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Eminent people 'apprehensive' of visit

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

A group of artistes and socially prominent persons from across the country have expressed their "apprehensions and concerns about" the visit of Pope John Paul II in front-page advertisements published today in several national dailies. They have also blamed "intolerant missionaries" for the recent attacks on Christians by right-wing groups.

According to authoritative sources, the personalities including danseuse Sonal Mansingh have been brought together to issue the carefully worded letter -- no specific demands but stern condemnation of conversions, calling the Pope's visit part of a conversion drive and squarely blaming missionaries for all recent attacks on them.

The same letter was submitted to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on November 2 by some of these people. The signatories to the letter are artiste Padma Subramaniam, ophthalmologist S S Badrinath, social worker Harikishore Singh, artiste Sonal Mansingh, writers Vidya Nivas Misra and Sultan Shahin, SC/ST commission member Lama Lobsang, former Madras high court judge Justice Krishnaswamy Reddiar, former CBI director C V Narasimhan, ad professional R K Swami, Tamil writer Sivasankari, former Tamil Nadu director general of police K Ravindran and others.

The letter, which appeared in one quarter of the front page of several English dailies, said, "Even as we welcome you, we will be less than honest if we do not share our apprehensions and concerns about your visit. It is not without sound reason that China or Taiwan or Sri Lanka has taken such extreme attitude to Your Holiness. They obviously see a danger to them in the declared Agenda of the Church to Evangelise Asia." They said they "fully share their apprehensions. This Agenda of the Church is no secret."

While welcoming the Pope "with great respect to this holy land", they pointed out that they "believe that all religions including those which have been violent to our own are sacred".

The personalities said that if the Indian government has "permitted your visit, it is only because of our compelling tradition to respect all faiths. This noble tradition, adhering to which this nation suffered immensely in the past and continues to suffer while interfacing with conflicting faiths, is alien to other fathers".

The said, "As well-meaning citizens, we wish to express and share our deep concern and to bring to your attention the far-reaching and dangerous implications of the state purpose of your visit to our country." They said the Asian Bishops Conference "which Your Holiness will be addressing is no ordinary one. It marks the end of the Asia Synod deliberations for the Evangelisation of Asia."

Pointing out that the term evangelisation is a dignified "substitute for its less dignified cousin conversion", they claimed the "state object of our visit is to convert the Hindus". They said "this intolerance (stemming from the belief that salvation is only through Jesus) makes Christianity aggressive in efforts to convert others".

The group pointed out that "we Indians are deeply hurt by the spurt in the aggressive campaigning of the Church to convert the people of India by all available means. This hurt has the potential for violence."

Religious conversion, they said, "is an explosive socio-religious activity capable of igniting centrifugal forces as it touches the sensitive subject of religion, which is a point of honour for all societies, whether modern, traditional, or tribal."

They alleged that the "Christian missionary activity in our nation is tearing apart families and communities in every strata of our society. This is what has led to clashes in remote areas of India." And thus they shifted the blame for the recent atrocities against Christians from the shoulders of groups such as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad to the missionaries themselves.

They have also accused the "Church all over India" of launching a "movement to discredit India as an intolerant nation, while the real reason for the clashes is the intolerance of the missionaries themselves in India."

"We make no demand on you. We only want to tell you that religious conversion, which seems to be synonymous with the papal work, is violence, pure and simple, particularly against the Hindu faith, which does not believe in conversion," they said.

The Pope's Visit

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