'Charges aimed at maligning Christian bodies'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM, NOV. 10. Mr. K.P. Yohanan, evangelist and founder- chairman of Gospel for Asia and the Believers' Church, has taken exception to the fact that his name was unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy over mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism.

Speaking to mediapersons here today, Mr. Yohannan alleged that these allegations were baseless, against facts and aimed at discrediting the aforesaid enterprises founded by him. All financial dealings related to these enterprises were transparent and have been taken up in compliance with Government stipulations, he said.

According to him, the allegations were being raised in certain quarters on the basis of the conference of the All-India Christian Council held in Hyderabad in September. Nearly 2,000 delegates, including members of the Gospel for Asia, were present and issues related to human rights concerns of Dalits, which were taken up at the Human Rights Conference in Durban (South Africa), were discussed at the Hyderabad conference. Leaders who had participated in the Durban conference were invited to Hyderabad. Unlike what Mr. P. Parameswaran (Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram) said, it was not a forum to discuss religious conversion, Mr. Yohannan said. However, it was made clear that the Council would welcome if the Dalits decided to accept any religion in accordance with their conscience, he added.

Details of the discussions can be had from the website of the All India Christian Council, he said. According to him, the two enterprises, Gospel for Asia and Believers Church had been functioning in the field for the past two decades, and have over 10,000 activists, 5,750 local churches and nearly five lakh members.

Without naming him, Mr. Yohannan took a dig at Mr. John Joseph, member of the Minority Commission, and said the present Commission had not reacted to some of the ground realities as presented by official sources. Even according to the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, 419 incidents of atrocities have been committed against Christians besides 39 murders of Christian activists. In addition, there have been molestation of nuns, disappearance of Christian activists, destruction and desecration of Christian places of worship. Hindutva leaders like Mr. Giriraj Kishore, Mr. Sudarshan and leaders of the Bajrang Dal had asked Christians, who have a history of nearly 2,000 years in India, to quit the country. The Human Rights Commission and Attorney General of India had reacted strongly to these statements.

However, the Minorities Commission has so far not reacted to such issues, Mr. Yohannan said. He made it clear that while he did not believe in conversion, he and his followers will be with the Dalits to ensure their constitutional rights.

He welcomed the dialogue among various religions. He also welcomed the dialogue with the universal representatives of the Hindu community in India. However, those who engaged in mass murder, molestation, desecration of churches, etc., claim that they represent Hinduism. It is not proper to engage in dialogues with them, he said. ``f those who molested, called the molested for discussions, I can only say it is ridiculous,'' Mr. Yohannan said.

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