The original article was titled Playing with Fire in Karnataka. Comments welcome.

Burden of the cross

Sandeep B

Evangelists have been using dirty tricks in Karnataka to convert vulnerable Hindus. The literature that is being used to propagate Christianity is repulsive: Denigrating Hindu gods and goddesses has become the standard practice of preachers flush with foreign funds.

The sight of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa being berated by Bangalore Archbish-op Bernard Morsa has been interepreted by many as the BJP being needlessly defensive. Mr Yeddyurappa, as head of a secular Government, had no business to try and ‘calm’ the tempers of a religious head. Apart from setting an ill-natured precedent, it also raises discomfiting questions. This move, after ordering a judicial inquiry into the church attacks in Mangalore and surrounding districts, was both uncalled for and counter-productive.

To his credit, Mr Yeddyurappa has called the bluff of the ruling coalition at the Centre in stern terms. The Congress’s duplicity — from tackling (largely) homegrown Islamic terrorism with an iron hand to keeping mum over the plight of Amarnath pilgrims to paying lip service to widespread conversion activity in Andhra Pradesh to being blind to the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati in Orissa — is more than evident. This behaviour lends credence to the suspicion that the Congress seeks to deflect attention from its own ineptitude as also from widespread public anger in the wake of unrelenting terror attacks on Indian soil. First by threatening to invoke President’s rule, and now, by sending warning “advisories” to Karnataka, the Congress has only heightened the perception that it is playing partisan politics with States ruled by the BJP and the NDA.

As we shall see, the truth about attacks on Christian places of worship in Mangalore and adjoining areas is at best murky. But decades of received wisdom in vast sections of the English media dictated that the Sangh Parivar was guilty. Accordingly, they donned judicial robes and pronounced the Sangh Parivar guilty without any evidence. A certain media house has been running what looks like a serial campaign against the Bajrang Dal. In what looks suspiciously complementary, it is also running feature-length interviews of ’success stories’ of select Christian converts. Among others, it has put on record how regular prayer helped a poor convert ‘heal’ cancerous tumours! Further, this convert had, in vain, appealed to her caste members/Hindu organisations for medical aid/donations. Both the connotation and conclusion of this brazen style of reporting are inescapable.

There are deeper undercurrents surrounding the Church attacks. But first, some facts are in order. It was made out by the media that the attacks occurred only in and around Mangalore, which is blatantly false. Violence occurred in Mangalore, Udupi, and Chickmagalur districts. In other words, in an area spanning about 200 km. What is interesting is that apart from Mangalore, the other two districts have traditionally been the bastions of Hinduism: Udupi, which has been home to some famous seers belonging to Madhavacharya’s sect, and Chickmagalur, which houses the Shankaracharya of Sringeri.

Mangalore’s sizable Christian population owes to history when several Jesuits camped there in the 19th Century, set up educational institutions and began spreading Christianity. This explains why sections of the media selectively focussed on Mangalore as the ‘hub’ of attacks on Christian places of worship. Chickmagalur, which lies in the heart of the densely-forested Western Ghats, has been a special target for conversions. Over the past decade, an astonishing number of churches, little chapels, and other Christian worship-places have sprouted and are growing. That is but part of the problem.

The adage that there’s no smoke without fire is worth revisiting here. Popular media accounts narrate that these attacks were unprovoked. But reports from the ground, which have now begun to come in, show that an evangelist organisation called New Life (or New Life Fellowship Trust) began an aggressive conversion campaign by circulating literature that denigrated Hindu gods and goddesses. The following are excerpts from New Life’s Satya Darshani (View of Truth):

• “Urvashi — the daughter of Narayan — is a prostitute. Vashishtha is the son of this prostitute. He in turn married his own mother. Such a degraded person is the guru of the Hindu god Ram.” (page 48)
• “When Krishna himself is wallowing in darkness of hell, how can he enlighten others? Since Krishna himself is a shady character, there is a need for us to liberate his misled followers.” (page 50)
• “It was Brahma himself who kidnapped Sita. Since Brahma, Vishnu and Shiv were themselves the victims of lust, it is a sin to consider them as gods.” (page 39)
• “When Vishnu asked Brahma to commit a sin, he immediately did so. How can such a ‘evil Brahma’ be a Creator of this Universe? How is it possible for both the sinner and the entity which provoked the sin to be gods?” (page 39)
• “God, please liberate the sinful people of India who are worshipping ‘false gods’ that believe in the pleasures of illicit ‘vyabhichari’ relationships.” (Page 39)

According to investigating agencies, Mr HT Sangliana, the expelled BJP MP of Bangalore North, is an influential member of New Life. Mr Sangliana created a furore when upon joining the BJP, he said his intent was to “make it the Bharatiya Jesus Party”.

That said, the proper response to defamatory literature is certainly not violence. But, more fundamentally, the correct question to ask is why indulge in wilful defamation of other religions? Christian missionaries have an unflattering track record in this area, starting with the revelations in the Niyogi Commission Report on Missionary Activities in India published in 1956. However, vote-bank politics has ensured that this continues unchecked to the detriment of the dangerously fragile communal fabric of India. The gruesome murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati in Orissa and now the events in Karnataka are but logical consequences, and neither will they be the last unless concrete steps are taken to stop religious conversions. Which brings us to — in some ways — the genesis of the Karnataka issue.

A report that did not quite make the headlines is worth recalling: A few weeks ago, there was a public outcry against evangelical prayer meetings held in Davanagere in north Karnataka. The district administration responded by shutting down these prayer meetings. The New Life literature project followed this incident, in a span of a few weeks. These may not be connected but it stands to reason that there’s a sudden spurt of evangelism in the State ever since the BJP came to power.

Both the VHP and the Bajrang Dal have condemned the church attacks ever since they occurred. Cases in point are their strongly-worded condemnation when an idol of Jesus was desecrated in a prayer hall adjacent to the Milagres Church in Mangalore and their clarification that they are not against the Catholic faith. An obscure outfit named ‘Sri Ram Sena’ — not affiliated to the Sangh Parivar — has claimed responsibility for these attacks. What is interesting is that when the police, in an attempt to control the violence, entered a church in Mangalore, they found arms stocked inside. This cannot but raise uncomfortable questions. In yet another investigation of church desecration in Kolar, the police were led by sniffer dogs to the local Congress office.

In the end, two possible deductions emerge: The evidence on the ground doesn’t support the blanket blame on the Sangh Parivar — there was a call to ban the Bajrang Dal — and, two, the entire issue reeks of insidious political (and to a large extent, media) manipulation.

The Congress’s intentions are not beyond doubt or suspicion. With elections a few months away, it has everything going against it. With the BJP breaking into the south, the Congress is desperately searching for that magic move to salvage whatever reputation is left.

Hence the ‘advisory mission’ to Karnataka under the pretence of safeguarding the interests of Christians. Destabilising the BJP Government in Karnataka or dismissing it by misusing Article 355 or 356 may yield short-term benefits to the Congress. Without doubt, it will earn the wrath of the people of the State who have lived with instability for almost six years. More dangerously, in the long run, the Congress will have to pay dearly for playing with the fire of communalism.