Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Christians readying for `ahimsa struggle'

By S. Annamalai

MADURAI OCT. 11. Offended by certain terms used in the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Ordinance and apprehensive of its being used against church leaders, Christians are gearing for an "ahimsa struggle'' seeking withdrawal of the measure.

The Archbishop of Madurai Diocese, Marianus Arokiasamy, is determined to lead, along with secular-minded people, the crusade against the ordinance, to the last. In an interview to The Hindu here today, he declared, "Let the law come. We will give our lives. Christianity has seen many persecutions in the past.''

The terms "allurement'', "force'' and "fraudulent means'' pained the Christians as they vulgarised their missionary work. Even while conceding that ''one or two sects'' of Christians might be indulging in conversions, he said that for Roman Catholics `forced conversion' was not allowed. If the Government wanted to put an end to forced conversions, it could have used the existing laws to proceed against the guilty, instead of indulging in generalisation.

``It is an instrument to check the conversion of Dalits who aspire for freedom and equality". The term "allurement'', would lead to stoppage of all missionary projects for fear of prosecution. There would not be any need for conversion if the Dalits were accorded equal rights and basic facilities. "We have a universal view in helping people in distress and do not expect them to become Christians.''

The Archbishop justified the move for token closure of educational institutions on October 24, saying it was the only way to make the people realise the "dangers of the ordinance''. "We have no intention of taking the matter to court. But we will go to the people.''

Rev. Arokiasamy felt that the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, ought to have consulted religious leaders before coming out with the ordinance. The minorities, he said, came together for a second time after an earlier episode in which Ms. Jayalalithaa was portrayed as `Mother Mary'. ''What happened to her then will happen to her now,'' the Archbishop said.

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