Saturday, Feb 23, 2002
Saturday, Feb 23, 2002 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Karnataka
By Our Staff Correspondent
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Madhusudan said the missionaries not only indulged in conversions, but also worked as "agents" of the CIA. He read out a news report published by a national daily, about 27 years ago, that the Christian missionaries were "spying for the CIA", in support of his claim. He said though conversions were being carried out from Hinduism to Islam and Christianity, the State Government did not have statistics on the number of conversions. He had raised the issue in the Legislative Council during the recent session, but the Minister for Social Welfare, Kagodu Thimappa, informed that there was no mechanism in his department to collect data on conversions, he added. Mr. Madhusudan accused the Government of failing to evolve a mechanism to collect data on such serious issues. He, however, failed to give a satisfactory reply when asked whether the BJP-led NDA-Government at the Centre had such a mechanism. He said churches in the country were receiving financial aid from foreign countries for conversions. They maintained a record on the number of conversions and submitted annual reports to the countries that provided funds to them. They also submitted reports on the number of people likely to be converted for receiving financial assistance. Mr. Madhusudan accused Christians of misusing the benefits of reservation. Several converted Christians continued to enjoy the benefits they were entitled to earlier. Replying to a question, he said there was no provision for reservation to dalit Christians in the Statute. The Government should take action against such persons. Referring to the attack on the Holy Family Church at Hinkal on the outskirts of the city recently, he said it was only a "reaction" to the attempts to convert Hindus into Christianity by exploiting their poverty and distress. The police should take action against those who had triggered such a reaction. He accused the managements of some missionary schools in the city of instructing the students against wearing "kum kum", bangles, and flowers. Though a complaint in this regard was registered with the Metagalli police station, the authorities did not take it seriously. The youths, who were enraged by the alleged attempts to convert people into Christianity, had questioned the church authorities at Hinkal on the matter. The violence was a result of the "irresponsible" reaction by the priests of the church, he said. Meanwhile, activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishat and the Bajrang Dal staged a demonstration near K.R.Circle demanding that the cases registered against the accused in the Hinkal church attack be withdrawn. Addressing the activists, the leaders of the two organisations set a deadline of 48 hours for the police to withdraw the cases and to release the accused. Nearly 60 activists participated in the demonstration and shouted slogans against the alleged conversions. They branded the Minister of State for Bangalore Development, T. John as "communal".
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|