There is nothing harder to comprehend than violence of people against people. But yet, it happens every day and right now at a large scale in the state of Orissa in India. I visited the state and the Lutheran Church there just a few months ago and many of our friends work there.
The situation is tense:
- Dozens of Christians have been killed.
- Many have been attacked and wounded.
- Dozens of churches have been attacked, burned and demolished
- Thousands of people had to flee their homes, hide in the jungle or seek refuge in camps.
(A list of the incidents is compiled by the Evangelical Fellowship of India.)
The violence broke out after the leader of a Hindu political party had been killed and his supporters blamed the Christians for this. The people analyzing the conflict agree that it is more politically driven than purely religiously. But that doesn’t help the victims. I don’t know enough to comment on the theories about the underlying reasons for the violence.
However, everybody agrees that the government has not been active enough to quell the violence and did not deploy enough police to contain the violent mob and to persecute the offenders. Therefore, the LWF and the World Council of Churches have called on the government of Orissa to take a more active role.
The churches of India observed a nationwide Day of Prayer and Fasting. The liturgy can be an inspiration also in your prayer.
Violence against a certain group destroys not only houses, it does not only kill people, it endangers the peace and the mutual understanding for years, maybe decades to come. Let us pray for the prosecuted Christians but let us also stand together in prayer that reconciliation will be possible after order has been restored. It is a reminder for everybody how fragile the relations between different religious groups can be. And it reinforces how crucial it is that we all have work that we all understand and respect each other.
The state in India is yet one of the few ugly incidents that have evoked and propelled the persecutions for the Church of God. This is part of the premonitions that the church has to witness before the coming of our lord and Saviour Jesus christ. Let all christians be wary of this times. However, there is need for us to muster our efforts as christians to condemn such ghastly deeds against our fellow brothers and sisters in India. God save the India Christians!
Indian Hindus accuse Christians of using money from USA to convert Hindus in India. What they conveniently forget is that Hindus in India are getting thousand fold from Hindus in USA. What we Christians in USA should do is enact legislation in US barring Hindus organizations from transfering money to India unless attacks on Indian Christians stop. US shoudl not allow any other religion in US except christians. Why should Hindus have all the freedom in US when Christians have no freedom in India? Why would muslims have all the freedom in US whne Christians have no freedom in Muslim countries. This is totally unacceptable. We should do tit for tat.
I agree with Dan Thomas. The Hindu fanatics are using funds from Gujaratis, Marwadis and other such Hindu sects and cults and organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP), Bajrang Dal, etc to send money to India to buy arms and weapons to kill Cristian with. The USA must declare these outfits as terrorist outfits which are as dangerous as Islamic outfits. In the end, these Hindu outfits will attack the USA and Americans and Westerners.
I think it is very troubling if we try to make this conflict a religious one. There is much more at stake than just religion. It is political, it is between different interest groups. Now to call for the discrimination of Hindus or any other religion like Dan does is beside the point. What we need is reconciliation between the religions and we need also to single out the individuals and individual groups that use violence for their own benefit.
While physical violence is abhorent in any civilised society, the worst form of violence is spiritual violence of the sort that evangelists use in India. Where is the god-fearing tolerance that these evangelists claim to possess?
In addition to what Mr. Schmidt says quite rightly, what is required is tolerance and respect for the right of all human beings to practice a religion of their choice even if one does not respect what that religion offers.
Converting under-priviliged people to your religion is inhumane. It is now becoming all about money, whether it is a reward for each conversion or the tithe the organisation receives later.
God knows what is happening and He is still sovereign. We need to place our trust in Him even though it is very difficult.
We need to believe that He is still the God of miracles. He will deliver. He has given us power and authority which is in our prayre language to overcome this situation.
Christians do not do tit for tat. That is not biblical. Didn’t Christ command us to love our enemies?
We can’t love them with our own love but we can with Jesus ‘s love.
Meanwhile, we should mobilize international efforts to get the Indian Government to do something to prevent the carnage from happening.
If some hindus are converting to christianity,its their wish!! what is the need to kill them….i feel soo sad for all the people there…india is soo called secular..but i cant see any secularism …i am an indian..and i always was proud to be an indian..but now, i feel symapathetic..i cant believe govt is not doing anything…God ,pls teach all those bastards who are killing ur children a lesson…this is a time to prove to the world that u love ur children!!!
all are Gods children. but who is the makers of the arms? who is the seller? who want to propogate their religion converting my brother because of hie exploitative poverty and flexible religion? let the hindu be a hindu and a christian be a chrsitian…only make them good
Mr. Dan Thomas, u should not be commenting like this without knowing the fact. I am not here to safeguard interests of VHP or Bhajarangdal or its counterparts, but being an Indian i could say that this should not be taken on community front. On that i partially agree with Mr. Roger Schmidt.
Miss. Thomas, if u are ashamed to an Indian.. pls stay away..jsut for an instance like this( though it is ot fair on humanity basis), u should not be telling like this. Are u really an Indian? if so, i am pity on my country to have citizens like u, who hate the nation for issues like this. U better understand that India is far better than many other countries like Pakistan, China and many more. Wherein here we give respect to humanity and right to live. Some miscrents may try try to violate.. but it doesn’t mean that the nation is like that. U must know it happens in so called world leader USA.
Let’s agree that Hindu’s doesn’t have any back up like us to protect their interests, so its natural that they violate when they are disturbed. And they seriously want Hinduism to live for few more years. Let them live in their way.
And most important is- This our intrnal issue we don’t want any other country to interfear in this. If they are so afraid of THEIR Cristians(sorry to say this but countries like US are behaving like that), let them take them to their countries.
Last but not least-
Mr.Danny well said.. we are all childrens of god, so, Live and Let others Live
I am stunned by the way Miss. Thomas said she is reluctant to be called as an Indian. It is a proven fact that India is the safest place on the earth. I am proud to be an Indian catholic and I am not going to let down my country’s name just because of such ugly incidents.
I know that there are growing attacks on christians in many parts of India and that is because there are many RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP sympathisers out there. These people can be called as ‘fanatics’ and they are very few of them.
Hindus are not taking away our freedom, Mr. Dan Thomas. They are very good people and the common hindu people always love to celebrate festivals with non-hindus making the festivals more cultural than religious ones. While we are Christians, we are also from the Hindu(Indic) Ethnicity.
Remember, not all Hindus are the kind you think and I should also remind you that many hindus who tried to save the Christian families from the angry mob in Orissa lost their lives in the process. They are true ‘Christians’ and we are name-sake Christians trying to do Tit-for-tat.
I know the law of my land is going to put the culprits behind bars and peace will be restored again. Till then I’ll pray to God and I tell you also to do the same.
Christianity in India is as old as Christianity itself…it first seeped into the subcontinent in the first AD itself…at that time the religion was confined to a very small part of South India..where it thrived and had been existing from the time of the apostles. Iam an Indian christian and iam proud to be an Indian…in my thirty years i have never been discriminated because of my reliogion ….but having said that in recent years the spate of violence against christians have been on the rise and the most recent happenings in Orissa and Mangalore have clearly disturbed us….as a Christian i was always proud that the community was peace loving and we never had problems .
Whats happening in Orissa to my understanding is a social issue which has been given a religious color for political mileage…with the rise of the right wing hindu groups …it has become easy for them to mobilise people in the name of religion and ” conversion” is just an excuse in the larger cause of creating divisons for political ends. There are no statistics or records which proves that “forced” conversions are taking place. The very idea that you can convert people on the basis of material benefits is farce………..if that was the case then India would long ago would have been an Islamic or Christian country because the mughals and the” christian” Europeans did rule India for a long time. There seems to be a systematic and concerted efforts on the parts of certain right wing hindu groups to create a belief that the hindus have been a long time victim of minority appeasement………..and this sadly many hindus have started to buy in …..
all are Gods children.
If some hindus are converting to christianity, its their wish.what is the need to kill them.
I hope Niranjan reads this. Niranjan it is because of people like you that VHP, Bajrang Dal, RSS and other fanatical religious organizations thrive in India. If you justify violence and compare situations in India to other countries you are a fool. Your idea that the US should take away all the Christians because it protested against violence is preposterous. If you were to imagine a country as a human body and it’s citizens as different parts of the body, don’t you think the body is going to hurt if you want to cut away it’s hand or leg, because it belongs to a different religion. It’s like saying, “Here US take my eye, I don’t like it because it is a Christian”. It is this intolerance towards differences in people, that have lead to genocides like the holocaust and the Khmer rouge.
I sympathise with anyone who is angry at the country at this point. As an Indian I am as angry about the terrorists attacking innocent Indians with their bombs, as I am angry with these fundamentalists killing people in the name of “safeguarding Hinduism”. Hinduism doesn’t need a caretaker and neither does India. Hinduism has survived for centuries under Muslims and Christians. It is not bound to die an untimely death because some people converted to another religion.
If these zealots think they are rescuing India from the clutches of the evangelists, then they are blind to the amount of social service they spearhead in India. Millions of Indians benefit either from the hospitals, educational institutions or charitable organizations that Indian Christians run. Will these fanatics next target the children attended convents?
I am proud to be an Indian and I love the fact that all the different religions have subsisted peacefully for a long time. India is a melting pot of all the religions and cultures it hosts. It is one of the most amazing countries in the world which has thrived under the Hindus, Muslims and Christians. It is sad to note that religious violence targeting specific minorities is a phenomenon born after our Independence. Please do not be misled to think it is because of the Indian people. This is only because of the politicians who are still following the British principle of “Divide and rule”.
The Sangh Parivar (in the form of BJP) marched into power a few years ago, claiming to be the heirs of Lord Ram. They demolished the Babri Masjid and went straight into the PM’s seat. This was the single most significant incident that changed the way Indians thought and behaved towards other religions. It is a tragedy that made these fanatics believe that they can use the “Religion card” to get into power. So each time there is an election around the Sangh Parivar and it’s repulsive stooges put up this facade as ‘The protectors of Hinduism’, hoping that the stupidity with which Indians had voted them once into power would repeat again. The BJP coming to power shows that there are Indians that can be swayed by these cowardly acts. If the BJP continues to get votes in the coming elections, it shows that religious prejudice and intolerance still exists and thrives. Indians, please do not vote for people whose only claim to fame is Religious intolerance. Let’s be smart and vote for the people who can make us overlook our differences and lead us to a bright future where we celebrate and thrive through our differences.
In my opinion any person who kills another human being is a savage. And if you orchestrate at a state-wide scale and target groups or sects, then it is terrorism. You should treat this malaise as you would treat terrorism. Snip at the bud and punish anyone who abets it. The punishment should be ruthless and serve as a deterrent to anyone who will even consider such an act. The Government has to grow a spine and not worry about hurting someone’s sentiments just because it is an election year. The media should not stop covering this issue till they force the government to act upon it. The International community should not sit on it’s rear end hoping this will die down. This is not Africa where genocide is common place. This is the oldest civilization on Earth and it is time we behaved like civilized people and not like savage beasts from the Neanderthal age.
Dear Friend,
We are all Indians, India is a Secular and Democracy Country, But the so called recent issues arose at Orissa is giving very much hurt to the hearts of Indians.
Christianity is a part of India since 1st Century and so far they did not made any harm to others and mingling with brotherly manner. Killing a human under the banner of religious is shameful and not giving a proud.
Conversion by force is not fair but it is their individual decision. Even this 21st Century of Advanced Scientific Age still some anti-human people are involving this kinds of shameful activities really it is ashamed.
O God, forgive our Indians (who are involved this kind of activities) and Bless our India with much more wisdom and flourish
Dinesh
I read you mail and I am appalled of your justifying the brutality of the people of Orissa. I am a Hindu and an outcast. Basically my ancestors migrated from Greece to Kerala about 4000 years ago and refused to submit to the wishes of the existing castes of the area and were thus considered outcast. Somehow we managed to be leaders of our region and fought off being subdued by the higher castes. But being Greek with a similar religion we easily adopted Hinduism. The bottom line is I can understand the feelings of the outcastes of Orissa. After these attacks, the Christian Dalits of Orissa will be more sure that they live in an oppressive society and will never go back to Hinduism. The problems of Orissa came about because of simple economics. The rich land-lords had Dalits to work for them when their labour force began to question them; it became a serious enough problem for them to stir up violence. What is wrong otherwise for Dalits converting to Christians? They are not given a place in traditional Hindu society; let them liberate themselves in whatever means they can find. If the Dalits are not taught about the bottomless well of the most ancient knowledge available in Hinduism, it is the fault of the Hindus. Hindu preachers probably decided previously that it was beyond them to propagate this knowledge to the Dalits. At least from now on they should do so. Or will the land-lords also kill potential Hindu preachers for liberating the minds of the Dalits.
The castes within Hinduism were supposed to be equal. There was supposed to be only four castes which are equivalent to the four parts of the body (society). The Brahmins represent the head, the Kshathriyas represent the shoulders, the stomach represents the Vaishas and the legs represent the Sudras. Can a person live properly without legs, stomach, shoulders or head? Each caste is as important as the rest for the body to perform. Castes should respect each other just as a person respects the work done by the different parts of the body. The system has stood the test of time, because the various types of people are needed in a country. A friend of mine did an in-depth study of Chinese history and found that the culture always followed a sequence, a wild militant king will take over, then over time the people will be rich, then religion (mainly Buddhism) will come in and a major portion of the people will be pacifist sitting down to meditate, then comes time from another outside king to conquer China and start a new dynasty. Thus Chinese culture swung from militancy, wealth, religious pacifism and then it is time for another conquest from outside. With a caste system, there will be different people performing different work in the country at all times and this can bring security to the country.
Over time the understanding of the caste system in India weakened and we were consequently conquered. Yes, many people blame the foreigners, but we ourselves are to be blamed for our misunderstanding of the caste system over time. You mentioned about killings of the Europeans but you failed to talk about the abject slavery and killings of the lower castes or outcastes in India. As Indians we are as guilty of atrocities as the Europeans, but to our own low castes. No human like to be subdued; it is not natural for a human to submit to subjugation. A Sudra can listen to instructions more easily if they feel they are doing their duties to God, not if they feel they are being forced to work. The Brahmins were powerful in the ancient times because their mantras could give the people whatever they wanted, good crops, homes etc. When the Brahmins started forgetting some mantras, the Kshathriyas took over and ruled for a very long time. Nowadays it is the business people who are the most respected and in future when computers takes over, the instruction following Sudras will be the leaders of society.
You mentioned 350 million Red Indians, I did a Google search but cannot find this data and I don’t believe that is true. Native Americans cannot grow to that number with the simple hunting-gathering and little farming that they did – it is impossible. The current population of USA is 300 million. There are below three million Native Americans today. America fought the Civil War to abolish slavery of the African Americans. In fact American deaths resulting from the Civil war stand at 700,000 compared to 200,000 for World War II. Basically America lost 2.3 % of it’s population to the Civil War compared to 0.23% in WWII, which seems like a just emancipation for all the wrongs committed during the heights of slavery.
Not that I support what the Europeans did but we cannot deny the fact that India is a manifestation of the British. India did not exist till the British made it. If not for the British, India would be just like the Middle East, a whole region of people with the same culture living in confronting countries. Though the British took away a lot, they did bring about some virtues, which we must be thankful for. They abolished suttee (don’t know where that culture came from, it is not in our scriptures) and gave us our system of law. No more are the super rich sultans or other kings taking 90% of the wealth and leaving the rest to eek out a living with 10%. They gave us education in an unbiased manner to all castes. And of course we have to be thankful for the railroads they built.
Thanks,
Prashobh Karunakaran
In reply to letter between Anil Chawla and Francois
please read it……the churches are crying in india……arise people of God…….
Orissa tribal’s battle forced re-conversion
(The Times of India, Bangalore, issued on Monday 6th 2008.)
Anand Soondas | TNN
FAITH VS LIFE: Over 3 lakhs tribals are now the target of re-conversion zealots
Nuagam (Kandhmal): At the infamous Nuagam relief camp
Near Baliguda, where a nun was allegedly raped on August 25
And where today there are about 2,000 tribals cluttered
Around leaky tents and wet ground from flooding, Johan Naik
And four others like him stand out as the most wretched even
Among the most dispossessed.
“We are accursed,’’ says Johan, rubbing his gnarled hand on
His bald head. A month ago, as rampaging Hindu mobs ran
Through Kandhmal, looting, burning and pillaging, around 400
Men converged on his house in Pirigada, a cluster of
Protestant houses in Nuagam block. There, with swords unsheathed and drunk on
The rage of bigots, five of them gave Johan a choice. “Embrace Hinduism or get
killed,’’ he was told.
Soon, he was dragged to the nearby Patakhanda temple and made to prostrate
before the statue of a ‘Devi’. Someone brought a jar of cowdung and cow’s urine and
forced him to gulp a bit of it. That was his purification rite and “return” to Hinduism.
And before he could make sense of what was happening, a young man whipped out a
razor, dunked his head in water and began tonsuring him.
“We know we are not Hindus. We never were, because we are tribals, worshipping
Nature and animals before we took to Christianity when the missionaries came years
ago,’’ Johan said on Sunday. “Because of forced conversions, our brothers think we
have let them and our faith down. We are in the middle, nowhere.’’
In the troubled Kandhmal, Hindu groups have let loose a wave of “reconversions’’,
almost always at gunpoint, shaving helpless heads and adding them to their list of
triumphs. This is an acute trigger, leading to the debilitating battle between Hindus
and Christians. While Sangh Parivar units are trying to turn tribals, who number
roughly around 3 lakh here, into Hindus, the aborigines are resisting it.
There is fear in intelligence circles and even among the police that the violence
may escalate further because the Maoists — who have repeated that it was they, and
not the Christian tribals, who killed Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23 —
have tentatively begun siding with the natives. Sangh Parivar denied any of their
men had ever attempted to reconvert tribals. “Why should we do it,’’ asked Subhash
Chouhan, national coconvener of Bajrang Dal. “The Christian churches and
missionaries have let them down and the natives are making a conscious choice to
become Hindus. We don’t have a single office in Kandhmal.’’ So what about the ghar
wapsi campaign? “What ghar, whose ghar,’’ he boomed.
Dand Naik, another one of the bald-headed men at Nuagam camp, waved his
finger in anger and desperation. “I can tell you the names of those who shaved off
my hair. Gurunam Patra, Satyaban Patra, Bhagavan Chaudhary, Subhash Sahu,
Upendra Patra…’’ he trails off. “How could we have fought them? It was life versus
faith and we chose life.’’
As the men turn to get inside their soggy tents, a CRPF jawan strolling around
shouts it’s time to dim the hurricane lamps throwing dim slivers of brightness on the
godforsaken patch. It’s pitch dark suddenly. And all that they can do is wait patiently
for a new morning.
Forced conversion of Christians by Hindutva groups has become the order of the day. August
and September saw steady depopulation of villages of their Christian population. The writ of the
Sangh Parivar appears to run untrammeled in the district
HOMELESS: Inmates queue up for food at a relief camp set up at
the Balika Upper Primary School at Phulbani in Kandhamal district
of Orissa on Tuesday.
PHULBANI: “Those who don’t want to become Hindus, stay here.
Those who have gone back to their villages are tonsured and
forcibly converted,” said D.S. Kumar. A graduate, he used to run an
STD booth and a petty shop in Minia, a village in Kandhamal district
of Orissa, before his home, possessions and shop were burnt by
Hindutva mobs on August 24. Nearly 90 Christian homes in his
village were destroyed between August 24 and 29.
“The nine churches in my gram panchayat had already been
destroyed in December 2007,” said Kumar. He is now among the 244 inmates of the relief camp
at the Balika Upper Primary School in Phulbani, district headquarters of Kandhamal.
Forced conversion of Christians by Hindutva groups has become the order of the day in
Kandhamal district. Not only have Christian families suffered the loss of their homes, possessions
and places of worship in sustained attacks by marauding mobs of Hindutva supporters from
August 24, they now cannot return to their villages unless they convert.
From the relief camps in Khandamal district and elsewhere where Christian families have taken
refuge come stories of this new stage of the Hindutva project.
August and September saw a steady depopulation of villages of their Christian population, who
fled fearing for their lives. Now, if families wish to return, conversion to Hinduism is the price they
must pay.
Jibardhan Majhe from Rattanga village near Phiringia said that after an attack on his village in
December 2007, the RSS asked him to convert by tonsuring his head and breaking a coconut in
the temple. He refused and his house was burnt along with other Christian homes on August 26
this year. “Four families of my village have converted to Hinduism and have gone back,” he said.
“In my village, the Hindus told us that if you want to stay here you have to convert. All Christian
families except four converted to Hinduism,” said Rina Digal, an inmate of the relief camp. He is
from Rasimendi village near Phulbani.
“Dalit Christians are doing well educationally and socially, and there is jealousy among the tribals
over their success,” according to Father Uday, Prefect of the St. Pauls’ Seminary in Baliguda.
Meanwhile, thousands of Christian families in relief camps, who have rejected the option of
conversion, have little hope of returning to their homes and villages that they left more than a
month ago
Please pray for the grace of God on our life
from pastor john
please help our churches to build again,let the lord speak to u and ur ministry……….
Mail me at pastor_johnphilip@yahoo.com
Christian terrorism in India
The National Liberation Front of Tripura, a rebel group operating in Tripura, North-East India classified by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism as one of the ten most active terrorist groups in the world, has been accused of forcefully converting people to Christianity.[6][7][8]
The Nagaland Rebels of Nagaland, North-East India is a coalition of rebel groups including the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah, has been involved in an ethnic conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths since the Indian Declaration of Independence.[9]
-ref-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism
pl also ref-http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4585
‘Church backing Tripura rebels’-BBC NEWS
By Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta
The government in India’s north-eastern state of Tripura says it has evidence that the state’s Baptist Church is involved in backing separatist rebels.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said state police had uncovered details of the alleged link after questioning a church leader.
Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested late on Monday with a large quantity of explosives.
Mr Sarkar said that allegations about the close links between the state’s Baptist Church and the rebel National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have long been made by political parties and police.
Now for the first time, he said, hard evidence supporting the allegations had been found.
Explosives
Mr Sarkar told the BBC that Mr Halam was found in possession of more than 50 gelatine sticks, 5kg of potassium and 2kg of sulphur and other ingredients for making explosives.
Chief Minister Sarkar says he has proof
He said that two other junior members of the same church, arrested last week, had tipped the police off about the explosives which were meant for the NLFT rebels.
The chief minister said that Mr Halam confessed to buying and supplying explosives to the NLFT for the past two years.
Another church official, Jatna Koloi, was arrested in south Tripura last week.
Police say Mr Koloi had received training in guerrilla warfare at an NLFT base last year.
Conversion
Guards have been placed outside the headquarters of the Baptist Church in Tripura’s capital, Agartala, to prevent possible attacks on it once the news of Mr Halam’s arrest spread.
The NLFT is accused of forcing Tripura’s indigenous tribes to become Christians and give up Hindu forms of worship in areas under their control.
Last year, they issued a ban on the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja.
The NLFT manifesto says that they want to expand what they describe as the kingdom of God and Christ in Tripura.
The Baptist Church in Tripura was set up by missionaries from New Zealand 60 years ago.
It won only a few thousand converts until 1980 when in the aftermath, of the state’s worst ethnic riot, the number of conversions grew.
Search BBC News Online
‘Church backing Tripura rebels’-BBC NEWS -available in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/717775.stm
I agree with “Young”. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, taught that we are not to take vengence on those who persecute or mistreat us. In His “sermon on the mount” Jesus taught that we ought to be glad, in fact (Matthew 5:10-12). In John’s Gospel, Jesus taught that as He was hated, persecuted, (and ultimately crucified unjustly) so shall we be because we dare to follow Him and proclaim the Gospel as the only way to eternal life. The world, in general, rejects that message, and has always done so. This is not merely a social issue, but one concerning the eternal fate of billions of people, in India, the United States, and the entire world. The Bible teaches that salvation comes only through Jesus and the sacrifice He made for the world. Man cannot do anything to be made worthy of it; cannot work their way to Heaven. Only accepting the gift of God through Jesus is THE ONLY WAY. Because the world rejects that truth, they will be hostile to anyone who would dare preach it.
As Christians, our focus must be on spreading the Gospel, nor forcibly, but through acts of love and faith as taught in God’s Holy Word. Jesus said that we were to be light and salt (Matthew 5). We are to lead the world to Christ by the example we set in our daily lives. If we desire to see people saved, we must first SHOW them what that means, and what a difference it makes in our lives. It is the life we live that will either turn people on to or off of the Christian way of life.
While self-defense is warranted, to a degree, in no way can any sort of militant retaliation be justified against the persecuters of Christians. We must love them with Christs love, and always pray for them. Even Jesus from the cross, prayed for those who unjustly condemned and crucified Him. He never railed agaisnt them or cursed them. Because of that, some of His persecuters were saved that very day, at the very hour of His death. If Jesus is our ultimate example of the Christian life, how can we do ANY different?
Our lives will give us either the opportunity to share the Gospel, or will take it away-to the eternal damnation of those who reject Christ. One day, each of us will have to face God and answer for the life we have lived: whether that life showed others the way to the cross or not. Will we not be ashamed of those times when we did not live as He would have us live? Thus, we must strive to live as Christ did, and to spread the Gospel both in word and in deed at all times.
I wanted to update the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Persecution website section link. The present link is:
http://www.efionline.org/persecution
Thanks a lot for the update, Harry!
CHRISTIAN TERRORIST IN INDIA
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)
Bases of Operation: India
Date Formed: April 30, 1988
Strength: Approximately 4,500 members
Classifications: Communist/Socialist, Nationalist/Separatist
Financial Sources: NSCN-IM was previously funded by China and has alleged links to the Pakistani ISI. In addition, NSCN-IM funds its operations with proceeds from the drug trade and extortion.
Founding Philosophy: Formed on April 30, 1988, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) is the largest and most formidable of the ethnic Naga separatist groups in northeastern India.
The Naga people are a mainly Christian ethnic group that inhabits the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as parts of Burma. Fiercely independent, the Naga have waged a decades-long insurgency against India, which has led to thousands of deaths on both sides.
After the foundation of independent India in 1947, Naga tribes, who had previously tolerated British rule, refused to join the newly established Indian Union. Under the Naga National Council (NNC), which was formed in 1946 to agitate for independence, Naga separatists waged war against the Indian army. These insurgents demanded an independent state of greater Nagaland comprising all Naga-inhabited areas (at the time these areas were all located within the Indian state of Assam or in Burma.) In 1956, the NNC founded the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG), which led the Indian government to step up counter-insurgency actions. This crackdown sapped the strength of the insurgents, and in 1960, representatives of the NNC signed an agreement with the Indian government, in which a separate state of Nagaland would be formed from the state of Assam. This state would not be independent, but would be a part of the Indian Union.
Numerous extremists within the NNC rejected the 1960 agreement and continued their armed campaign. In 1975, after incurring heavy losses from the Indian Army, most NNC rebels agreed to lay down their arms and accept Indian sovereignty by signing the Shillong Accord. Again, certain extremists in the Naga camp rejected peace with India, and shortly after the accord was signed, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was formed to continue the armed struggle for Naga independence.
The NSCN was the direct predecessor of the NSCN-IM. Founded in 1980 by Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S.S. Khaplang, the NSCN was dedicated to an independent Nagaland based on an odd mix of Maoist ideology and Christian spirituality.
In 1988, disputes between the three leaders led to yet another split amongst the group. This led to the formation of the NSCN-IM under the leadership of Swu and Muivah, and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) with Khalpang at the helm. From this point on the NSCN-IM would fight not only the Indian army, but its Naga rivals as well.
Since its establishment, the NSCN-IM has been responsible for numerous acts of terrorism against the Indian Army, other ethnic groups in the region, and Nagas opposed to the NSCN-IM. Thousands died in a mid-1990s conflict between the NSCN-IM and ethnic Kuki peoples in Nagaland and Manipur state, and recent clashes between NSCN-IM and NSCN-K have also led to many deaths. While the NSCN-IM claims to be fighting the Indian government to liberate the Naga people, frequent violence toward other ethnic militias and non-combatants diminish NSCN-IM’s credibility as a group of so-called “freedom fighters.”
In fact, the NSCN-IM, beyond waging its own militant campaign against India, has supported many other ethnic separatist groups in the northeast. The NSCN-IM has been linked to numerous insurgent outfits including the United Liberation Front of Assam, the National Liberation Front of Tripura, the Kuki National Front, and the Achik National Volunteers Council. For their part, the NSCN-IM has previously been supported by China and has alleged links to the Pakistani ISI. In addition, the group finances itself through the lucrative drug trade in Burma as well as other criminal enterprises such as extortion and bank robbery.
In 1997, the NSCN-IM entered a cease-fire with the Indian government. This cease-fire has been renewed multiple times (most recently in July 2005), but despite ongoing negotiations between successive Indian governments and NSCN-IM leadership, no concrete peace deal has been reached and sporadic violence continues in Naga-inhabited areas.
Current Goals: The main goal of the NSCN-IM continues to be an independent greater Nagaland. This would mean an independent state made up of lands where ethnic Nagas live in India (Nagaland state, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh) as well as areas of Burma. Although the NSCN-IM has always viewed this plan as the primary goal, most elements of the group would also accept a solution where Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh would be integrated with the current Nagaland state, and the resultant entity would remain under the Indian Union. Although a cease-fire has been in place since 1997, the NSCN-IM still has an estimated 4,500 armed members, and given rampant instability in northeast India, the group can be considered very active and highly dangerous.
REF :http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=4585
CHRISTIAN TERRORISM IN INDIA
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
Bases of Operation: Burma (Myanmar), India
Date Formed: April 30, 1998
Strength: Approximately 2,000 members
Classifications: Communist/Socialist, Nationalist/Separatist
Financial Sources: Extortion and drug trafficking
Founding Philosophy: The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) is a Naga separatist outfit in northeastern India. Formed as a splinter group in 1988, the NSCN-K has been responsible for numerous attacks on Indian security forces and other militant groups in the region. The NSCN-K states that its goal is an independent Nagaland state consisting of all ethnic Naga territories with a Socialist government based on Maoist principles.
The Naga people are a mainly Christian ethnic group that inhabits the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as parts of Burma. Fiercely independent, the Naga have waged a decades-long insurgency against India, which has led to thousands of deaths on both sides.
After the foundation of independent India in 1947, Naga tribes, who had previously tolerated British rule, refused to join the newly established Indian Union. Under the Naga National Council (NNC), which was formed in 1946 to agitate for independence, Naga separatists waged war against the Indian army. These insurgents demanded an independent state of greater Nagaland comprising all Naga-inhabited areas (at the time these areas were all located within the Indian state of Assam or in Burma.) In 1956, the NNC founded the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG), which led the Indian government to step up counter-insurgency actions. This crackdown sapped the strength of the insurgents, and in 1960, representatives of the NNC signed an agreement with the Indian government, in which a separate state of Nagaland would be formed from the state of Assam. This state would not be independent, but would be a part of the Indian Union.
Numerous extremists within the NNC rejected the 1960 agreement and continued their armed campaign. In 1975, after incurring heavy losses from the Indian Army, most NNC rebels agreed to lay down their arms and accept Indian sovereignty by signing the Shillong Accord. Again, certain extremists in the Naga camp rejected peace with India, and shortly after the accord was signed, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was formed to continue the armed struggle for Naga independence.
The NSCN was the direct predecessor of the NSCN-K. Founded in 1980 by Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah, and S.S. Khaplang, the NSCN was dedicated to an independent Nagaland based on an odd mix of Maoist ideology and Christian spirituality.
However, factional disputes in 1988 led the NSCN to split into the NSCN-K (led by S.S. Khaplang) and the NSCN-IM (led by Muivah and Swu). Khaplang and his followers suspected that Muivah and Swu had planned to initiate peace talks with the Indian government. From this point on, the NSCN-K would be engaged in heavy fighting with their Naga rivals in addition to conflict with the government, military, and other ethnic rebel groups in the region.
Although the NSCN-K declared a cease-fire in April 2001 (renewed in April 2005), the group has been responsible for numerous attacks in India and Burma, where the NSCN-K is reportedly based. The bulk of violence committed by the group has been against the NSCN-IM and ethnic Kuki militias (with whom the Naga have a longstanding rivalry), although innocent civilians have also been killed or suffered at the hands of the NSCN-K. The group is funded mainly through extortion and drug-running. In addition to rivalries with other militant outfits, the NSCN-K has reportedly trained and collaborated with the United Liberation Front of Assam, National Democratic Front of Bodoland, and the United National Liberation Front, among others.
Current Goals: Despite a cease-fire, the NSCN-K remains a security threat in the region, and reportedly has 2,000 militants under arms. Although the group maintains that it is fighting the Indian and Burmese government for an independent state, most of the group’s efforts are directed at other extremist rivals. While the outfit’s stated goals remain steadfast, it is unlikely that the NSCN-K (or any Naga group for that matter) will achieve independence for Nagaland anytime soon. As such, future violence can be expected.
REF: http://lwfyouth.org/2008/09/10/violence-against-christians-in-orissa-state-india/#comment-4995
CHRISTIAN TERRORISTS IN INDIA
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
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Bases of Operation: Bangladesh, India
Date Formed: March 12, 1989
Strength: Approximately 1,500 members
Classifications: Nationalist/Separatist
Financial Sources: Unknown
Founding Philosophy: National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) is one of several terrorist organizations operating in India’s northeastern states. The organizations are often devoted to a specific ethnic tribal group, with the aim of creating seprate, independent states for their tribe or state. NLFT, specifically, aims to recreate the Tripura state as an independent entity from the Indian government. NLFT, and other terrorist entities, justifies its insurgency as a reaction to the poor treatment of their tribal people by the Indian government and certain political parties. In reaction to the oppression of Tripura’s indigenous population, militant groups such as NLFT have risen and proved able of feeding off discontent among certain citizens.
While ethnic tribes might have legitimate complaints, it is a fact that certain groups have gone beyond mere protests. These groups have crossed the line into terrorist attacks, including murders of political officials, rival tribal members, and non-tribal citizens. NLFT targets innocent civilians, for reasons as petty as voting for a non-tribal political party.
Current Goals: National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) is an active terrorist organization. However, NLFT is constantly in flux and has given rise to several splinter groups. In 2001, NLFT split into two main factions, one led by Nayanbasi Jamatiya and the other by Biswamohan Debbarma.
According to confisicated records of NLFT, the split was caused by internal bickering among senior leaders, misappropriation of funds by certain senior NLFT members, and disagreement over the forcible conversion of NLFT members to Chrisitainty. According to at least one report, approximately 90 percent of senior NLFT members are Christians. Despite the internal fighting and regardless of future splintering of NLFT, the group remains an active terrorist threat in the Tripura state of India.
REF :http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3644
Donot divide us, You mentioned on your blog “The violence broken out after the leader of a Hindu political party had been killed….”
If you donot know real, please don’t misguide people.
can anybody tel me what is the defination of secularism, and who is hindu ? Why maney people wish to demolish Hinduism from India ?