Nationalist Hindus urge state: fight "terrorism" of Christian evangelisation
The RSS is calling on the government to be "stricter with minorities". A Catholic activist retorts: "These are proclamations by powerful caste leaders. They are the terrorists."
New Delhi (AsiaNews) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS, paramilitary movement of nationalist, Hindu youth] is "worried" about the "terrorism and anti-national activities" taking place in Kerala, which "are on the increase because of policies to protect minorities". The accusation is leveled at the Christian minority: the southern state of Kerala has the highest percentage of Christians in India and its chief minister is a Christian despite the fact that the provincial government has a Hindu majority.
The RSS statement was made by Mohan Bhagwat, RSS secretary-general, as he was presenting the annual report of the movement's activities for the year 2005-2006. "The police have become politicised in Kerala and the laws are inadequate to deal the situation," said Bhagwat. "The cacophony of pseudo-secular and pseudo-human rights groups drowns the voice of the ordinary people."
While presenting the report to the press, the secretary called on the government to stop "appeasement measures which make the burden of minorities in India heavier". He reiterated his accusations against Christian missionaries, "who must give an account of the money they have and which is supplied them by overseas groups who want the fragmentation of the country".
Interviewed by AsiaNews, John Dayal president of the All India Catholic Union said: "The vocabulary of these leaders is simplistic -- every opponent of their cultural ideology of hindutva hegemony and their political ideology of myopic hyper-nationalism is either a terrorist or a conspirator Kerala is less terrorist, if one were to borrow their vocabulary, than Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP majority Indian party with nationalist leanings, considered to be the political arm of the RSS]. Here the only terrorist is the RSS, terrorizing minorities who are not protected at all."
As regards the accusations about missionary funds, Dayal said: "Year, after year, the RSS annual report never ceases to amaze me. As any law-abiding activity does, they should report everything about their activities: a record of their revenue, the number of their members and their identity, as do Christian organizations, non-governmental agencies and the government itself. However, the RSS never supplies this information."
Dayal added: "Their organisation is secret and has no semblance of democracy or of internal elections. Their annual report is no other than a series of proclamations by a group of powerful caste leaders, who control a paramilitary group and its organization with a system of religious allegiance, coercion and pure terror."
.png)
27/03/2006
