Article on the 2008 Genocide of Christians in India

[haviZsultan]

Genocide of Christians in India
​

Thousands of men, women, and children dragged from churches and slashed. This has been India`s reality for the last four weeks. The genocide of the Christian minority in the country once called the world`s greatest democracy has been as much brutal as neglected by the international community.

Hinduism is believed to be one of the most tolerant religions in the world. But stirred in nationalism and traditionalism, it could produce an explosive mixture, similar to one that has so far claimed over 100,000 Christian lives in India. Earlier the same fate befell Muslims that comprised around 13 percent of the entire population, and who were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Pakistan (the writer describes the future of ahmedsid and nihat when india will do genocide on them ). The problem that Indian Christians are facing is even more perilous as they have nowhere to go. The 20 million people who admit to believing in Jesus Christ are on the brink of physical extermination.

The massacre was triggered by the assassination of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23. Saraswati played a leading role in a chauvinistic organization that lobbies to eradicate all foreign influence in India, including non-Hindu religions. Although Maoist rebels quickly issued a letter in which they claimed responsibility for the murder, the nationalists shifted the blame onto Christians, who comprised a third of the population of the Orissa district where Saraswati was killed. Christians will do anything to spread Christianity and convert more and more people, ? read one comment published hours after the assassination. On the same day the first Christians were butchered.

The exact number of killed is difficult to estimate as very few foreign correspondents are allowed into the affected regions. According to Union of Catholic Asian News, over 100,000 Christian men, women, and children could have been killed between August 23 and September 4. In addition, around 50,000 people were reported to have found shelter in the woods whereas some 15,000 fled to refugee camps. The number of raped and mutilated is unknown. The same source claims that almost every single Christian shrine in the Orissa district was destroyed within the first days of September. The attacks have worn off because they have nothing left to attack, ? said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

Christianity is seen in India as a dangerous force. Unlike Hinduism, which accepts the caste system, Christianity preaches equality of all people. The rise of nationalism coincided with the ascendancy of the conservative Indian People`s Party (BJP) in the late 1990s. If between 1967 and 1996 authorities recorded only 40 anti-Christian attacks in all India, this number has risen to hundreds every year since the BJP formed a government in 1999. Although the party has been out of power for four years now, it still controls several districts, including Orissa where the genocide began.

The word genocide is not an exaggeration. In fact, the train of events in India closely resembles the prelude to the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus that shook Rwanda in 1994. There, too, the bloodshed began after an important political figure died under suspicious conditions. Soon people were dragged from their homes and burned alive in churches " the practices now repeated in India. The Rwandan genocide was also neglected by the world media which at that time was predominantly focused on civil wars in the Balkans. But as the United Nations and other human rights organizations called for an intervention in Rwanda, now they are conspicuous by their silence.

The slaughter of 100,000 people in a country of over one billion citizens may easily escape one`s notice. The massacre of Indian Christians in Orissa and other districts has sunk in the sea of other conflicts that recent months have abounded in: Georgia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq " to name only the few. Words will not resurrect the lives that are already lost. But they may stop further killing.

 

[haviZsultan]

Damn... Indians what do you think of this? Where is all the democracy and secularism... Where is the love yaar?

 

[rubyjackass]

Obviously picked up from some Christian fundamentalist site.

Hinduism is believed to be one of the most tolerant religions in the world. But stirred in nationalism and traditionalism, it could produce an explosive mixture, similar to one that has so far claimed over 100,000 Christian lives in India.

So he counted the British also?

Earlier the same fate befell Muslims that comprised around 13 percent of the entire population, and who were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Pakistan (the writer describes the future of ahmedsid and nihat when india will do genocide on them ). The problem that Indian Christians are facing is even more perilous as they have nowhere to go. The 20 million people who admit to believing in Jesus Christ are on the brink of physical extermination.

The massacre was triggered by the assassination of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23. Saraswati played a leading role in a chauvinistic organization that lobbies to eradicate all foreign influence in India, including non-Hindu religions. Although Maoist rebels quickly issued a letter in which they claimed responsibility for the murder, the nationalists shifted the blame onto Christians, who comprised a third of the population of the Orissa district where Saraswati was killed. Christians will do anything to spread Christianity and convert more and more people, ? read one comment published hours after the assassination. On the same day the first Christians were butchered.

The exact number of killed is difficult to estimate as very few foreign correspondents are allowed into the affected regions. According to Union of Catholic Asian News, over 100,000 Christian men, women, and children could have been killed between August 23 and September 4. In addition, around 50,000 people were reported to have found shelter in the woods whereas some 15,000 fled to refugee camps. The number of raped and mutilated is unknown. The same source claims that almost every single Christian shrine in the Orissa district was destroyed within the first days of September. The attacks have worn off because they have nothing left to attack, ? said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

Christianity is seen in India as a dangerous force. Unlike Hinduism, which accepts the caste system, Christianity preaches equality of all people. The rise of nationalism coincided with the ascendancy of the conservative Indian People`s Party (BJP) in the late 1990s. If between 1967 and 1996 authorities recorded only 40 anti-Christian attacks in all India, this number has risen to hundreds every year since the BJP formed a government in 1999. Although the party has been out of power for four years now, it still controls several districts, including Orissa where the genocide began.

The slaughter of 100,000 people in a country of over one billion citizens may easily escape one`s notice.

100,000people!!! Nice try...

Guess what Muslims still form more than 13%. And they are forced to flee to Pakistan? Obviously the author need to take history classes and perhaps counting too. But clearly his engllish is good.

Even in Pakistan 100,000 people are not killed. And he says the situation there made world forget about India.

The most recent events that caused the most number of deaths and suffering in India are Bihar floods and Mumbai attacks.

 

[haviZsultan]

Obviously picked up from some Christian fundamentalist site.

Damn! Wrong... hes against genocide and is a social worker. Hes a pole i think...

So he counted the British also?

I doubt it...

100,000people!!! Nice try...

Could be more or less... who knows.

Guess what Muslims still form more than 13%. And they are forced to flee to Pakistan? Obviously the author need to take history classes and perhaps counting too. But clearly his engllish is good.

You want proof? I am here...

Even in Pakistan 100,000 people are not killed. And he says the situation there made world forget about India.

But pakistan is in the middle of the war on terror and the current attention of the world is on islamic terror but not on the hindu terrorist outfits.

Therefore these vile acts of terror and genocide pass the worlds attention. In any case atleast 1000 Christians have been killed and this is reported by even the lowliest of rights organizations. This is all well known.

The most recent events that caused the most number of deaths and suffering in India are Bihar floods and Mumbai attacks.

thats media propaganda.... there are rights groups in orissa who speak the truth... And christian genocide started before mumbai. Bihar it was at that time so yes it must have gone unnoticed because of so much happening across the world.

 

[TheLord]

There is no link to the original article nor any reference to prove the claims.

More than 100,000 christians killed within a couple of weeks? Did the rioters used nuclear bomb on chritians?

Dimension, nice try to show India in bad light. Unfortunately, the world is not ready to buy this fiction. I know about your fictional stories of your friends and relatives in India say this and that.

 

[booo]

PM calls Orissa violence a 'shame'-India-The Times of India

Total damage
According to All India Christian Council, the 2008 violence affected in 14 districts out of of 30 and 300 Villages, 4,400 Houses burnt, 50,000 Homeless, 59 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 women gang-raped including a nun, 151 Churches destroyed and 13 Schools and colleges damaged.[77] The violence targeted Christians in 310 villages, with 4,104 homes torched. More than 18,000 were injured and 50,000 displaced and homes continued to burn in many villages. [78] Another report said that around 11,000 people are still living in relief camps. [79] Some of the tribals even fled away to border districts in neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh and took shelter in churches of those districts.[80]

Religious violence in Orissa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please do some more research

 

[kenchabhai]

dimension117, from your source, thesop.org some news on Pakistan

"Continued Persecution of Christians in 'US Ally' Pakistan"
Christians across Pakistan, numbering perhaps 10 million, are subject to violence, intimidation, torture, rape, false imprisonment, forced conversion, bonded labour, forced marriage, and child kidnapping. Christians have been forced from their homes and their places of worship have been desecrated or destroyed.....

 

[Captain03]

seems like genocides have taken a place in indian culture

 

[Geromix]

As an Indian Christian, while i am ashamed of what happened in Orissa i would like the Pakistani members of this forum to keep their sympathies with themselves.

This 'sympathy' is entirely false and is a facade of concern behind which lies utter contempt and a desire to derive pleasure from the failures and ills of others, in this case India.
If you were so concerned of Christians you would have looked within your own country and would have stopped comparing.

Not a single Indian Christian has used the word-Genocide.

Without even understanding the ground reality and quoting from various articles does not make you the expert in this issue but more of a 'propaganda tool'.

You don't have any idea of the divisions within the Christian community in India.
Little knowledge of the organizations behind 'conversions' and how it is run.
Nor of the socio-economic situation in the tribal areas of India.

Yes the Hindu fundamentalist groups are as usual up to no good but don't expect the Christians to be all good and saintly.

How is that I as a Christian pointing out the deficiencies of my own community?

The reason is because there has also been deep introspection within the Christian community in India,in its role and position in Indian society.
As a Catholic within our community we have come to the conclusion that many of the groups involved in conversion are Protestant groups or Pentecostal groups which receive funding from many American Christian fundamentalist organizations (who want to spread the Word of God to the 'primitive parts' of India and elsewhere ).

For them this is a business and exploit the ignorance of these tribal people.

When they are 'caught' they accuse the Catholics of doing all this.

I do not want to support the groups like Bajrang Dal and others,clearly they are no better than them and are even worse.

Most of the arguments above listed is nothing but a heap of propaganda that cannot even support itself.

Most Pakistanis assume India is a some kind of hell for minorities,i urge you all to rethink and reconsider that vision,while some minority groups are not in such a good state but a large majority of minority section call India home and would continue to do so,whether they are Muslims or Sikhs or Christians.