Posted by on April 02, 19102 at 11:52:45:
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
In the US House of Representatives
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1999
[ Congressional Record, Page: E212 ]
Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed by recent reports that there has been renewed violence against Christians in
India . First a missionary and his two very young sons were burned to death in their jeep, then another
nun was raped. Now the bodies of two more Christians have been found in the state of Orissa. Hindu
nationalism is on an out-of-control rampage in India !
The Sunday, February 7 issue of the Washington Times reported that the Archbishop of New Delhi, Alan
de Lastic, blamed `mercenaries' for these hate crimes. He called on the government to take strong action
to stop these things from occurring. These `mercenaries' are associated with organizations like the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP), a militant Hindu organization that comes under the militant, extremist Rashtria
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party that leads the governing
coalition, is also part of the RSS.
Several Christian churches, prayer halls, and religious missions were destroyed in the last couple of
months by Hindu extremists affiliated with the VHP. How can the Indian government be expected to take
strong action against the perpetrators of these vicious acts when the perpetrators are part of their own
political network?
The violence forced many Christian congregations to cancel New Year's celebrations for fear of offending
the Hindu militants, which could lead to further violence. Is this the secularism that India boasts about?
Clearly, there is no religious freedom for these Christians in India .
Unfortunately, these are just the latest incidents of violence against Christians in India . Four nuns were
raped last year by a Hindu gang. The VHP described the rapists as `patriotic youth' and called the nuns
`antinational elements.' To be Christian in secular India is to be an antinational element! At least three
priests were killed in 1997 and 1998, and in 1997 police opened fire on a Christian festival that was
promoting the theme `Jesus is the Answer.'
Apparently, the Hindu Nationalists are afraid that the Dalits, or `Untouchables', the aboriginal people of
South Asia who are at the bottom of the caste structure, are switching to other religions, primarily
Christianity, thus improving their status. This undermines the caste structure which is the foundation of
the Hindu social structure.
The Indian government has killed more than 200,000 Christians since 1947 and the Christians of
Nagaland, in the eastern part of India , are involved in one of 17 freedom movements within India's
borders. But the Christians are not the only ones oppressed for their religion.
India has murdered more than 250,000 Sikhs since 1984 and over 60,000 Muslims in Kashmir since
1988, as well as many thousands of other people. The holiest shrine in the Sikh religion, the Golden
Temple in Amritsar, is still under occupation by plainclothes police, some 14 years after India's brutal
military attack on the Golden Temple. The previous Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurdev Singh Kaunke,
was killed in police custody by being torn in half. The police disposed of his body. He had been tortured
before the Indian government decided to kill him.
The Babri mosque, the most sacred Muslim shrine in the state of Uttar Pradesh, was destroyed by the
Hindu militants who advocate building a Hindu temple on the site. Yet India proudly boasts that it is a
religiously tolerant, secular democracy.
This kind of religious oppression does not deserve American support. We should take tough measures to
ensure that India learns to respect basic human rights. All U.S. aid to India should be cut off and we
should openly declare U.S. support for self-determination for all the peoples of the subcontinent. By these
measures we can help bring religious freedom and basic human rights to Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and
everyone else in South Asia.
Mr. Speaker, I submit an article on the archbishop's statement from the February 7 Washington Times
into the Record.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES, FEBRUARY 7, 1999
New Delhi--A prominent Catholic archbishop yesterday blamed `mercenaries' for a spate of attacks on Christians
here and blamed the Indian government or tardy action against the perpetrators.
New Delhi Archbishop Alan de Lastic, in a scathing attack on national and state governments, called for justice for
the growing number of Christian victims of murder, rape and battery in India .
A nun was raped Wednesday night in the eastern state of Orissa where Australian missionary Graham Staines and
his two young sons were burnt to death in their car by a Hindu mob on January 22.
The rape and the Staines' murders followed a spate of anti-Christian violence in the western state of Gujarat over
Christmas.
Radical Hindu groups linked to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajyapee's ruling BJP party have been blamed for
inciting the attacks.