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Bharath is Truth
Johann Samuhanand
Patriotism, religion and discrimination
Bangalore, India, September 16 — "Forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me," is part of our Lord's prayer that we Christians say by rote. As an adult I found it difficult to say it without having a guilty conscience. So I admire those who can forgive those who trespass against them. Gladys Stains, Nelson Mandela and Pope Paul are admired for their forgiveness.
As a person who stayed in Orissa for nearly 17 years, I found Oriyas to be the most simplest of Indians. We never felt discriminated or insecure during our 17 years of stay.
So when one Mr. John Dayal started frequenting Orissa as head of the All India Christian Council and was nominated as member of Minorities commission, I could anticipate some sort of disaffection being created amongst Christians by highlighting the denial of reservation for Dalit Christians.
Dr. Paul opposed the reservation for Indian Christians offered in the 1931 round table by the Indian National Congress. He said that Indian Christians will live, work, compete and die like his Hindu brothers in an Independent India. If today Antony, George Fernandes or Rajashekhar Reddy are considered Congress or NDA leaders but not Christian leaders, one must thank the vision of Dr. Paul.
Kandhmall was waiting to happen with Swami Lakhsananda taking up the work replicating what Christian missionaries used to do in the past. The problem I see with many of my RSS friends is that they feel "Patriotism is the monopoly of Hindus." An 80-year-old Hindu Swami is practising what Evangelists were doing in the past 200 years. Instead of taking up this challenge they were resorting to reservation as a cure for this challenge.
Even if the Ranganath Mishra commission report is accepted, the challenge posed by the late Swami Lakshmananda is going to haunt Christian evangelists. But was this situation exploited by our enemies? Like what Anjumaan did in Bangalore to malign the BJP by throwing grenades in churches on instructions from ISI. Only the capture of real culprits will reveal the motive behind this murder with AK47s.
Indians throng Ajmer Urs, Velanganni shrine when they are faced with insurmountable personal problems. I got special flowers offered at Lakshman Jhoola of Jammu, Vibhuthi from Saibaba, apart from water from St. Lourdes and sand from river Jordan. I even got the famous Leper Baba of Choudwar Orissa to perform Puja when my only daughter was afflicted with schizophrenia. I didn't feel any dichotomy in doing these things while being an Indian Christian. The VHP people must understand that those Hindus go to the Velanganni shrine or perform Ajmer Urs in the light of their personal problems. Basically they shop for Gods as they do for medicine, hoping for a miracle.
The leadership of Sonia Gandhi, a Catholic of Italian origin is a thorn in the VHP psyche. They found to their horror that she gave up the prime ministership for a Sikh colleague while some in BJP like Uma Bharathi are unable to show that kind of sacrifice which is common to Indian ethos.
When emails from abroad talk about some 8,000 Hindu temples being destroyed by Muslim invaders and how forcible conversions were carried out by them and how Christian missionaries converted the locals, they just fume.They are unable to understand that in spite of aggressive conversion by even Aurangzeb, people chose to pay zizia and stay as Hindus in the face of superior forces. 200 years of British rule has left two percent of population as Christians if one believes the allurement of money, force and deception.
Personally for me the biggest security is a self respecting Hindu neighbor who does not fear Christian conversion or Muslim orthodoxy and is proud of his own ancient religion.
As a young recruit posted in Chushul, Ladakh and standing in front of the memorial of Major Shaitan Singh who died in Rezangla, I saw the withering bouquet left by the late Air Vice Marshal Pinto who died along with 4 other generals in a helicopter crash.The epitaph in the memorial said something similar to the following, "What is greater honor than for a man to die for the ashes and graves of his forefathers, or for the Temples of his Gods."
Ironically, as Kandhmal was cremating the body of Col J.Thomas, a Keralite Jacobite arrived in Bangalore for the burial while the body of NK.Mukesh Kumar reached his native place far away.
The enemies of India do not see the religion, caste and state of India. They only see Indians. When will Indians see other Indians the same way our enemies do?
Keywords
Indian Christians Kandhamal secularism VHP
As a person who stayed in Orissa for nearly 17 years, I found Oriyas to be the most simplest of Indians. We never felt discriminated or insecure during our 17 years of stay.
So when one Mr. John Dayal started frequenting Orissa as head of the All India Christian Council and was nominated as member of Minorities commission, I could anticipate some sort of disaffection being created amongst Christians by highlighting the denial of reservation for Dalit Christians.
Dr. Paul opposed the reservation for Indian Christians offered in the 1931 round table by the Indian National Congress. He said that Indian Christians will live, work, compete and die like his Hindu brothers in an Independent India. If today Antony, George Fernandes or Rajashekhar Reddy are considered Congress or NDA leaders but not Christian leaders, one must thank the vision of Dr. Paul.
Kandhmall was waiting to happen with Swami Lakhsananda taking up the work replicating what Christian missionaries used to do in the past. The problem I see with many of my RSS friends is that they feel "Patriotism is the monopoly of Hindus." An 80-year-old Hindu Swami is practising what Evangelists were doing in the past 200 years. Instead of taking up this challenge they were resorting to reservation as a cure for this challenge.
Even if the Ranganath Mishra commission report is accepted, the challenge posed by the late Swami Lakshmananda is going to haunt Christian evangelists. But was this situation exploited by our enemies? Like what Anjumaan did in Bangalore to malign the BJP by throwing grenades in churches on instructions from ISI. Only the capture of real culprits will reveal the motive behind this murder with AK47s.
Indians throng Ajmer Urs, Velanganni shrine when they are faced with insurmountable personal problems. I got special flowers offered at Lakshman Jhoola of Jammu, Vibhuthi from Saibaba, apart from water from St. Lourdes and sand from river Jordan. I even got the famous Leper Baba of Choudwar Orissa to perform Puja when my only daughter was afflicted with schizophrenia. I didn't feel any dichotomy in doing these things while being an Indian Christian. The VHP people must understand that those Hindus go to the Velanganni shrine or perform Ajmer Urs in the light of their personal problems. Basically they shop for Gods as they do for medicine, hoping for a miracle.
The leadership of Sonia Gandhi, a Catholic of Italian origin is a thorn in the VHP psyche. They found to their horror that she gave up the prime ministership for a Sikh colleague while some in BJP like Uma Bharathi are unable to show that kind of sacrifice which is common to Indian ethos.
When emails from abroad talk about some 8,000 Hindu temples being destroyed by Muslim invaders and how forcible conversions were carried out by them and how Christian missionaries converted the locals, they just fume.They are unable to understand that in spite of aggressive conversion by even Aurangzeb, people chose to pay zizia and stay as Hindus in the face of superior forces. 200 years of British rule has left two percent of population as Christians if one believes the allurement of money, force and deception.
Personally for me the biggest security is a self respecting Hindu neighbor who does not fear Christian conversion or Muslim orthodoxy and is proud of his own ancient religion.
As a young recruit posted in Chushul, Ladakh and standing in front of the memorial of Major Shaitan Singh who died in Rezangla, I saw the withering bouquet left by the late Air Vice Marshal Pinto who died along with 4 other generals in a helicopter crash.The epitaph in the memorial said something similar to the following, "What is greater honor than for a man to die for the ashes and graves of his forefathers, or for the Temples of his Gods."
Ironically, as Kandhmal was cremating the body of Col J.Thomas, a Keralite Jacobite arrived in Bangalore for the burial while the body of NK.Mukesh Kumar reached his native place far away.
The enemies of India do not see the religion, caste and state of India. They only see Indians. When will Indians see other Indians the same way our enemies do?
KeywordsIndian Christians Kandhamal secularism VHP
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