wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Christianity part of Indian heritage, PM tells Kobia

["Juan Michel" <Juan.Michel@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - Feature

Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 20/10/2008

"CHRISTIANITY IS PART OF OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE" INDIAN PRIME
MINISTER TELLS KOBIA
By Anto Akkara (*)

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh observed that
"Christianity is part of our national heritage" when Rev. Dr
Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches
(WCC), called on him on 18 October at his residence in New Delhi.

"We are extremely pleased to hear this assertion from the Indian
prime minister," Kobia told a news conference after his meeting
with the prime minister.

Prime minister Singh's comment is a rebuttal of the Hindu
nationalist groups that describe Christianity as a "foreign
religion" in justifying their campaign targeting the Christian
community in India. Christians account for 2.32 percent of
India's over one billion people.

In fact, Christianity in India is older than in the Christian
strongholds of Europe and other Western countries.

According to tradition, the apostle Thomas reached Kerala on
India's southwestern coast in the company of spice merchants from
the Middle East in the year 52, laying the seeds of the vibrant
Christian community in the "land of coconuts".

During the 30-minute audience granted to the WCC general
secretary, Prime Minister Singh said the United Progressive
Alliance coalition government he heads is committed "to restore
normalcy" and curb attacks on Christians in the eastern Indian
state of Orissa and other parts of the country.

When Kobia expressed his "deep concern" over the atrocities
committed against Christians, especially in Orissa, Singh pointed
out that the Indian constitution "guarantees freedom to practice
and propagate one's faith" and assured Kobia that his government
will take measures to restore the confidence of the Christian
community.

Besides promises to extend financial assistance from the federal
government to rebuild destroyed and damaged churches, Singh said
his government will support Christian families that have lost
their dwellings and other possessions in the violence.

>Violence against Christians

Anti-Christian violence in Orissa was sparked by the killing of
Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on 23 August. Though
Maoist rebels have claimed responsibility for the killing, Hindu
groups said it was a Christian conspiracy as the slain leader
based in Kandhamal had vigorously campaigned against conversion
to Christianity.

In the unabated violence, at least 54 Christians have been
killed, more than 5'000 Christian houses along with 142 churches
and dozens of Christian institutions have been looted and torched
by Hindu fundamentalists in Kandhamal where Christians account
for over 20 percent of the half a million people.

With marauding Hindu groups forcibly converting Christians to
Hinduism, more than two-thirds of the 100'000 Christians in
Kandhamal have become refugees in jungles or relief camps run by
the government, or they have fled to cities and urban areas.

"I conveyed to the prime minister the international Christian
community's concern over the situation in Orissa and other
areas," Kobia later told the media.

"We want the government to guarantee peace in order to instill
confidence so that Christians may return to their villages and
live there without fear," Kobia added.

Kobia said that Singh's government is "duty-bound to protect
religious minorities" and gratefully noted that it had convened
an emergency meeting of the National Integration Council last
week to discuss the situation and put pressure on the Orissa
government.

The federal government has rushed over 6'000 federal troupes to
the troubled Kandhamal district on the request of Orissa
government, he added.

>The responsibility of the state

Under India's federal system, while maintenance of law and order
is a state responsibility, the federal government has the power
to dismiss an elected state government for its fHowever, political pundits feel such a drastic step would be
"suicidal" for the federal government as the Hindu nationalists
could capitalize on such a move – reinforcing their conspiracy
theory of a Christian plot to convert India – with national
elections due in the next months.

The government in Orissa state is led by a coalition in which the
Hindu nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party or Indian People's
Party) is a partner. The Orissa government has been widely
accused of condoning the orchestrated violence against Christians
that continues after seven weeks.

Kobia conveyed to the Indian prime minister concern about India's
"secular" image being "tarnished" by the continued reports of
violence against Christians.

The prime minister said the federal government will spare no
effort to ensure "freedom of worship" for Christians in southern
Karnataka state, where Hindu groups are preventing evangelical
groups that do not have their own centres from holding prayers in
hired halls.

>Dialogue on conversions

Responding to a question on forced conversions, Kobia said
"conversion is a matter of conscience and faith".

The WCC, Kobia said, has been cooperating with Christian partners
to formulate a "code of conduct" on conversions and is holding
dialogue with representatives of other faiths to build consensus
on this code, as faith should not be a reason for conflict among
peoples.

"The attacks on Christians are really vicious. They are simply
being slaughtered like lambs," the prime minister was told by
Methodist Bishop Tharanath Sagar, president of the National
Council of Churches in India (NCCI). Bishop Sagar was part of the
delegation to meet the prime minister, as were WCC Asia programme
executive Dr Mathews George Chunakara and P. J. Kurien, a
prominent member of the Indian parliament who belongs to the Mar
Thoma Church.

Dozens of churches and prayer halls have been attacked by Hindu
fundamentalists in Karnataka state and its capital Bangalore,
where Bishop Sagar is based.

"What is happening at the moment is a systematic campaign to
disturb the social fabric of India for political gain," Bishop
Sagar told the news conference. "Conversion is a bogey to justify
the attack on Christians," he added.

The widespread anti-Christian violence comes ahead of the
national election scheduled for early 2009. It is widely
interpreted to be part of a systematic campaign harping on
conversion to gain voters' support and consolidate a Hindu
governing majority.

>[959 words]

(*) Anto Akkara is a freelance journalist from Bangalore, India.
He is currently a correspondent for Ecumenical News International
(ENI). 

Additional information about the WCC general secretary visit to
India:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/religious-extremism-quot.html

>Code of conduct on conversion:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3426 

WCC member churches in India:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/india.html

>National Council of Churches in India:
>http://www.nccindia.in

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC
policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit
is given to the author. 

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.