Donations meant for poor are funding Christian persecution
New Delhi (AsiaNews) Foreign donations given for widows and orphans are being used by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to distribute weapons and hate literature against Christians and Muslims. The group plans to triple its presence in India's tribal belt within the next two years.
The VHP is the religious wing of the former ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which still currently controls the Central India state governments of Gujurat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand and will remain in control in all but Jharkhand for the next 4 years. The group works in cooperation with the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which is notorious for inciting tribal members against Christians and Muslims, and attacking Christian institutions and personnel. According to John Dayal, secretary general of All India Christian Council, a large source of VHP's funding comes from non-resident Indians in the United Kingdom, United States and other countries, as well as official, government and church organizations who believe the money will go for programs for the welfare of widows and orphan children.
In reality, however, according to minority and civil rights groups, the money is being diverted to fund hate campaigns against religious minorities, to spread extremist Hindu literature, and in the worst case, to distribute trishuls- long multi-pronged spear-like weapons said to be symbolic of the Hindu Lord Shiva. These funds are also being used for the so-called Ghar Wapsi, or 'homecoming' movement, organized by corrupt former Forest Minister of the BJP, Ju Deo. The movement is a coercive, often violent effort on the part of Hindu extremists to 'reconvert' tribal Christians back to Hinduism.
Shyam Gupta, Central Joint Secretary of the VHP in charge of tribal area projects, says that the group's goal is to increase their presence from the 10,000 villages they currently influence, to 30,000 tribal villages by 2006, and to 100,000 (a quarter of all the villages in India) by 2011. The VHP had planned a nation-wide expansion project, but with the ouster of the BJP, they have changed their strategy to focus on those states where the Party still has power.
The main project of the VHP is the establishment of one-teacher schools in rural villages, which operate without government certification or supervision. These become tools of systematic indoctrination of children with hate propaganda against non-Hindus.
Despite repeated demands from civil groups, the BJP government fails to give any data on the amount of funding being received by the group. (JC)
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13/08/2020 09:43
