Washington, D.C. (October 8, 2008) -- A recent spate of inter-religious riots in India, pitting mostly Hindu and Christian communities against each other, have been widely covered in the international media. The clashes began after a Hindu monk was killed in the eastern Indian state of Orissa in early September, and in the southern city of Mangalore, a pamphlet blaspheming Hindu beliefs was distributed by an evangelical group. The riots have left nearly two dozen people dead and many more remain displaced and homeless.
"Religious violence is contrary to the India's long history of pluralism and co-existence that threatens the fabric of the country," said Suhag Shukla, Esq., the Hindu American Foundation's managing director. "We unequivocally condemn the violence and demand justice for the aggrieved as we mourn for all of the innocent victims."
"Disturbing images of Hindus and Christians clashing were widely covered in the U.S., and several media inquiries have been addressed at HAF's offices," Shukla added. Difficulty obtaining accurate on-the-scene reports from some isolated areas led to frenzied reports with several oversights and omissions, the Foundation maintained. Shukla said that parsing events in India to soundbites depicting rampaging Hindu "extremists" attacking Christians does nothing to increase understanding of root causes of the conflict or promote interfaith dialogue.
Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, a Hindu monk known for working for the upliftment of isolated tribal populations in Orissa, had run afoul of several evangelical Christian groups--almost all supported by funds received from U.S. based churches--that are providing services, but at the same time aggressively seeking converts. He was severely injured in an attack by a Christian mob comprised of the Pana tribe on Christmas Eve, 2007, and then assassinated on August 24 after receiving several death threats.
The assassins have not been apprehended, but Maoist terrorist groups allegedly took responsibility claiming that the Swami was disturbing "social stability"--a reference to his Hindu advocacy. The Pana tribe of Orissa state, some of whom belong to these Maoist groups, has been clashing with the mostly Hindu Kandha tribe over access to affirmative action type benefits to which only certain tribes are entitled.
"Swami Lakshmananda was a highly revered spiritual leader who lived a life dedicated to the service of the most in need and those from traditionally forsaken segments of society," said Shukla. "Clearly, his assassination coupled with the underlying tension of tribes and castes that are pitted against each other competing for limited government sops, led to the tragic events we witnessed."
"Christianity has a long, peaceful history in India which we celebrate as a part of the pluralistic ethos of India," said Sheetal Shah, HAF"s Director of Development. "But when proselytizing outfits resort to hate speech, they share responsibility for provoking the highly condemnable events that followed. Communal harmony can truly be fostered only in an environment where practitioners of all religions respect other faiths as equally valid pathways to the Divine."
Both Shukla and Shah expressed concern that the mushrooming of evangelical groups funded by U.S. based churches, many of whom have the sole purpose of proselytizing and "harvesting" converts--often through hate speech, is endangering peaceful, religious coexistence in India. Pluralism cannot be sustained in the face of unrestrained and aggressive proselytization and coerced or fraudulent conversions, they argued. Hate speech is also a form of violence, they said.
The Foundation supports the initiatives of pluralistic Christian and Hindu groups in India and around the world for an ethical code of conversion, which the Foundation believes can prevent inter-religious strife between proselytizing and non-proselytizing faiths, Shukla added.