In Bastar, 50 villages ban non-Hindu missionaries PAVAN DAHAT

[prasad1]

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I know that a lot of members on this site are against forced conversion to Christianity. I am against any coerced conversion. But I think religion is an individual's choice and there should be religious freedom.
Is this what the majority wants?

An aggressive campaign by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had led to a ban on the entry of and propaganda by non-Hindu missionaries, especially Christians, in more than 50 villages of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in the last six months.
According to Suresh Yadav, Bastar district president of the VHP, over 50 gram panchayats in Bastar have passed orders under Section 129 (G) of the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act banning all “non-Hindu religious propaganda, prayers and speeches in the villages.”
The Sirisguda gram panchayat in the Tokapal block of Bastar passed the order at a special Gram Sabha organised on May 10.
The order, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, says, “To stop the forced conversion by some outsider religious campaigners and to prevent them from using derogatory language against Hindu deities and customs, the Sirisguda Gram Sabha bans religious activities such as prayers, meetings and propaganda of all non-Hindu religions.”
In Sirisguda, the dispute started when Christian families refused donations for an annual Hindu religious festival.
“They refused donations and used derogatory language against Hindu gods so the Gram Sabha banned them,” claimed Sirisguda sarpanch Jamuna Baghel.
In Bastar, 50 villages ban non-Hindu missionaries - The Hindu

This is unpleasant development. People in most of the civilized society have freedom from religious oppression. I would assume that a democratic India too would be free.

 

[tks]

I know that a lot of members on this site are against forced conversion to Christianity. I am against any coerced conversion. But I think religion is an individual's choice and there should be religious freedom.
Is this what the majority wants?

An aggressive campaign by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had led to a ban on the entry of and propaganda by non-Hindu missionaries, especially Christians, in more than 50 villages of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in the last six months.
According to Suresh Yadav, Bastar district president of the VHP, over 50 gram panchayats in Bastar have passed orders under Section 129 (G) of the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act banning all “non-Hindu religious propaganda, prayers and speeches in the villages.”
The Sirisguda gram panchayat in the Tokapal block of Bastar passed the order at a special Gram Sabha organised on May 10.
The order, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, says, “To stop the forced conversion by some outsider religious campaigners and to prevent them from using derogatory language against Hindu deities and customs, the Sirisguda Gram Sabha bans religious activities such as prayers, meetings and propaganda of all non-Hindu religions.”
In Sirisguda, the dispute started when Christian families refused donations for an annual Hindu religious festival.
“They refused donations and used derogatory language against Hindu gods so the Gram Sabha banned them,” claimed Sirisguda sarpanch Jamuna Baghel.
In Bastar, 50 villages ban non-Hindu missionaries - The Hindu

This is unpleasant development. People in most of the civilized society have freedom from religious oppression. I would assume that a democratic India too would be free.

No one can stop anyone from converting - there is religious freedom.

When a religion as its theology *requires* propagation and conversion which they are told to do at any cost there has to be laws to protect the innocents. If Islam and Christianity are going unchecked a country will get converted in a matter of time. The reason it is bad is because they rarely ever tried to convert each other. The only way that can be resolved is by war. Unless we want India to become a civil war zone in 100 years there has to be laws to protect the innocents. What is coercion is not easy to identify because of the extent of manipulation involved.

The best thing India can do is to demand no more coercive conversion with more definition as to what constitute coercion. If an individual wants to go on their own with no one trying to convert anyone out of their way that person can have religious freedom. It also means that if converted people want to proclaim their Hindu heritage they should be allowed to do so by the converting religions

 

[vgane]

I agree with TKS. 99% of conversion is because of monetary allurement..It will change the religious demography of the country..We have discussed the North East & Kanyakumari before...If the Government cannot stop conversion then voluntary organizations such as VHP will play that role

 

[sarang]

Missionaries had a free run and access to unlimited funding from evangelist orgs. There is freedom for individuals to convert, but forced and induced conversiy must be monitored and stopped. What hindutva advocates demand is checks and balances, vicious propaganda against Hindus, highly partial attitudes of seculars sada and special, money power, reservation on religious grounds.

 

[BRAHMACHARI]

Gentlemen and Ladies,

This seems to be same old wine in yet another new bottle. This matter of conversion has been discussed, argued about, debated over and over again and seems endless.

I met some so-called christian-converts and enquired the reason for 1) disowning their parent religion and 2)choosing christianity.

They said they are not converts but born-again into a new life in Christ. They claimed they realized through personal experience that the God of Israel is the only true living God, that the prophecies in the Bible are coming true, that 2nd coming of Jesus is imminent and not far away, that they were convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment, that they received salvation, died to their old self and were born again into a new life renewed in spirit, that they have committed to live for Christ come what may etc etc. Although not all testimonies are convincing, every one of them is strongly convinced about their new life. Their answer to my first question is something I can't express in this forum and that is immaterial. They themselves are divided into numerous divisions the main one being Pentecostals. Then there are these jehovah witnesses, mormons, jesuits, seventhday adventist and a motley crowd of numerous independent groups. ridiculously they are exclusive among themselves while yet claiming they worship the same god. it is these groups that go about proselytising.

there are the roman catholics, protestants etc who dont proselytise, who mind their own business, who care little about religion and who live a secular life like most hindus. there are some among them who claim to be born-again and have left their denominations and crossed floor over to the other groups.

there are many things incongruent, inconsistent about this born-again groups. barring a few who are genuine, the rest are not agreed in their words and deeds. i visited some of their congregations and mostly i found blind imitation of western culture, artificiality, mechanical acts of lifting hands and shouting haleluya etc. only a few worship in truth and spirit. others get excited in synch with the crescendo and diminuendo of the drum beats of the choir leaders. at the end of it all, mostly it is a religous ritual routinely performed every week with hardly any spirit behind it. worse still, their life-style is western, no different from others when it comes to practical life. only a few of them make a difference with their character and conduct but the rest seem hypocrites.

should we ever have to fear them and be concerned if others convert to these groups! i think they are not worth discussing about and we seem to be wasting precious time trying to re-convert them and spending a lot of our time, energy and money on them.

 

[sarang]

1. Vatican has signed an agreement with jewish religious leaders that no effort will be made to convert jews. This issue was raised in a press conference in mumbai by kanchi shankaracharya and was acknowledged by the christian leaders.
2. China has woken up to the christian flood, and has recently demolished a big church. If only the communist authorities allow native religion to be practiced openly, christian conversion will cease to be a threat.
3. Japan has successfully resisted conversion by putting lot of restrictions. It will be instructive to study japanese laws and systems to understand how it is done.
4. Bharatavasis have a right to defend their religion, way of life, customs, traditions and any predatory activity by the west sponsored evangelism must be fought by all concerned with ethical and legal resources available. All conversions must be identified, fought and exposed. All this can be done without resorting to violence in any form.
5. Highly biased media and secular sada log and politicians amplify any violence against minorities, but shamelessly ignore violence against hindus. Killing of a muslim recently in pune got hundreds of hours of media coverage, but the murder and violence against hindus in all parts of india are just buried. More than hundred hindu activists from south were murdered, the latest from sankarankoil in tirunelveli; where is natural justice for the hindu when the perpetrator of the crime is from abrahamic faith.
6. The social media is a big blessing to talk about these issues, as the corrupt media and secular gangs are guilty of partiality.
7. All states must pass anti conversion bills.

 

[prasad1]

I agree with TKS. 99% of conversion is because of monetary allurement..It will change the religious demography of the country..We have discussed the North East & Kanyakumari before...If the Government cannot stop conversion then voluntary organizations such as VHP will play that role

When you fight fire with fire, you have to be precise. Fighting arson with arson is fruitless.
When we leave home for education, then we leave for employment, and then we may leave again for retirement. Similarly we also should have our freedom to change our philosophy in life. Religion is after all a philosophy. So why would you deny others the same privilege. I am NOT for any coerced conversion, but one should not be denied conversion, by others.
Just because you are afraid that you would loose your majority (sic!), you do not condone termination of personal liberty. God gave you the power to convince others to follow you, if you fail, should you be allowed to kill others? That is what you are advocating. Let us be reasonable.

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." – Confucius

In Mahābhārata, the ancient epic of India, comes a discourse where the wise minister Vidura advises the King Yuddhiśhṭhira thus, “Listening to wise scriptures, austerity, sacrifice, respectful faith, social welfare, forgiveness, purity of intent, compassion, truth and self-control - are the ten wealth of character (self). O king aim for these, may you be steadfast in these qualities. These are the basis of prosperity and rightful living. These are highest attainable things. All worlds are balanced on dharma, dharma encompasses ways to prosperity as well. O King, dharma is the best quality to have, wealth the medium and desire (kāma) the lowest. Hence, (keeping these in mind), by self-control and by making dharma (right conduct) your main focus, treat others as you treat yourself."


tasmād_dharma-pradhānéna bhavitavyam yatātmanā | tathā cha sarva-bhūtéṣhu vartitavyam yathātmani || (तस्माद्धर्मप्रधानेन भवितव्यं यतात्मना। तथा च सर्वभूतेषु वर्तितव्यं यथात्मनि॥ Mahābhārata Shānti-Parva

The forcible stoppage of conversion is as bad as the coerced conversion.
Let us leave the foolish statements and private biases for others to post.

 

[sarang]

Devils can quote scriptures, but the direction and path is clear for hindus to find their own solutions for the problems they face. Perhaps some quotes from an article by Mark Tully will help to remove the cobwebs from deluded souls.

"NRIs are a pampered lot. Even though they have taken up foreign citizenship they have their own minister, their own annual day and many other privileges. But does this special status give them the right to interfere in the affairs of India.

"The second interference in Indian affairs by NRIs was an attempt by 75 academics, most of Indian origin, judging by their names, teaching in British or other foreign universities, to influence the outcome of the recent general elections. In their letter published in the Independent, a national daily, the academics expressed “deep concern at the implications of a Narendra Modi-led government for democracy, pluralism, and human rights in India”. Academics are expected to be balanced but this letter was wholly one-sided. The academics recalled the “extreme violence by the Hindu right in Gujarat in 2002” but they didn’t mention the findings of the Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court. They condemned Modi as authoritarian and described his economic model as being linked to big business and “harmful to the poor”. They didn’t examine the other side of the argument about the Gujarat model, nor did they mention that Modi had won three assembly elections and therefore the people of his state, who are the people on the ground, would appear to judge his performance rather differently from the academics living outside India.
"There is an element of irresponsibility in expatriates publicly taking up extreme positions on what is happening in their own country. There is an air of condescension about the academics’ letter also. It smacks of that assumption of superiority that I sometimes note among NRIs — the assumption that because they are successful in a country like Britain or America they are superior to those who have stayed behind.

"Unless NRIs raising concerns about India are measured and responsible, they contribute to widespread misunderstanding about India in the countries where they live.

"If they don’t, India might well ask why it grants them those privileges
A pampered lot: why India gives NRIs special status - Hindustan Times