters fled with hundreds of neighbors, trekking through forest land. After two days, they reached this crowded makeshift relief camp, set up on the campus of a dank high school, 15 miles from their village.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Babita Nayak, Bibles, bullhorns, christainity, church, eyewitness, Hindu, Jesus posters, Kui language, mob, Orissa state, saffron headbands, torched
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GIVE PEACE A CHANCE: THE QUEST FOR NONVIOLENCE in the ‘ICE’AGE
Dr.T.V.Mathew
I was deeply worried about the recent disturbances caused by terror, communal violence, vandalism of places of worship, deaths of the innocent pilgrims and similar incidents affecting this country known for peace and tolerance the world over. ‘Times India’ consoled me in my moments of distress and despair. Times of India appealed to the civic society in India to endorse its Quest for Peace in Troubled Times(TOI, Oct 2, 08)
There was a time people preferred India as a tourist destination not to enjoy our five star hospitality, but to visit a country of great religions, great traditions and peaceful coexistence. In W.W.Rostow’s stage theory of development an economy evolves through five stages:1) The traditional society,2) The preconditions to take off, 3) The Take off,4) The drive to maturity and 5) The age of high mass consumption.
A relevant question that was raised by scholars in response to Rostow’s ‘stage making approach’ to development is what is beyond the stage of ‘high mass consumption’ when people have satisfied all their material wants? The answer came from some quarters a return to spiritualism, a visit to India and following this lot of tourists, hypies visited India, our magnificent temples, our villages and small towns and retuned with some kind of spiritual solace/bliss.
Gone are those days. It is saddening to note that. Over a period of divisive politics we deterred from the principle of nonviolence and peaceful coexistence. Our great religions have been hijacked by ignorant people. Terrorism and fundamentalism pose major problems on our path to sustainable development. Our spiritual leaders became mute spectators. In this context Times of India’ appeal on Gandhijayanthi day(Oct 2nd,08)to all spiritual and religious leaders to endorse the quest for nonviolence is quite consoling and inspiring.
For quite some time we worshipped at the shrine of economic growth. In terms of economic growth India is shining. While some sectors are shining, others require urgent polishing. The most recent UN report (2008) reveals that one third of the global poor lives in India. Our growth pattern is not sufficiently ‘inclusive’. ‘Exclusion’ of the marginalised groups continues. There are several NGOs and religious groups working for the empowerment of the vulnerable sections. They are not to be perceived as threats All of them require some sort of encouragement. The civic society in India has an active role to play and I am grateful to the media which tries to project it. In the midst of accelerated growth death due to mal-nutrition continues to exist among tribals in Thane district.. In the absence of knowledge and skills required for the emerging labour market people are struggling to cope up in the informal economy. Peace is absolutely essential for all. A spiritual dimension is the need of the hour to sustain our development in a globalizing age we inherit today.
So give peace a chance. A few suggestions to promote social harmony are: 1) Inter religious dialogues, 2) Arresting the hijacking of great religions by fundamentalists, 3) A compulsory course on comparative religions in all university and professional courses,4) Delinking politics from religion following the model adopted by France,5) Encouraging religious groups/NGOs engaged in rural/tribal empowerment work and even supporting them financially. 6) Announcing some kind of Amnesty scheme for the perpetrators of violence on places of worship with a spirit of forgiveness and giving them counseling,7) Measures aimed at improving the employability of unemployed fundamentalists youth across all religions, 8) Promoting 'inclusive growth' in a phase characterized by 'exclusion' of the poor and deprived.9) Activating the religious heads across all religious denominations in strengthening the spiritual domain and promoting social harmony, and 10) many more similar points but the most important is a return to spiritualism drawing on the religious teachings/doctrines present in India.
It is unfortunate to note that people who perpetrate this violent acts even claim to do so in the name of religion and God. No religion can sanction the killing of innocent people, the violence inflicted on people who work for the empowerment of tribal community. Nor can God forgive targeting women and children. The civic society in India may appeal to all political leaders to rise above narrow partisan considerations and not to take undue political advantage of the situation.
It is also time to learn from below. I am reminded of a diary titled CHILD OF THE DARK, written by an ignorant Negress woman in a Latin American slum on scraps of papers picked up gutters. She has been subjected to all types of exploitation and violence. She concludes her diary saying that’ these very agencies inflicting violence forget that in “death we all are equal’.Millions of copies of this diary by Carolina were published and she was invited to number of Universities in America for her insights on violence. How should the state deal with terror/violence? May be we should invite those who believe that they are victims of violence and exploitation and learn from them what is actually going on and take appropriate actions. An ethnocentric approach is vital. The recent developments underscore the need for ‘learning from below’.
Dr.T.V.Mathew,
Tel 9820476614
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Dr.T.V.Mathew
I was deeply worried about the recent disturbances caused by terror, communal violence, vandalism of places of worship, deaths of the innocent pilgrims and similar incidents affecting this country known for peace and tolerance the world over. ‘Times India’ consoled me in my moments of distress and despair. Times of India appealed to the civic society in India to endorse its Quest for Peace in Troubled Times(TOI, Oct 2, 08)
There was a time people preferred India as a tourist destination not to enjoy our five star hospitality, but to visit a country of great religions, great traditions and peaceful coexistence. In W.W.Rostow’s stage theory of development an economy evolves through five stages:1) The traditional society,2) The preconditions to take off, 3) The Take off,4) The drive to maturity and 5) The age of high mass consumption.
A relevant question that was raised by scholars in response to Rostow’s ‘stage making approach’ to development is what is beyond the stage of ‘high mass consumption’ when people have satisfied all their material wants? The answer came from some quarters a return to spiritualism, a visit to India and following this lot of tourists, hypies visited India, our magnificent temples, our villages and small towns and retuned with some kind of spiritual solace/bliss.
Gone are those days. It is saddening to note that. Over a period of divisive politics we deterred from the principle of nonviolence and peaceful coexistence. Our great religions have been hijacked by ignorant people. Terrorism and fundamentalism pose major problems on our path to sustainable development. Our spiritual leaders became mute spectators. In this context Times of India’ appeal on Gandhijayanthi day(Oct 2nd,08)to all spiritual and religious leaders to endorse the quest for nonviolence is quite consoling and inspiring.
For quite some time we worshipped at the shrine of economic growth. In terms of economic growth India is shining. While some sectors are shining, others require urgent polishing. The most recent UN report (2008) reveals that one third of the global poor lives in India. Our growth pattern is not sufficiently ‘inclusive’. ‘Exclusion’ of the marginalised groups continues. There are several NGOs and religious groups working for the empowerment of the vulnerable sections. They are not to be perceived as threats All of them require some sort of encouragement. The civic society in India has an active role to play and I am grateful to the media which tries to project it. In the midst of accelerated growth death due to mal-nutrition continues to exist among tribals in Thane district.. In the absence of knowledge and skills required for the emerging labour market people are struggling to cope up in the informal economy. Peace is absolutely essential for all. A spiritual dimension is the need of the hour to sustain our development in a globalizing age we inherit today.
So give peace a chance. A few suggestions to promote social harmony are: 1) Inter religious dialogues, 2) Arresting the hijacking of great religions by fundamentalists, 3) A compulsory course on comparative religions in all university and professional courses,4) Delinking politics from religion following the model adopted by France,5) Encouraging religious groups/NGOs engaged in rural/tribal empowerment work and even supporting them financially. 6) Announcing some kind of Amnesty scheme for the perpetrators of violence on places of worship with a spirit of forgiveness and giving them counseling,7) Measures aimed at improving the employability of unemployed fundamentalists youth across all religions, 8) Promoting 'inclusive growth' in a phase characterized by 'exclusion' of the poor and deprived.9) Activating the religious heads across all religious denominations in strengthening the spiritual domain and promoting social harmony, and 10) many more similar points but the most important is a return to spiritualism drawing on the religious teachings/doctrines present in India.
It is unfortunate to note that people who perpetrate this violent acts even claim to do so in the name of religion and God. No religion can sanction the killing of innocent people, the violence inflicted on people who work for the empowerment of tribal community. Nor can God forgive targeting women and children. The civic society in India may appeal to all political leaders to rise above narrow partisan considerations and not to take undue political advantage of the situation.
It is also time to learn from below. I am reminded of a diary titled CHILD OF THE DARK, written by an ignorant Negress woman in a Latin American slum on scraps of papers picked up gutters. She has been subjected to all types of exploitation and violence. She concludes her diary saying that’ these very agencies inflicting violence forget that in “death we all are equal’.Millions of copies of this diary by Carolina were published and she was invited to number of Universities in America for her insights on violence. How should the state deal with terror/violence? May be we should invite those who believe that they are victims of violence and exploitation and learn from them what is actually going on and take appropriate actions. An ethnocentric approach is vital. The recent developments underscore the need for ‘learning from below’.
Dr.T.V.Mathew,
Tel 9820476614
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