Now that we know that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister owes his political and physical health to the regular intake of cow urine, it may finally be possible for us to maturely discuss hitherto neglected issues that have a vital bearing on our nationhood. I say this because the purpose of this revelation was to establish Mr. Digvijay Singh’s credentials as a devout Hindu, and thereby deflect a future RSS-BJP attack on his secular persona in the run-up to the next assembly elections. Gujarat having firmed up a Hindu identity across the country, issues that have been evaded to appease minority votebanks can no longer be brushed under the carpet.
Conversions are one such issue. The abuse of innocents, particularly women and children, by persons claiming religious status is another. Both matters are urgent and sensitive, but I am confident that an informed debate will be to the ultimate benefit of all concerned.
The recent attack on an American missionary in Kerala has highlighted the issue of conversions, particularly with foreign funding. According to a highly coloured account by the BBC (15 January 2003), Rev. Joseph Cooper was assaulted by “right-wing Hindus.” Among other incendiary statements, BBC asserted: “in recent years there has been an increase in violence against Christians in India, who make up about two percent of the population.” The RSS naturally rebutted the charges. It claimed that Pastor Benson Sam and his wife Sally, who were also injured in the attack, were accused in a case of abduction and rape of a minor girl at Bible College last year. As for Mr. Cooper, he came to India on a tourist visa, which prohibited missionary work.
What is heartening about the episode is the speed with which the true facts were brought to light. Chief Minister A.K. Anthony, one of our most sensible politicians, refused to make political capital out of the episode. The unencumbered police quickly concluded their enquiries and by January 20 the American was told to leave the country for indulging in missionary activity in violation of his visa.
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) felt the US missionary was probably an unwitting victim of public outrage against the “wrongdoings and immoral acts” of Rev Sam’s family (Tribune, 17 January 2003). NCM member John Joseph found that a local girl had allegedly been sexually abused and harassed for four months at the Bible Christian Centre, which had resulted in the issue of non-bailable warrants against Rev P.K. Sam and his son. The entire family had gone into hiding since October 2002, following wide reportage in the local media. However, when P.K. Sam’s son, Benson, suddenly appeared in public at a Gospel convention with the foreign missionary (his financier), it “spontaneously aroused the fury of some who knew about the misdeeds of Benson.”
Local media reports about the sexual abuse of a poor Dalit orphan girl by Reverend Sam and his family make depressing reading, and the local anger is utterly understandable. It now remains to be seen how Indian church authorities react to the charges of sexual abuse in this and other instances. The police, of course, must now make all efforts to arrest Rev. Sam and other accused persons in the case.
Most citizens do not know that India was one of the countries investigated by a high-level fact-finding team from the Vatican some years ago, when worldwide charges of sexual abuse in the parishes could no longer be ignored. The extent of the abuse of both male and female devotees in the US, Europe, Australia and Africa, is now known. Yet there has been no introspection in India, and it is time the church authorities took cognizance of the problem and initiated corrective measures on their own. Certainly they must not indulge in false tirades against others when some scandals come to light. It has, for instance, been established that the 1998 Jhabua nuns’ rape case was an intra-Christian affair; but to this day, the event is presented in Christian rhetoric a VHP/RSS-led attack on minorities. These canards must now end.
As for the American missionary, some newspapers took umbrage at the government’s decision to expel him; some reported his magnanimity in ‘forgiving’ his assailants! But contrary to the genial image conjured up by such exuberant advertorials, the Reverend, alas, was up to no good in God’s own country. According to the residents of the Kilimanoor Dalit hamlet, Cooper spewed venom against Lord Krishna and attributed the modern scourge of AIDS to the avatar of a bygone yuga (Pioneer, 21 January 2003). If true, such a statement could legitimately explain local resentment against the group. Press reports suggest that about eight months ago, another foreign missionary in the area was hounded out by local residents for making derogatory remarks against Lord Ayyappa, the preeminent deity of the state.
As the American missionary has departed, it is too late to ask for action against him. A few points, however, are in order. The statement attributed to Mr. Cooper smacks of extreme religious intolerance, besides being overtly racist (a fit case for Ms. Mary Robinson and her Durban Conference). Such conduct, if committed on American soil, would have led to Cooper being jailed for inciting religious hatred and prejudice among different communities. Indeed, this is the reason why the US Consulate dissociated itself from the case, though it initially said it would send an investigative team to the region.
In this context, I feel that the All India Christian Council has not helped to improve inter-community relations by labelling the RSS and its affiliates as “violent religious fundamentalist terrorist organisations which need to be banned in the interest of global peace, regional stability and the unity and integrity of the Indian republic.” After the complete exposure of the real activities of both Benson and Cooper, it seems ludicrous to call the incident a “well laid conspiracy to terrorise and polarise the Dalit and Tribal villagers in a state otherwise known for its inter-religious harmony.”
The Council has virtually arraigned the Chief Minister and district authorities for not charging the arrested RSS men with attempted murder, and for asking the missionary to leave for violating visa rules. But its allegation that “the Atal Bihari Government fully supports religious bigotry and Sangh violence whether it is in Gujarat, Orissa or Kerala” is extremely irresponsible and deserves condemnation from all mature citizens.
Most mischievous, however, is the Council’s attempt to equate the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom with a carte blanche to missionaries, especially foreigners, to indulge in dubious conversion activities, often in the face of local resentment and resistance. The Council has rightly noted that through the centuries, Hindu dharma has spread to several parts of the globe and there is today hardly a nation that does not host temples and welcome Hindu gurus with open arms. But it has failed to draw the correct inference from this situation, which is that Hindu teachers have never travelled anywhere with arms, money or muscle power. They have not sought to eradicate any faith or creed, or to impose only one way of life upon resisting populaces. This was not the case with either the late Graham Staines or the Reverend Joseph Cooper.
The Pioneer, 28 January 2003