FIACONA writes to Prime Minister on Orissa
30th August 2008
Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Honorable Prime Minister of India,
The Prime Minister’s Office,
New Delhi,
INDIA.
Honorable Sir,
Subject: Unabated violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organization of North America (FIACONA), is profoundly shocked, deeply grieved, and extremely upset at the continuing violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka.
In the last 72 hours, 30 Christians were martyred and 400 plus injured. Tens of thousands of Christians have fled to the jungles to save their lives and are subsisting on roots and herbs. Hundreds of village churches have been burnt and razed to ground. Christian nuns have been gang-raped and burnt to death. Priests have been killed and attacked with iron rods, clubs, swords, and country made guns. Alleged Hindu radicals are supposedly responsible for this utterly unbelievable carnage. It is reported that they force Christians to bow before Hindu Gods and threaten them with death if they do not denounce Christianity and accept Hinduism. Christians are targeted irrespective of age and gender. Even children are not spared from these barbaric acts. Christians are assaulted, humiliated, paraded half-naked, beaten up, their limbs mutilated, tortured, burnt alive, raped, and murdered.
There are more than 124 incidents in Orissa and more than 143 incidents in Karnataka, where Christians have been mercilessly victimized. These stupendously anti-humanity acts are not only appalling, but are also macabre, horrid, revolting, disgusting, vile and inhuman acts of violence that are big blots of shame on the secular and democratic fabric of the Indian Constitution. It is a shame that on the land of the Mahatma, where non-violence is the sacred mantra, violence is so unashamedly, unabashedly, and unabatedly propagated, instigated, and supported by few anti-social individuals or groups, in the name of religion. Christians are a peace-loving community and abhor violence of any kind. All the Christians of India and the world are mere mute spectators at the ghastly events happening in Orissa and Karnataka against their peace-loving brethren.
The international community is deeply concerned, and on 29 August 2008, a day of prayer will be observed in front of the Office of the United Nations from 12 pm to 3 pm, where innumerable Christians assembled to denounce the villainous acts perpetrated against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka.
On behalf of The Federation of Indian American Christian Organization of North America (FIACONA), I request your honorable self to urgently look into this matter, and if necessary to call the armed forces to intervene and thus stop this shameless violence.
All the Christians of India and the world look up to your intervention to stop this violence, as the constitutional machineries of Orissa and Karnataka have completely broken down. We have full faith and confidence in your abilities and are certain that you shall indeed restore peace, love and harmony, once again in these troubled states.
Thanking you,
With warmest regards,
Reverend Bernard Malik
President, FIACONA
Tags: Prime Minister
September 24th, 2008 at 8:16 am
It is heartening to note that non resident Indian Christians are finally taking up the cause of their Christian brethren in India. The human rights abuses and minority baiting in India has not caught the attention of the global community due to the dubious nature of projecting India’s economic growth, by the Indian media which is predominantly controlled by upper caste Hindus who have been striving for political hegemony and racial supremacy through the diabolic philosophy of Hindutva.
It is unfortunate that the international Christian community is hopelessly outwitted by the forces of the sangh parivar and its front organisations when it comes to creating an awareness leading to public opinion. At the drop of a hat organisations like the “Friends of the BJP in America” etc have tremendous access to financial and political clout in the USA and are able to deify demons like L K Advani and Narendra Modi and their ilk in the eyes of the unassuming westerner.
It is very important that international Christian organisations should make every attempt to boldly come out and internationalize the issues pertaining to the persecution of Christians in India. What is practiced in political India by these agents of Hindutva is nothing but racism and human rights abuses. India is slowly turning into a Gulag or a Guantanamo and this should be brought to global attention. The excesses of state sponsored Hindu Terrorism in India (especially in the states ruled by the BJP and its allies) need to be chronicled and brought to public scrutiny.
To achieve this concerted effort need to be taken to usher in an era of inter-denominational cooperation and unity in India and abroad. The clergy and the church establishment, no matter Roman Catholic or Protestant or any other, should spear head a movement to call the bluff of the Hindu terrorist who allege forced conversions. Conversion is a human right and anybody’s personal choice as long as one desires to convert. “Forces conversions” is a bluff steeped upon Indian Christians by Hindu terrorist who want to turn India into a Hindu Theocracy.
God bless you and your initiative to serve for the furtherance of His Kingdom here on earth. May the rally that you propose to hold during the Prime Minister’s visit to USA be a blessed and successful campaign against human rights abuses and racism perpetrated by Hindu terrorist in India.