India: the politics (BJP/RSS) behind the persecution of the church

politics, the wrod, can become divorced from the people who are organized behind an agenda. persecution of believers can be misunderstood as simply a misunderstanding between people, but is actually a spiritual reaction that can only be clamed by God. with this set up, this article is very interesting, and i'll share some highlights....

Increased attacks against Christians this year have grown out of a trend of violence going back to 2001. Each year from 2001 to 2005, about 200 anti-Christian attacks were reported in India. This year nearly 150 such incidents were reported by mid-September, with the annual total expected to exceed 200.

Whereas the trend began after the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power in 1998, the recent campaign is rooted in the party’s attempts to recover from political loss and internal division. Then as now, most of the attacks have been led, directly or indirectly, by Hindu extremist organizations linked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Forum or VHP) and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal.....

Father Henry D’Souza, head of the Commission for Social Communication of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said the RSS and BJP have reached a critical stage marked by confusion, disunity and intense rivalry. An increase in anti-Christian propaganda is a reaction to an “insecurity alarm” among these groups, he said.

Dr. John Dayal, member of the National Integration Council of the Government of India and secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC), told Compass that the BJP was on the retreat in the states it rules and had no guarantee of progress in other states. The BJP rules in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and it forms part of ruling coalitions in Karnataka, Bihar and Orissa states....

Persecution of Christians rose to new heights in India after the BJP came to power as head of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998.

According to the figures of the federal home ministry, between 1950 and 1998 there were only 50 recorded attacks on Christians. The number grew to 100 in 2000, and from 2001 to 2005 at least 200 incidents of anti-Christian attacks were reported every year, according to Dayal.

Besides numerous incidents of anti-Christian violence that go unreported, he said, total known attacks this year are likely to exceed 200.

Anti-Christian incidents thus far in 2006 include the gang rape of two Christian women and a spate of false accusations of “forced” conversions, followed by violent attacks in Madhya Pradesh; sustained harassment of the Emmanuel Mission International (EMI) for more than six months in Rajasthan; a massive anti-Christian campaign in the districts of Dangs and Phulbani in Gujarat and Orissa respectively; and a sudden increase of attacks on Christians in Karnataka state....

Political analysts in part ascribed the defeat of the BJP-led NDA in 2004 general elections and in assembly elections in four states and the union territory earlier this year to increasingly mature voters who seemingly voted against Hindu fundamentalism....

Through the eyes of the Hindutva ideology propagated by the RSS, Christianity is a Western religion brought to India under British colonial rule – contrary to evidence that Christianity spread to parts of India almost from its inception. Thus the anti-British sentiments held by many Hindus are extended towards the Christian community.

In recent years, some Hindu extremists have claimed that missionaries are part of an international conspiracy to convert and overtake India. Opponents of Christianity also claim Western missionaries use material bribes or force to convert the poor and illiterate.

Fr. D’Souza of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, however, said Christians were not discouraged.

“As Christians, we always live under the shadow of the cross of Christ – we do not hate our attackers,” he said. “We rather forgive them and pray for them.”...

There is a long list of violations against Christians this year at the end of the article.